NEW YORK – After the an exciting final night of regular-season play, the bracket for the 2018 BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Championship presented by Jeep has been set. No. 1 seed Georgetown, No. 2 seed Butler, No. 3 seed St. John’s and No. 4 seed Xavier punched their tickets prior to Thursday, while No. 5 seed DePaul mathematically clinched after the Bulldogs defeated Villanova in the day’s early match. The final slot came down to Providence and Creighton, as the Friars rallied from a 2-0 second-half deficit to defeat the Bluejays 3-2 in overtime in a winner-takes-all match, clinching the No. 6 seed.
Top-seeded Georgetown (15-0-3, 8-0-1 BIG EAST) is the back-to-back BIG EAST Champion, winning the last two conference tournaments on its home turf at Shaw Field. The Hoyas’ first-round bye sends them straight to a semifinal match on Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m. ET. GU will host the winner of the 4-5 first round matchup, which pits No. 4 seed Xavier against No. 5 seed DePaul. Georgetown, which is ranked fourth nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll, is in the conference tournament for a 10
th consecutive year and 16
th time overall.
Second-seeded Butler (12-5-1, 6-2-1) will face the winner of the 3-6 showdown, which sees No. 3 seed St. John’s hosting sixth-seeded Providence. Butler will host its semifinal match on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are making their fifth appearance in the BIG EAST Championship and have advanced to the final in two of the last three seasons, including in 2017 against the Hoyas.
BIG EAST Championship First Round action kicks off on Sunday at 1 p.m., as the third-seeded Red Storm welcome the sixth-seeded Friars. The teams played to a scoreless draw when they met in Queens on Oct. 4 of this season. St. John’s (9-8-1, 5-3-1) is coming off a 1-0 setback to DePaul on Thursday night, which eliminated the Red Storm’s chances of a first-round bye. St. John’s is making its 15
th appearance in the BIG EAST Championship and first since 2016. Providence (10-5-3, 4-3-2) qualifies for the fifth consecutive year and eighth time overall.
Fourth-seeded Xavier (10-7-2, 4-3-2) hosts fifth-seeded DePaul (8-6-4, 4-3-2) in the second First Round contest, set for 4 p.m. The Musketeers dealt No. 4 Georgetown its lone tie of BIG EAST play on Thursday night. The draw gave XU a point in the standings to move into a three-way tie with DePaul and Providence. The Musketeers beat both teams during the regular season to break free of the tie. The Blue Demons locked up the five seed after winning at St. John’s on Thursday. Xavier won the regular-season meeting between the two squads in double-overtime in Chicago, 3-2, on Oct. 7.
Both BIG EAST Championship First Round matches will stream live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, as will both Semifinal tilts. FS1 takes over for the final, slated for Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. The higher seed will host all five matches of the conference tournament for a second consecutive year. Five of the six participants in this season’s tournament have BIG EAST Championship titles to their credit, with Georgetown winning in 2017 and 2016, Butler in 2015, DePaul in 2014, St. John’s in 1994 and Providence in 1993.
2018 BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Championship
Presented By Jeep
First Round – Sunday, Oct. 28 - BEDN
No. 6 seed Providence at No. 3 seed St. John’s, 1 p.m.
No. 5 seed DePaul at No. 4 seed Xavier, 4 p.m.
Semifinals – Thursday, Nov. 1 - BEDN
No. 4/5 winner at No. 1 seed Georgetown, 1:30 p.m.
No. 3/6 winner at No. 2 seed Butler, 7 p.m.
Final – Sunday, Nov. 4 - FS1
Semifinal Winners, 1 p.m.
All times Eastern - All games played at the higher seed