#12 Butler Hosts Horizon League Foe UIC
HOME RUN: Butler, the last unbeaten,
untied team in the NCAA Division I, will continue it’s
four-match homestand and return to Horizon League play when it
hosts UIC on Saturday, Oct 9. The contest at the Butler Bowl
is slated to start at 4 p.m. (ET). The Bulldogs improved to
9-0-0 overall with a 2-1 victory over Evansville on Tuesday (Oct.
5). The match was the second on the current homestand and
boosted head coach Kelly Findley’s squad to 3-0 in the Butler
Bowl this season. The Flames (3-6-0, 1-2-0 Horizon League)
also are coming off a victory after posting a 4-0 decision against
Wright State in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday (Oct. 3). The shutout
came in the first career start of redshirt freshman goalkeeper
Piotr Kikloski. Butler will close out its current homestand
with a non-league match against Bowling Green on Wednesday, Oct.
13.
Butler is 9-0 for the first time in school history, topping the
8-0 start of 1990.
POLL VAULTING: Butler continues to climb in
the national soccer polls, and the Bulldogs now stand at #15 or
higher in each of the major soccer rankings. The Bulldogs
rose to #12 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches
Association of America (NSCAA) poll, Butler’s highest ranking
in the coaches’ poll. Butler is ranked #10 in the Top
Drawer Soccer Tournament 48 poll, #13 by Soccer America, #12 by
Soccer Times, and #15 by College Soccer News. Goal.com lists
Butler at #5. The Bulldogs remain at #3 in the Great Lakes
Region, the highest ranking of any team from Indiana.
CLOSING STATEMENT: Butler posted
back-to-back victories over opponents from Indiana in its last two
outings, and both came in thrilling, last-minute fashion.
Senior Conner Burt took a cross from teammate Ben Sippola and
slipped a header into the lower right corner of the net with 1:59
remaining in the second overtime to give Butler a hard-fought, 1-0,
victory over Horizon League foe Valparaiso on Friday, Oct. 1.
Four days later, senior Kyle Pateros scored on a header with 1:31
remaining in regulation play to lift Butler to a 2-1 victory over
visiting Evansville in a non-league match. The game-winner by
Pateros was his second this season, while Burt picked up his
first.
FIRST DEFENSE: Butler continues to lead the
Horizon League in goals against average (0.43), and the Bulldogs
are tied for the league lead in shutouts (5). Head coach
Kelly Findley’s squad has not allowed more than one goal in a
match this season, and Butler has given up just one goal in three
Horizon League matches. Senior goalkeeper Fabian
Knopfler leads the Horizon League and ranks sixth in the
NCAA Division I in goals against average (0.43), and he tops the
league in shutouts (5). Knopfler has allowed just 14 goals in
his last 24 matches.
Fabian Knopfler ranks second on Butler’s all-time list
for shutouts with 15.
BULLDOG BITS: Butler leads the Horizon
League in goals scored with 21. The Bulldogs entered this
week’s action tied for 22nd in the NCAA Division I in goals
scored...Senior Ben Sippola stands second in the Horizon League in
points (15), and he’s tied for second in the league in goals
(5). He’s tied for first in the circuit in assists
(5)...Freshman Adekunle Oluyedun scored his fourth collegiate goal
to give Butler a 1-0 lead over Evansville. He’s tied
with teammate Matt Hedges for fourth in the Horizon League in goals
scored...Senior Conner Burt, who scored the game-winner in
Butler’s double-overtime victory over Valparaiso, was named
to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for the week
ending Oct. 3.
