The Butler men’s soccer team hosted St. Louis in an exhibition match Sunday and came away with a 4-2 victory.

The Bulldogs took an early lead with first-half goals from freshman Zach Steinberger and sophomore newcomer Nico Oliverio.

“We are usually a team that likes coming from behind, so to get that early lead was crucial,” Steinberger said.

Steinberger added another goal in the second half to push Butler to a 3-0 lead.

The Billikens then tallied two quick goals to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to one.

Oliverio came through again after the St. Louis goals, scoring his second goal of the game and giving Butler a 4-2 lead.

The Bulldogs will continue their spring season with another exhibition match Friday.

This time, Butler will face Michigan State in Fort Wayne.

Spring has arrived on campus, but that does not mean the school’s fall athletic teams are resting easy.

The Butler men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball teams are currently participating in spring seasons even though their regular seasons are still months away.

The men’s and women’s soccer teams are both in the middle of month-long exhibition seasons that run from late March to the end of April.

The men’s squad took on Oakland last Saturday and has four games remaining this spring. The women’s team has already faced three teams and will take on Indiana on April 21.

Men’s soccer coach Paul Snape said playing games against other schools in the offseason gives players a chance to face off against different competitors.

“The problem is when you play against each other, you can get stale,” Snape said, “so playing other teams is a great opportunity to stay fresh.”

Junior forward Katie Griswold, a member of the women’s soccer team, said spring games help the team plan strategy for the fall season.

“[Spring games] let our coaches see what we need to work on, what will best suit the team and which formations will fit our team best,” Griswold said.

The volleyball team has matches scheduled on each of the first three Saturdays in April.

Junior outside hitter Rachel Barber said that the younger members of the team take advantage of the spring season.

“(The spring season) benefits the younger players the most,” Barber said. “It’s about getting comfortable with each other and allowing the coaches to develop players.”

The football team may not have games scheduled for the offseason, but coach Jeff Voris has 14 practices planned between March 23 and April 20.

The practices will culminate in the annual Blue-White Spring Game on April 21.

Sophomore running back Trae Heeter said that the squad focuses on re-implementing the team’s formations.

It also gives younger players time to impress the coaching staff.

“In the spring, we re-install either our offensive schemes or our defensive schemes,” Heeter said. “It’s basically a time for the guys that have been here to continue to work on their skills and for the freshmen and sophomores to go out there and show the coaches what they can do.”

The two-part scenario was simple for the Butler men’s soccer team entering last Wednesday: Win or tie the final two matches of the regular season or go home.

The second match resulted in a 1-0 loss for the Bulldogs (7-8-3, 2-4-2) to the league’s second place team, Wright State, on Saturday afternoon at the Butler Bowl, capping a disappointing conference season.

“We went out there and had to play positive,” coach Paul Snape said. “We had to make sure that we didn’t overcommit ourselves, and we went out and created a lot of good chances.”

Photo by Maria Porter

Butler had put itself in position to move on to the Horizon League Tournament with a win or tie against the Raiders (10-6-2, 5-2-1) after tying 1-1 with league-leading Valparaiso on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs had several scoring opportunities early on, including freshman forward Chad Rigg striking the crossbar with a shot in the opening minute of the match.

However, the first major  momentum shift came in Wright State’s favor when sophomore midfielder Will McAteer successfully converted a corner kick in the 24th minute for the match’s first and only goal.

“[Snape] articulated some good tactical aspects at halftime that put us in position to score,” junior defenseman Jared Isenthal said. “Our execution kind of failed us.”

The Raiders were able to keep the Bulldogs from scoring the rest of the match despite Butler finishing with a 17-8 advantage in shots and a 9-4 advantage in shots-on-goal.

In the final 15 minutes, Butler struck the crossbar twice but could not find the back of the net as time eventually expired in the match and on Butler’s season.

Sophomore forward Austin Oldham led the Bulldogs’ attack with four shots, and junior goalkeeper John Dawson contributed three saves in the loss.

The match was the last in the collegiate careers of Butler’s five seniors: defenseman JC Aikenhead, midfielder Lucas Eichhorn, midfielder Dustin Mares, midfielder Randy Richter and student manager Jack Morlock.

“It was a unique senior class,” Isenthal said. “Each one brought different aspects to the team that a team needs.

“Most of all [we are going to miss] their experience.  That kind of set the tone for what it means to play soccer at Butler.”

The five seniors were part of the winningest stretch in Butler history, compiling a 50-15-12 record while playing in a blue and white uniform.

Photo by Reid Bruner

They also played in two NCAA tournaments and won two Horizon League regular season titles during their careers.

Next season’s squad expects to return 10 of the 11 players who started against Wright State, including Isenthal, Oldham and Dawson.