#BEfútbol Minute: At The Turn; Yesterday In fúbtol – 10.15.17
NEW YORK – Saturday featured four men’s soccer matches, ending the first half of play for the BIG EAST teams. At the turn, nationally ranked Georgetown and Butler have established themselves at the top with 4-1 records and 12 points. With the results of Saturday’s matches, there is a three-way tie for third with Creighton, St. John’s and Marquette each with seven points and identical 2-2-1 records.
If the season ended today, there would be a three-way tie for the sixth and final spot in the BIG EAST playoff picture. Xavier, Villanova and Seton Hall have six points each with 2-3 records. All three teams lost this weekend.
Just outside the play off picture are Providence, with five points and DePaul with four. The Friars earned their first league win this weekend.
BIG EAST Point-Leaders
League point-leaders – Brandon Guhl of Butler and Ricky Lopez-Espin of Creighton each had two goals in their games this weekend. BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Mac Steeves also had a pair. Guhl and Lopez-Espin have 20 points, both with nine goals. In league play, the duo have five goals each. Steeves has eight points, four goals.
Yesterday In #BEúbtol – 10.15.17
The Bluejays kept up its scoring streak this week, outscoring opponents 10-2 at Fortress Morrison. On Saturday, Creighton defeated Xavier 4-1. Earlier this week, the Bluejays defeated Drake, 6-1. Marquette topped St. John’s in a 1-0 double-overtime thriller. Providence earned its first league win of the season, a 3-1 victory over Seton Hall in Rhode Island. No. 20 Butler got back on track with a 2-0 shutout of DePaul at the Sellick Bowl. The Bulldogs had lost their last two matches and had been shutout in both.
PROVIDENCE 3, SETON HALL 1
Friar Mac Steeves scored his team-high seventh goal of the season in the 38th minute of play. Joao Serrano took a free kick from the right side that found Steeves waiting in the box. He was able to put home his own rebound chance to give the Friars (4-7-2, 1-2-2) a 1-0 lead. Steeves added an insurance goal to the tally, scoring in the 45th just before the halftime break, another assist by Serrano. PC’s Matt DePerro scored his second goal in as many games with a goal in the 57th. Not to be shutout, Seton Hall (5-7-1, 2-3-0) got on the board in the 88th minute, a goal by Marco Neves. With his two goals scored, Steeves surpassed former teammate Julian Gressel on Providence’s all-time points leaderboard. Steeves is now in second place all-time with 82 points.
Up Next Providence: CREIGHTON (10/21)
Up Next Seton Hall: at No. 9 GEORGETOWN (10/21)
MARQUETTE 1, ST. JOHN'S 0 (2OT)
Marquette’s Connor Alba scored the game’s winning goal with 27 seconds left in double-overtime as the Golden Eagles added three points with a win at St. John’s on Saturday evening. The clean sheet was the first for Marquette (2-8-2, 2-2-1) this season and extended an impressive shutout streak of 579 minutes against St. John’s. The Golden Eagles haven’t allowed a goal to St. John’s since 2010 and are now unbeaten in their previous six meetings (3-0-3). Junior Luis Barraza made three saves to record his sixth career shutout. St. John’s (5-6-2, 2-2-1) held a 12-9 lead in shots. After being held the first 45 minutes without a shot, Marquette outshot the Red Storm in the second half and overtime, including a 4-0 edge in shots in the final 10 minutes. SJU’s Andrew Withers made four stops in goal.
Marquette Up Next: at XAVIER (10/21)
St. John’s Up Next: at DEPAUL (10/21)
No. 20 BUTLER 2, DEPAUL 0
Two goals from BIG EAST point-leader Brandon Guhl propelled the Bulldogs (8-4-0, 4-1-0) to a 2-0 win over BIG EAST foe DePaul (4-8-1, 1-3-1) Saturday night at the Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis. Guhl's goals came in the tenth and 81st minutes. The first goal was unassisted as Guhl intercepted a failed clear by Blue Demons keeper Quentin Low. Guhl then beat Low 1v1. For the second goal, Isaac Galliford played a ball through to Alex Lehtinen on the left side, who sent a low cross in front of the goal that Guhl was able to score with a low shot to the bottom right corner. Butler keeper Eric Dick had six saves in the shutout win, his fifth of the season. The Bulldogs had 17 shots in the match, including 11 in the first 45 minutes. DePaul had nine of their 14 shots in the second half as they increased possession for much of the time after intermission.
Butler Up Next: No. 1 Indiana (10/18)
DePaul Up Next: at Loyola-Chicago (10/17)
CREIGHTON 4, XAVIER 1
Co-BIG EAST point-leader Ricky Lopez-Espin scored a pair of goals as Creighton team defeated Xavier 4-1 on Saturday night at Morrison Stadium. The Jays also improved its home unbeaten streak to seven matches and are now 6-1-1 at Morrison Stadium this season. Lopez-Espin tallied his second multi-goal match of the season on Saturday. The senior co-captain scored the first (7') and third (59') Creighton goals during the Bluejays' three-goal victory over Xavier. Xavier tied it up in the 20th minute, as Cameron Taylor scored off a free kick from Jacob Goodall. Creighton scored the next three for the win. One in the 32nd by Julius Fohr, his first goal of the season for the go-ahead goal. Creighton outshot Xavier 19-4.
Creighton Up Next: at PROVIDENCE (10/21)
Xavier Up Next: MARQUETTE (10/21)
Coming Up This Week – Non-league games against the United Soccer Top 3:
Top 25 foes await the BIG EAST’s best as No. 9 Georgetown plays at No. 3 Maryland in College Park on Tuesday and No. 20 Butler hosts top-ranked Indiana on Wednesday at the Sellick Bowl. These two matches highlight the final non-conference week for BIG EAST men’s soccer teams this season. Butler’s Indiana match can be watched on Butler’s Facebook Live stream. Also on Tuesday, Villanova visits Penn and DePaul visits Loyola-Chicago in cross-city rivalry matches.
Full BEDN Coverage For The Final Stretch
Starting Saturday, the final four match dates for BIG EAST men’s soccer will be covered on the BIG EAST Digital Network as the BIG EAST Championship field starts to take shape.
#BEfútbol Score Recap from the weekend
Friday, Oct. 13
No. 9 GEORGETOWN 2, VILLANOVA 0
Saturday, Oct. 14
PROVIDENCE 3, SETON HALL 1
MARQUETTE 1, ST. JOHN’S 0 (2OT)
No. 20 BUTLER 2, DEPAUL 0
CREIGHTON 4, XAVIER 1
Coming Up In #BEfútbol
Tuesday, Oct. 17
No. 9 GEORGETOWN at No. 3 Maryland at 7 p.m.
VILLANOVA at Penn at 7 p.m.
DEPAUL at Loyola-Chicago at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 18
No. 1 Indiana at No. 20 BUTLER at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 21
SETON HALL at No.9 GEORGETOWN at 1 p.m. (BEDN)
ST. JOHN’S at DEPAUL at 2 p.m. (BEDN)
VILLANOVA at No. 20 BUTLER at 7 p.m. (BEDN)
MARQUETTE at XAVIER at 7 p.m. (BEDN)
CREIGHTON at PROVIDENCE at 7 p.m. (BEDN)
All times are Eastern