NEW YORK – In the opening round of the 2023 BIG EAST Championship presented by JEEP, No. 1 seed Georgetown, No. 2 seed Xavier, No. 3 seed Providence and No. 5 seed UConn earned victories and advanced to the semifinals on Thursday. The Hoyas earned a late goal to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win over No. 8 seed Seton Hall, while the Friars earned a 3-0 win over defending BIG EAST Champions Creighton in the early games. In the night games, the Huskies edged No. 4 seed St. John’s in overtime, 2-1, before the Musketeers topped No. 7 seed Akron, 1-0.
 
Georgetown, Xavier, Providence and UConn will each travel to Boyds, Md., on Thursday, Nov. 9 for semifinal action. Xavier will face Providence at 4 p.m. ET, before Georgetown goes against UConn at 6:30 p.m. at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Both games will air on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports Presented by Invesco QQQ. Semifinal winners advance to the title game on Sunday, Nov. 12, which is slated for an 11 a.m. start and will air on FS1. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives the Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Georgetown 2, Seton Hall 1
Fifth-ranked Georgetown first got on the board in the 34th minute with a goal from Kyle Linhares at the far post after a connection from teammates Marlon Tabora and Zach Zengue. Overall the Hoyas outshot the Pirates 5-1 in the opening half and took the 1-0 lead into the locker room. Five minutes out of the break, Seton Hall found the equalizer on a set piece, when Hugo Gerbore slipped a beautiful free kick into the bottom corner of the goal. Playing up a man after a red card handed out to Seton Hall in the 64^th minute, Georgetown put the game away in the 86^th minute off a strike from freshman Matthew Van Horn. The Midfielder whipped a shot with his left foot to the upper left corner of the goal to seal the win.

Xavier 1, Akron 0
In a high-intensity game between Akron and Xavier, the Musketeers earned a lead they would not look back on the 57^th minute, when Ernest Mensah Jr. and George Waites set up Elmquist Grayson for the lone tally of the match. In the opening half, Akron held a 6-5 advantage in shots, as well as a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks taken, but the two teams entered the locker room scoreless. Overall, the two teams both took 10 shots in the match, with Akron holding a slight 6-5 lead in shots on goal. In net, redshirt freshman Jonny Mennell corralled six saves and earned his seventh shut out of the season, as Xavier collected its first tournament victory under second-year head coach John Higgins.
 
Providence 3, Creighton 0
Led by Brendan McSorley’s brace, Providence scored a goal in the opening minute before adding a pair of second half tallies to put the game away at home. The Friars’ Rodrigo Vaza passed to Nathan Messer who crossed the ball for McSorley in the opening minute, as the senior headed the ball into the back of the net for the early 1-0 lead. After a back-and-forth contest over the next 59 minutes, Bruno Rosa extended the Providence lead with a gal from inside the box in the 60^th minute. McSorley later put the game away in the 75^th minute, putting freshman midfielder Pearse O’Brien’s cross into the back of the net. McSorley registered his third multi-goal game of the season, and now has a career-high 11 goals in 2023. The Friars will be making their 16th appearance all-time in the BIG EAST Semifinals, and fourth appearance in the last six years (2018, 2019, 2021, 2023).

UConn 2, St. John’s 1 (OT)
In a tale of two halves, UConn outshot St. John’s 7-4 in the opening 45 minutes, as Scott Testori opened the scoring in the match in the 21^st minute to give Huskies a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room. Over the final 45 minutes of regulation, the Red Storm controlled the pitch with a 10-4 shot advantage, as Lenny Cidolit tied the match in the 47^th minute. The contest remained a 1-1 draw through regulation, with both St. John’s goalie Alec McLachlan and UConn’s keeper Kyle Briere doing everything they could to keep the opposition off the board. In the 102^nd minute, just under two minutes into the second overtime, Eli Conway gave the Huskies a lead they would not look back on with his third goal of the season.
 
2023 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship 
Presented By Jeep
First Round – Nov. 4 - BEDN on Flo Sports (Invesco QQQ) - Higher seed hosts
No. 1 Georgetown 2, No. 8 Seton Hall 1
No. 3 Providence 3, No. 6 Creighton 0
No. 5 UConn 2, No. 4 St. John’s 1 (OT)
No. 2 Xavier 1, No. 7 Akron 0

Semifinals - Nov. 9 - BEDN on Flo Sports (Invesco QQQ)                                                                  
No. 2 Xavier vs. No. 3 Providence -- 4 p.m. ET
No. 1 Georgetown vs. No. 5 UConn -- 6:30 p.m. ET

Final - Nov. 12 – FS1
Championship Game -- 11 a.m. ET