Men's Soccer Notes - BIG EAST Semifinals 11.7.17 (PDF)
NEW YORK – The 2017 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship presented by Jeep continues on Wednesday with an afternoon and a night feature. No. 3 seed St. John’s visits No. 2 seed Georgetown at Shaw Field at 1 p.m., followed by No. 4 seed Xavier at top-seeded Butler at 7 p.m. Both times are Eastern and both matches will be on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Semifinalists Butler and Georgetown have not played since the regular season ended Nov. 1, with both teams having a bye in the tournament’s first round. Butler and Georgetown were both unbeaten on their home fields during BIG EAST play. The Bulldogs went 5-0-0, while Georgetown went 4-0-1.
St. John’s defeated sixth-seeded Creighton, 3-1 to advance; while Xavier shut out fifth-seeded Providence, 3-0.
The men’s soccer semifinals feature key rematches from the regular season.
Matchup: No. 3 seed St. John’s at No. 2 seed [18] Georgetown
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Live Stats: GameTracker
Live Video: BEDN
Meeting Notes: In Queens this year, St. John’s upset Georgetown, then ranked 10th nationally, 1-0 (Oct. 28). BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year David Enstrom scored the lone goal of the evening. Enstrom and the St. John’s back line held the Hoyas to just two shots on goal. The Hoyas will be looking to avenge that loss that potentially then the 2017 regular-season title. Historically, St. John’s leads the all-time series 22-8-3. In tournament action, the teams have met six times, the last time in 2012. Georgetown knocked St. John’s out of the tournament 1-0 in the Quarterfinals. Similarly, St. John’s was a No. 3 seed in what was then the Red Division and Georgetown was No. 2 in the Blue Division. St. John’s and Georgetown have twice played in the title game against each other. St. John’s won both meetings in 1994 (1-0) and 1998 (4-1). In the 2017 tournament first round, St. John’s had a two-goal game from Alistair Johnson to advance to the BIG EAST semifinals. St. John’s scored twice in less than seven minutes against visiting Creighton, ending with a final score of 3-1. Georgetown will be playing against the Red Storm off a week’s rest. The Hoyas’ last match was also a 3-1 victory over a visiting Creighton team.
In The BIG EAST Championship: Sixth meeting; St. John’s leads the series, 4-2-0
St. John’s In The BIG EAST Championship: 35-16-4; 26th appearance (Last 2012); Nine-time champion (1992-95, ’98, ’01, ’06, ’09, ’11)
Georgetown In The BIG EAST Championship: 13-19-5; 24th appearance (Last 2015); 2015 Champion, Four-time runner-up (’94, ’98, ’99, 2012)
Matchup: No. 4 seed Xavier at No. 1 seed [15] Butler
Time: 7 p.m. (ET)
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Live Video: BEDN
Meeting Notes: Wednesday night’s semifinal machup is a rematch of the 2017 regular season final where Butler scored a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Xavier to cap off a successful regular season. After Simen Hestnes scored the game’s first goal for the Musketeers in the 17th, Butler answered with goals from Isaac Galliford and Eric Leonard. Galliford assisted Leonard’s game-winner. BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year Eric Dick made five saves in goal as Xavier outshot Butler 13-6, 6-2 on goal. The last time Xavier was in the tournament semifinals the Musketeers lost to then-No. 1 seed Georgetown in 2015 as the fourth seed. Butler’s last semifinal ended in a 1-0 victory over Villanova en route to a 2016 BIG EAST Championship title. The last time these two teams met in the BIG EAST Championship was 2013. Butler defeated Xavier 1-0 in the tournament’s first round. Butler leads the all-time series record 5-1-0.
In The BIG EAST Championship: Second Meeting; Butler leads the series, 1-0-0 (2013)
Butler In The BIG EAST Championship: 3-1-0; Fourth appearance (Last 2016); 2016 Champion
Xavier In The BIG EAST Championship: 3-4-0; Fifth Appearance (Last 2016); 2014 Runner up
For more on the BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship, visit Championship Central
HERE.
2017 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship
Presented By Jeep
First Round – Nov. 4 - BEDN
No. 3 St. John’s 3, No. 6 Creighton 1
No. 4 Xavier 3, No. 5 Providence 0
Semifinals - Nov. 8 - BEDN
No. 3 St. John’s at No. 2 seed Georgetown, 1 p.m.
No. 4 Xavier at No. 1 seed Butler, 7 p.m.
Final - Nov. 12 – FS2
Semifinal Winners, 12 p.m.
All times Eastern - All games played at the higher seed