BOYDS, Md. – The BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship Presented by JEEP opened Thursday night with a pair of thrilling semifinal contests. No. 2 seed Xavier held on to beat No. 3 seed Providence with a strong defensive effort, 1-0, No. 1 seed Georgetown outlasted No. 5 seed UConn, 2-0. The Musketeers and Hoyas advance to Sunday’s title match at 11 a.m. ET on FS1. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
It marks the second matchup between the Hoyas and Musketeers in a BIG EAST Championship Game, with Georgetown winning the title in 2017, 2-1, in overtime. Overall, the Musketeers advance to the title game for the third time, while Georgetown is back in the championship game for the seventh consecutive season. The Hoyas have won five BIG EAST Championships in program history (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021) and will be appearing in the program's 12^th title game.
 
No. 2 Xavier 1, No. 3 Providence 0
Playing lock down defense throughout the course of Thursday’s first semifinal contest, Xavier (9-3-5, 4-1-3 BIG EAST) earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Providence (8-6-3, 4-2-2 BE). In a scoreless opening half, the Friars outshot the Musketeers 5-2, but both teams had just one shot on target in the first 45 minutes. Out of the locker room, the Musketeers offense lit up with three consecutive shots on target. Providence’s goalkeeper Lukas Burns prevented the first two shots from finding the back of the net, however as the third attempt slipped toward the line, Xavier’s Taylor Rhinehart put it away to take the 1-0 lead. Following the goal, Providence fired off 14 shots, including a penalty kick opportunity, however redshirt freshman Jonny Mennell and the Xavier defense were up for the challenge with four saves and several key blocks.

No. 1 Georgetown 2, No. 5 UConn 0
Georgetown (13-2-2, 6-1-1 BE) tallied two goals in the second half to move past UConn (9-8-1, 4-4-0 BE). In a scoreless opening half, the Hoyas amassed eight shots and four shots on target compared to one shot for the Huskies, but Jayden Hibbert was up for the challenge corralling four of his five saves in the opening 45 minutes. Georgetown’s Marlon Tabora broke the tie in the 70^th minute with a blast into the back of the net off an assist by Kieran Sargeant. Max Viera added the insurance goal in in the 88^th minute off an assist by Kyle Linhares as the Hoyas secured the 2-0 victory. Overall, Georgetown outshot UConn 16-5 in the match, with seven shots on goal.

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 1, No. 3 Providence 0
No. 1 Georgetown 2, No. 5 UConn 0

Final - Nov. 12 – FS1
No. 1 Georgetown vs. No. 2 Xavier -- 11 a.m. ET