NEW YORK – UConn and Providence scored regular-season finale wins on Thursday to clinch berths in the 2021 BIG EAST Women’s Soccer Championship presented by JEEP. The Huskies and Friars secured the final two spots in the field, joining No. 1 seed Xavier, No. 2 seed Georgetown, No. 3 seed Butler and No. 4 seed St. John’s, who entered the night having already qualified. The Friars defeated Seton Hall to earn the No. 5 seed, while the Huskies upset the 21^st-ranked Hoyas to claim the No. 6 seed. First Round play kicks off on Sunday as the Red Storm host the Friars and the Bulldogs host the Huskies. Both matches will begin at 1 p.m. ET and stream on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi, available on FloSports.
 
Sunday’s first-round winners advance to the semifinals, slated for Thursday, Nov. 4. Top-seeded Xavier will play the winner of the Providence-St. John’s match in the day’s first semifinal at 5 p.m., while No. 2 seed Georgetown will square off with the UConn-Butler winner in the second semi at 7:30 p.m. The BIG EAST Championship Semifinals will also stream on BEDN on FloSports. Semifinal winners advance to the title game on Sunday, Nov. 7, which is slated for a 1:30 p.m. start and will air on FS1. The Semifinals and Final will be played at Xavier’s Corcoran Field in Cincinnati, Ohio. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives the Conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Two teams that needed to win to continue their season did just that on Thursday as UConn (9-7-1, 5-4-1 BIG EAST) dealt Georgetown (11-1-6, 7-1-2) its first loss since the 2019 season, knocking off the Hoyas 1-0 in Washington, D.C. Providence (10-5-3, 5-3-2) followed, topping Seton Hall (6-12-0, 1-9-0) in Friartown, 2-0. The Huskies and Friars were in jeopardy of falling below Marquette (9-8-0, 5-5-0) in the standings, which defeated DePaul (7-11-0, 4-6-0) in their final contest of the season, 2-1. Additionally, Butler (14-3-1, 7-2-1) scored a 3-1 win over Creighton (7-10-2, 1-8-1) to secure its No. 3 seed, while St. John’s capitalized on yet another Zsani Kajan goal, defeating Villanova (7-11-0, 1-9-0) by a 2-1 margin to lock up the four-seed.
 
No. 2 seed Georgetown is the reigning BIG EAST Champion, winning its fourth title in the last five seasons this past April. The Hoyas are making their 19^th appearance in the BIG EAST Championship. Top-seeded and regular-season champion Xavier (16-1-1, 9-1-0) has one conference postseason title to its credit, coming in 2019. The Musketeers are headed to the BIG EAST Championship for the fourth time and are currently ranked 15th in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. No. 3 seed Butler has finished runner up in three of the last four seasons and won the tournament in 2015; the Bulldogs are making their eighth BIG EAST Championship appearance. St. John’s is back in the postseason for the first time since 2018 and eyes its second conference crown. The Red Storm are making their 16^th BIG EAST Championship appearance. Providence eyes its second BIG EAST title and first since the inaugural tournament in 1993, with the Friars last advancing to the title game in 2015. PC earned a BIG EAST berth for the 10^th time. Lastly, UConn is back in the BIG EAST Championship for the league-leading 21^st time; the Huskies have two tournament trophies to their credit, coming in 2002 and 2004, and have finished runner-up a conference-best nine times.
 
For more on the BIG EAST Championship, visit Championship Central here.
 
BIG EAST Women's Soccer Championship 
Presented by Jeep
First Round - Oct. 31 (home sites)
No. 6 seed UConn at No. 3 seed Butler, 1 p.m.*
No. 5 seed Providence at No. 4 seed St. John’s, 1 p.m.*
Semifinals - Nov. 4 - Cincinnati, Ohio
No. 4/5 winner vs. No. 1 seed Xavier, 5 p.m.*
No. 6/3 winner vs. No. 2 seed Georgetown, 7:30 p.m.*
Final - Nov. 7 - Cincinnati, Ohio
Semifinal Winners, 1:30 p.m. ET^
*BEDN
^FS1