Lewis Suddick from Butler shoots the game-winning PK in overtime against St. John's.
#BEfútbol Minute – Butler Stands Alone At Top Of Rankings
NEW YORK – After the third weekend of BIG EAST men’s soccer wrapped up, Butler, winner of last season’s BIG EAST Championship title, sits alone at the top of the standings with three wins. Butler defeated St. John’s 1-0 in double overtime at home on Saturday night in a battle of the two previously unbeaten teams.
Of the three league games Butler has played in, two have been overtime wins. All nine of Butler’s matches this season have been one-goal decisions.
No. 14 Georgetown maintained a clean slate at home in Washington, D.C. this season as the Hoyas defeated Marquette 2-1 to advance to 5-0-0 at home at Shaw Field. All three goals were scored in the first half.
Seton Hall earned its first league win with a top 25 BIG EAST upset at home over No. 25 Creighton, shutting out the Bluejays 2-0. Creighton had been on a three-match winning streak. The Pirates handed the Bluejays its first shutout loss in BIG EAST play. Creighton’s previous shutout losses had come against then-No. 17 Virginia Tech and then-No. 1 Stanford.
DePaul also earned its first BIG EAST win of the season with a one goal shutout win over Villanova at home. Xavier defeated Providence on the road, 4-1, rebounding from last weekend’s 3-0 loss at St. John’s.
Standings Update:
Behind undefeated Butler who with nine points, there is a three-way tie with six points a third of the way into the season. Georgetown, Xavier and St. John’s are tied for second. The Hoyas (7-1-1, 2-1-0 BIG EAST), ranked 14th nationally last week are riding a three-game win streak and are coming off another 2-1 league victory, this time over Marquette. Xavier (6-2-2, 2-1-0 BIG EAST) returned to its high-scoring ways this weekend with a 4-1 dominant win over preseason favorite Providence at home. St. John’s (5-4-1, 2-1-0 BIG EAST) was on the losing end of Butler’s golden goal victory but had previous wins over Seton Hall and Xavier, shutting out both teams.
DePaul sits alone in fifth place with four points at 1-1-1 in league play with the Blue Demons’ first BIG EAST win of the season over Villanova this past weekend. In sixth, there is a logjam of three-point teams with Creighton, Villanova, Seton Hall and Marquette. Providence (0-2-1 BIG EAST) is still looking for its first league win.
There are six BIG EAST games left on the schedule before playoffs.
Next Up:
After a three-game non-conference slate this week with Xavier, Villanova and Marquette in action, BIG EAST play will be split this weekend with two matches on Friday and three on Saturday. Butler will play at Georgetown in a Friday afternoon Top-25 tilt, while St. John’s visits Creighton in Omaha. Saturday’s schedule has DePaul at Seton Hall at 1 p.m., Providence at Marquette at 1:05 p.m. and Xavier at Villanova at 4 p.m. All times listed are Eastern. The Butler-Georgetown and Xavier-Villanova matches will be on BEDN this weekend.
A look at Saturday’s recaps:
No. 22 BUTLER 1, ST. JOHN’S 0 (2OT)
Lewis Suddick kicked in the game-winning PK in the 105th minute to give Butler another golden goal victory in league play over visiting St. John’s. The Red Storm was also unbeaten in league play going into Saturday. Butler’s record advanced to 7-2-0, 3-0-0 BIG EAST, while St. John’s fell to 5-4-1, 2-1-0 BIG EAST. Red Storm keeper Andrew Withers had six saves in the contest as Butler outshot St. John’s 18-12, 7-4 on goal. Butler keeper Eric Dick made four saves in the match for the shutout victory. Butler’s main dominance came in the first period as the Bulldogs outshot the Red Storm 8-2, for the rest of the match, the shots were even in each period, including both overtimes.
Butler Up Next: at GEORGETOWN (10/6)
St. John’s Up Next: at CREIGHTON (10/6)
SETON HALL 2, No. 25 CREIGHTON 0
Behind goals from Andres Arcila and Francisco Alderete, Seton Hall (4-6-1, 1-2-0 BIG EAST) picked up its first conference win in style with a 2-0 victory over No. 25 Creighton (6-4-0, 1-2-0 BIG EAST). The triumph on Saturday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field was The Hall's first win over a ranked foe since Oct. 18, 2014. The Hall got on the board early, taking advantage of a red card on the Creighton keeper with a penalty kick conversion from Arcila in the ninth minute. Playing a man up for the final 80-plus minutes of regulation, the Pirates controlled possession through most of the match in an eventual shutout win. Peyton Elder made three saves in his first start of the season to pick up the clean sheet. Seton Hall is the only team in the BIG EAST to score in all five meetings with CU since the Bluejays joined the league in 2013 – the Pirates have recorded multiple tallies in four of those contests. Creighton sub keeper Collin Valdivia made four saves in his 81-plus minutes played.
Creighton Up Next: ST. JOHN’S (10/6)
Seton Hall Up Next: DEPAUL (10/7)
No. 14 GEORGETOWN 2, MARQUETTE 1
All three goals in this match came fast and early as Georgetown struck first. In the ninth minute, Georgetown freshman forward Derek Dodson sent the ball to teammate Jacob Montes . The freshman’s shot was saved, but the rebound went to the feet of junior midfielder Ethan Lochner who fired right back in and beat keeper Noah Heim to make it 1-0. Just 32 second later, the Golden Eagles (1-7-1, 1-2 BIG EAST) would equalize as an intercepted pass in the box was sent in by Diego Nunez to tie the game at one. It didn’t take long for the Hoyas to find a second, however, as GU struck again in the 16th minute of the game. Montes passed the ball to senior midfielder Declan McCabe on the right side who had just Heim to beat. McCabe’s technical finish made it 2-1 and would stand for the next 73 minutes as the game winner. Georgetown outshot Marquette 17-8. Marquette keeper Noah Heim made six saves. Georgetown keeper JT Marcinkowski had two saves.
Georgetown Up Next: No. 22 BUTLER (10/6)
Marquette Up Next: at Wisconsin (10/4)
XAVIER 4, PROVIDENCE 1
Xavier redshirt sophomore Samson Sergi scored two goals in the first five minutes to set the tone early for the Musketeers 4-1 win over Providence at home. Xavier took the lead in the second minute and added the eventual game-winner less than two minutes later. Xavier's four goals are the most for the Musketeers in 2017. The four-tally evening also marks the most in a single half and for a complete match since scoring four in the second period against UC in 2016, a 4-2 win over the Bearcats. Xavier keeper Zachary Nelson made six saves in goal, matching a career-high set against Kentucky on Sept. 20 as Providence outshot Xavier 19-6 and had 10 corners to Xavier’s one. Mac Steeves scored the lone goal for Providence in the 16th minute.
Providence Up Next: at MARQUETTE (10/7)
Xavier Up Next: Detroit (10/3)
DEPAUL 1, VILLANOVA 0
Scoreless through 73 minutes, DePau’s Stijn Van der Slot netted the game-winner for DePaul with assists by Joshua Bowser and Istvan Wilhelms. Villanova keeper Will Steiner and DePaul keeper Quentin Low made two saves each in the contest. Shots were even at 11-11. On goal, DePaul had a slight edge 3-2. Villanova had 11 corners to DePaul’s three. DePaul advanced to 4-5-1, 1-1-1 BIG EAST; while Villanova fell to 5-5-0, 1-2-0 BIG EAST. Eight of DePaul’s 10 matches have been decided by one goal.
DePaul Up Next: at SETON HALL (10/7)
Villanova Up Next: at Princeton (10/4)
#BEfútbol Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday, Oct. 3
Detroit at XAVIER at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 4
VILLANOVA at Princeton at 7 p.m.
MARQUETTE at Wisconsin at 8 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.