@ButlerMenSoccer Opens NCAA Tournament Play Thursday with Lipscomb
BIG EAST Men's Soccer NCAA Update - 11.16.17 (PDF)
BIG EAST regular season champion Butler opens NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament play Thursday night, hosting Lipscomb in a first-round match at the Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis. The 7 p.m. match will air live on the Butler Bulldogs Facebook page.
The winner of Thursday's match will travel to VCU for a Sunday contest with No. 16 seed VCU, which received a first-round bye.
The Bulldogs received the eighth NCAA Tournament berth in program history and the second of the at-large variety. It is also Butler's second consecutive appearance under head coach Paul Snape.
Butler is 12-4-2 overall and finished the BIG EAST regular season with an 8-1 record. Lipscomb has an overall record of 11-7-2. After going 2-4 in the ASUN's regular season, the team made a run to the tournament championship and the automatic bid. This is the first NCAA Tournament appearance for Lipscomb.
Butler is 2-6-1 in NCAA Tournament matches, including SIUE advancing in a shootout in the second round of the 2016 tournament which is officially a draw.
This will be the first meeting between Butler and Lipscomb.
Butler and Lipscomb have three common opponents on their respective 2017 schedules: Evansville, SIUE and South Florida. Both teams defeated Evansville, while Butler beat South Florida and lost to SIUE. The Bisons lost to South Florida but topped SIUE.
BIG EAST tournament champion Georgetown was selected as overall No. 14 seed. The Hoyas have a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the SMU/Central Arkansas match, which is taking place in Dallas at 7 p.m. SMU is the host.