Bulldogs Face Indiana In NCAA Tournament
NCAA START: Butler, the regular season
champion of the Horizon League, will begin play in the 2009 NCAA
Men’s Soccer Championship at Indiana on Sunday, Nov.
22. The Bulldogs’ first tournament match is slated for
2 p.m. (ET) at Indiana’s Armstrong Stadium. The
Bulldogs, ranked 23rd in the National Soccer Coaches Association of
America national poll at the end of the regular season, earned the
No. 12 seed and a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament.
Butler (14-2-2) was an at-large selection to the national
tournament, after losing the Horizon League’s automatic bid
to Green Bay on penalty kicks, 3-2, in the league championship
game. The two teams had tied, 0-0 (2OT), in the championship
match. Indiana advanced to Sunday’s match with a 2-0
victory over Louisville on Thursday, Nov. 19. The victory was
Indiana’s 75th in NCAA Tournament play. Butler and
Indiana met earlier this season at Armstrong Stadium, and the
Bulldogs came away with a 2-1 victory on a goal by junior Conner
Burt in the second overtime period. The winner of the
Butler-Indiana match will advance to face the winner of
Sunday’s North Carolina-Brown contest in the third round on
Sunday, Nov.
29.
Butler is making its fifth NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship
appearance.
BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA: Butler is playing in
the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001. The
Bulldogs are 3-4-1 overall in NCAA Tournament play. Butler
has faced Indiana on three previous occasions in the national
tournament, posting a 1-0 victory over the Hoosiers in 1995 before
dropping decisions in 1997 and 1998 by identical 2-1 (OT)
scores. Each of the three previous meetings was played at
Indiana. Butler’s last NCAA appearance also was at
Indiana, but the Bulldogs fell in that meet to Michigan State,
2-1.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler battled Green Bay to a
0-0 deadlock through 110 minutes of the title match of the 2009
Horizon League Men’s Soccer Championship at the Butler Bowl,
but came up short of the crown on penalty kicks, 3-2. Green
Bay goalkeeper Ryan Wehking stopped the Bulldogs’ first and
fourth penalty kicks, around successful attempts by freshman
Julian Cardona and junior Ben Sippola. The
Phoenix, meanwhile, were successful on three of their first four
kicks. Wehking then stopped Butler’s final attempt to
give Green Bay the title. Butler, the top seed in the
tournament, had reached the final with a 2-1 victory over Cleveland
State. Sippola and senior Boris Gatzky had Butler’s
goals in the win.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: Butler was represented on
the 2009 Horizon League Championship All-Tournament Team by seniors
Boris Gatzky and Kyle VondenBenken and junior Ben Sippola. It
was the first league All-Tournament selection for each of the
Butler players. Prior to the tournament, Gatzky, VondenBenken
and sophomore Matt Hedges were named first team All-Horizon League,
while juniors Conner Burt and Fabian Knopfler was tabbed second
team All-League. Freshmen Julian Cardona,
Tyler Pollock and Jared Isenthal were picked to the league’s
All-Newcomer Team. Hedges was named Horizon League Defensive
Player of the Year, Cardona was picked league Newcomer of the Year
and head coach Kelly Findley was named league Coach of the
Year.
BULLDOG BITS: Butler is ranked third in the
NCAA Division I in won-lost-tied percentage (.833), behind Akron
(1.000) and Monmouth (.925)...The Bulldogs are ninth in Division I
in goals against average (0.59). Butler topped the Horizon
League in fewest goals allowed (11) and goals against
average...Senior Fabian Knopfler leads the Horizon League and ranks
12th in the NCAA Division I in goals against average (0.63).
The Butler goalkeeper has allowed just nine goals in 14 matches
this season...Freshman Julian Cardona leads the Horizon League in
game-winning goals with four. Teammate Matt Hedges is one of
four players tied for second in the league with three
game-winners...Senior Boris Gatzky is currently tied for third on
Butler’s all-time list for assists with 20. Gatzky is
10th on Butler’s all-time scoring chart with 54 career
points...Gatzky, who ranks third in the Horizon League in assists
(7), had assists on both Butler goals against Indiana earlier last
month...Freshman Tyler Pollock had Butler’s first goal at
Indiana last month, the third of his Butler career.