NEW YORK – With a 2-1 win over Marquette, the No. 21 Butler Bulldogs clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming championship and their first men’s soccer regular season crown. Butler (11-4-1, 7-1-0 BIG EAST) secured a bye to the semifinals as well as home field advantage throughout the tournament should they win.
St. John’s (8-6-2, 5-2-1 BIG EAST) upset No. 10 Georgetown at home on Belson Field on Saturday night, 1-0, which clinched a playoff berth for the Red Storm as well as marked head coach Dave Masur’s 400th career victory. The Red Storm has not made the championship since 2012, but has won nine tournament titles, with their latest in 2011. St. John’s was picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll.
Xavier (10-4-2, 5-3-0 BIG EAST) also clinched a playoff spot, the Musketeers’ fifth in five years as XU rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 in overtime at home against Seton Hall. Xavier has never missed a postseason since joining the league in 2013 and was picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches’ poll.
The second bye and No. 2 seed is up for grabs between Georgetown (11-3-2, 5-2-1 BIG EAST), St. John’s and Xavier. All three schools can finish as high as No. 2 but no lower than the fourth seed, guaranteeing the Hoyas, Red Storm and Musketeers at least one home match in the upcoming tournament.
Creighton (9-5-2, 3-3-2 BIG EAST) Providence (5-7-4, 2-2-4 BIG EAST) and Marquette (3-10-2, 3-4-1 BIG EAST) are still alive in the playoff picture, trying to fill the final two spots. The Bluejays netted a big shutout win over DePaul on senior night, 2-0. Providence defeated Villanova 2-1 on the road in the afternoon match.
The season will come to a close on Wednesday as the seeds will be set and the final two tickets will be punched. All five matches will be streamed on BEDN with special #BracketDay coverage in the BIG EAST New York studio.
Last Night In #BEfútbol – 10.29.17
PROVIDENCE 2, VILLANOVA 1
Providence scored two goals early as Danny Griffin with an assist from Braden Kline netted the first Friar goal in the 12th minute. Matt DePerro scored five minutes later to give PC a 2-0 lead. Villanova (7-10-0, 2-6-0 BIG EAST) answered right back less than a minute later as Wildcat points-leader Lucas Hodges scored his sixth goal of the season. No one would score for the rest of the match, despite Villanova having a 7-2 shot advantage in the second period. Friar keeper Colin Miller made seven saves to preserve the win.
XAVIER 3, SETON HALL 2 (OT)
Xavier preserved a clean slate during league play at home as the Musketeers advance to 4-0-0 at the XU Soccer Complex. Xavier scored first after a scoreless 57 minutes as Simen Hesntes netted his fifth goal of the year. Seton Hall (5-10-1, 2-6-0 BIG EAST) rallied with a goal by Andres Arcila in the 63rd to tie it. Marco Neves gave the Pirates the go-ahead in the 86th, capitalizing on a Musketeer turnover. XU’s Samuel Buzzas sent the game to overtime with a goal in the final minute assisted by both Cory Brown and Cameron Taylor. Xavier point-leader Matt Vasquenza scored the golden goal in the fourth minute of overtime. Seton Hall keeper Peyton Elder had six saves for the Pirates. Xavier had 14 shots to Seton Hall’s six in the second half, 20-12 for the match.
ST. JOHN’S 1, No. 10 GEORGETON 0
Red Storm senior midfielder David Enstrom headed in a goal in the 31st minute, which would be the deciding factor in St. John’s upset over the Hoyas. The Red Storm’s win marked its first against a top-10 opponent in four years, as the 2013 squad topped the then-No. 5 Hoyas, 1-0, at Belson Stadium. Enstrom’s goal was his first as a St. John’s player. Andrew Withers earned his seventh shutout of the season between the pipes on Saturday night, stopping both of the Hoyas’ tries on target. Hoya keeper JT Marcinkowski also had two saves.
CREIGHTON 2, DEPAUL 0
After an evenly played first half on Saturday, the Bluejays scored two goals during the final 20 minutes of action to claim their seventh home victory and end the regular-season home schedule at 7-1-1. CU’s Ricky Lopez-Espin scored his team-best 10th goal of the season in the 74th minute, then assisted on the safety goal in the 89th, which was scored by Sven Koenig. Creighton senior Michael Kluver made a career-high seven saves to preserve his sixth shutout of the season. The Omaha, Neb., native, recorded five saves during the opening 45 minutes. Creighton ended the match with a 22-11 edge in shots, including 16-5 during the second half. The Bluejays also finished with eight corner kicks while DePaul (4-11-2, 1-6-1 BIG EAST) had only two. DePaul keeper Quentin Low had nine saves.
No. 21 BUTLER 2, MARQUETTE 1
Butler junior Joe Moulden scored the game-winner, which was also the first goal of his Butler career. The score in the 47th minute was a header off a free kick from Lewis Suddick. Forty-one seconds later, Suddick fed Bulldog goal-leader Brandon Guhl, who scored from the right side. That flurry of activity proved to be all the offense Butler needed as the Bulldogs' defense was able to withstand 21 shots by the host Golden Eagles. Eric Dick made eight saves, including several of the acrobatic variety, to preserve the win. Marquette's only goal came in the 72nd minute off a left-footed blast from Connor Alba, just outside the box.
#BEfútbol #BracketDay Schedule
Wednesday, Nov. 1 (all matches on @BIGEASTdigital)
MARQUETTE at DEPAUL at 1 p.m.
CREIGHTON at GEORGETOWN at 2 p.m.
ST. JOHN’S at PROVIDENCE at 7 p.m.
VILLANOVA at SETON HALL at 7 p.m.
XAVIER at BUTLER at 7 p.m.
All times are Eastern, unless noted.