Butler Closes Regular Season Against Top League Foes
CHALLENGING SLATE: Butler will close out
its regular season schedule with perhaps its two most significant
matches of the season. The Bulldogs will begin the
challenging final week at league-leading Valparaiso on Wednesday,
Nov. 2. That contest at Valparaiso’s Brown Field is
scheduled for 8:30 p.m. (ET). Three days later, Butler will
wrap-up the regular season at home against Wright State, a team
currently tied for second place in the league standings. The
Bulldogs (7-7-2, 2-3-1 Horizon League) are fighting for a berth in
the Horizon League tournament. The top six teams in the final
league standings will advance to the 2011 Horizon League
Men’s Soccer Championship, and Butler currently is tied for
sixth place with UIC. Butler can guarantee itself a spot in
the tournament with a pair of wins. Without a sweep, the
Bulldogs’ fate will rest with the outcome of UIC’s
final two matches against Loyola and Milwaukee. Valparaiso
enters Wednesday’s match with an unbeaten (5-0-1) Horizon
League record, while Wright State is tied with Cleveland State at
4-2-1. Saturday’s match against Wright State will start
at 5 p.m. (ET) at the Butler
Bowl.
Butler has played in every Horizon League Championship since
1990.
LEAGUE SPLIT: The Bulldogs came out on
opposite sides of two league matches last week, falling at home to
Cleveland State, 2-1, before taking a 3-1 decision at
Detroit. Butler jumped to a 1-0 lead less than seven minutes
into the match with Cleveland State, but the visiting Vikings
rallied in the second half to pull out the come-from-behind
victory. The Bulldogs also grabbed an early lead at Detroit,
scoring less than 13 minutes into the contest, but then added to
that advantage with two more goals, before surrendering a late
score to the host Titans. The three goals at Detroit matched
Butler’s single game high this season and were the most by
the Bulldogs since a 3-1 victory at Loyola on Oct. 1.
SCORING POINTS: For the second time in three
matches, sophomore Austin Oldham played a central role in a Butler
victory. The second-year forward had the game-winning goal in
Butler’s 1-0 non-league victory at Evansville, and then he
picked up the assist on the freshman Chad Rigg’s game-winning
goal at Detroit. Oldham also scored Butler’s first goal
against the Titans off a free kick with just 12:55 gone in the
match. Oldham, who leads the Bulldogs in scoring with seven
goals and four assists on the season, has two game-winning goals on
the season, and he’s had assists on two additional
game-winners.
Austin Oldham is tied for third in the Horizon League in points
(18).
RETURN PERFORMANCE: Freshman Zach
Steinberger, who missed four matches with injury, returned to
Butler’s lineup against Cleveland State and immediately
picked up an assist on the Bulldogs’ first goal in the
match. He then scored Butler’s third goal in the
Bulldogs’ victory at Detroit. The first-year midfielder
is second on the team in scoring with three goals and five assists,
and he’s taken over the Horizon League lead in assists per
game (0.42). He’s tied for third in the league in total
assists, one behind co-leaders Ivan Stanisavljevic of UIC and
Stuart Grable of Green Bay.
BULLDOG BITS: Goalkeeper Jon Dawson has
recorded 24 saves in his last four matches. He had a
career-high seven saves in Butler’s match at Green Bay,
before chalking up six saves at Evansville, five against Cleveland
State and six at Detroit...Sophomore Austin Oldham is tied for
fourth in the Horizon League in goals (7), and he stands third in
the circuit in shots (40)...Seniors JC Aikenhead, Lucas Eichhorn,
Dustin Mares and Randy Richter will be honored prior to
Butler’s final regular season match against Wright State.
