The Butler men’s soccer team remained in control of its Horizon League tournament fate with a 3-1 victory over Detroit on Saturday.

Three different players scored for the Bulldogs (7-7-2, 2-3-1), and they kept the Titans (5-10-1, 1-5-1) off the scoreboard until the 86th minute in what proved to be a crucial conference win.

With the victory, Butler remains tied for sixth place in the conference standings with Illinois-Chicago.
Butler struck early against Detroit when sophomore forward Austin Oldham scored on a free kick in the 13th minute.

It would not take long for the Bulldogs to add an insurance goal.

Freshman forward Chad Rigg received the pass from Oldham on the left side and fired it past Titan sophomore goalkeeper Anthony Shepherd.

It was Rigg’s first collegiate goal and gave Butler a 2-0 lead just less than 20 minutes into the game.

In the 43rd minute, Butler redshirt freshman defenseman Brandon Fricke received a red card, meaning he had to sit out the rest of the match, and the Bulldogs were forced to play with only 10 men in the second half.

“It was unfortunate because [Fricke] has been playing really well lately,” coach Paul Snape said.

Freshman midfielder Zach Steinberger added a goal in the 78th minute to all but seal the game.

Oldham and Rigg led Butler with three shots each, while sophomore  goalkeeper Jon Dawson recorded six saves in net for the Bulldogs.

“We are confident in anyone who plays defender or goalkeeper,” Dawson said. “I was seeing the ball well, and our defenders were giving me windows so I could see.”

The win came three days after Butler fell to Cleveland State 2-1 at the Butler Bowl.

The Vikings (8-8-1, 4-2-1) scored two goals in a 12-minute span and shut Butler’s offense down to pick up the win.

Butler will take on Valparaiso on Wednesday and Wright State on Saturday. The latter match is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Butler Bowl.

Butler will need to maintain a top-six standing in the conference in order to play in the Horizon League tournament.

“Everything that we have prepared for has got us in this position right now,” Snape said.  “If everything comes together, I totally believe we can win both games.”

The Cleveland State Vikings (9-5-3, 5-0-1) and the Wright State Raiders (8-6-2, 4-2-1) are currently first and second in the Horizon League, respectively.

The Butler men’s soccer team broke a four-game losing streak with a non-conference victory over Evansville Saturday at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

The 1-0 victory over the Purple Aces (5-7-1) also broke a scoreless streak for the Bulldogs (6-6-2, 1-2-1) that lasted for more than 400 minutes.

Photo by Maria Porter

Sophomore forward Austin Oldham fired the ball past Evansville freshman goalkeeper Eric Teppen in the 36th minute.

The goal was Oldham’s team-leading sixth and his second game-winning goal of the season.

Photo by Maria Porter

Junior defenseman Jordan Burt picked up the assist on the play after feeding Oldham the ball across the pitch.

“It was a total team effort,” coach Paul Snape said of the scoring play.

The start of the match was consistent with the past three weeks for the Bulldogs, with the Purple Aces out-shooting them 8-4.

The turning point of the match was Oldham’s goal, which seemed to ignite Butler on both sides of the ball.

“We had four or five opportunities to put more in the back of the net,” Snape said.

In the second half, the Bulldogs out-shot the Purple Aces 8-2 and held them to a single shot on goal.

Overall, the Bulldogs out-shot Evansville 13-11 and held an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal.

Burt led a strong offensive attack for the Bulldogs with three shots on goal. Oldham added two shots on goal.

Justin Sass, a junior defenseman who transferred  from Evansville to Butler prior to the start of the season, turned in a strong performance against his old team with two shots on goal.

Butler sophomore goalkeeper Jon Dawson quietly turned in a solid effort, recording six saves en route to the third shutout of his career.

The Bulldogs will take on Horizon League opponent Cleveland State tonight at the Butler Bowl at 7 p.m.

The match will be the biggest of Butler’s season thus far, with the Bulldogs looking to get in the conference tournament picture.

Six teams qualify for the Horizon League Tournament at the end of the regular season. Butler is currently in seventh place, holding a similar record as Illinois-Chicago in league play.

The Vikings (6-8-1, 3-2-1) currently hold third place in the league.

The Butler men’s soccer team fell 1-0 to Indiana surrounded by a record-breaking crowd Wednesday at the Butler Bowl.

Attendance was announced at 3,343, a Bowl record for soccer. The enthusiastic crowd was a mix of fans displaying both cream and crimson and blue and white.

Butler coach Paul Snape said the attendance figure was exciting.

“It’s a great showcase for the state of Indiana,” he said. “I’d love to have a crowd like that all the time.”

Indiana coach Todd Yeagley said the Hoosiers (7-3-2, 2-1-0) were expecting a large crowd, especially after the Bulldogs’ 2-1 upset last season in double overtime on the Hoosiers’ home turf.

“We know no matter where Butler or IU is in the season records, this is going to be a big game,” he said.

The scoreless first half was marked by tight back and forth action and aggressive play that sent Butler sophomore forward Adekunle Oluyedun to the bench more than once.

Butler sophomore forward Austin Oldham, who led the Bulldogs (5-5-2, 1-1-1) with four shots, fired a shot that went just wide of the net in the 36^th minute.

Snape said the game came back in the Bulldogs’ favor at the end of the half, but they could not maintain that momentum after halftime.

“We stopped passing the ball when we got it back,” Snape. “By going forward every time, we lost it.”

Hoosier freshman forward Eriq Zavaleta scored the only goal in the 84^th minute off an assist from senior defender Chris Estridge.

The late goal ended Butler sophomore goalkeeper Jon Dawson’s shutout streak, which lasted just more than 125 minutes, dating back to the conclusion of Butler’s loss to Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis.

The strike also denied the Bulldogs any hope of extra time.

“I thought we were going to ninety [minutes] and then take it in to overtime, and we might have had a chance,” Snape said.

Tense steals and back and forth action near the end of regulation was not enough to garner the Bulldogs a goal, but Snape said the game showed the Bulldogs are contenders.

“If the boys can play like this in the remaining six games of the season, and we can bring out some more quality, I actually think we could win the Horizon [League],” he said.

Butler will next visit Green Bay at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Photo by Maria Porter

The first night game of the season for the Butler men’s soccer team came with another first for the season: a shutout.

There was no winner or loser in this shutout, however, as the Bulldogs (5-4-2, 1-1-1) continued their scoring struggles in a 0-0 double overtime tie against Illinois-Chicago at the Butler Bowl on Saturday.

The Flames (6-2-3, 1-0-1) recorded their second shutout of the season while Butler’s defense had arguably its best match of the season, notching the Bulldogs their first shutout of the campaign.

Constant pressure from Butler led to numerous scoring opportunities, which were often followed by counterattacks from UIC.

“To UIC’s credit, I thought they were a much better defensive team than they were an offensive team,” junior Blake Leyden said. “When we were able to get behind defenders and put the ball into the box, we were pretty successful in getting chances.”

The two squads played an even match statistically. The first half saw both teams record eight shots, three shots on net and two corner kicks.

All three of Butler sophomore goalkeeper Jon Dawson’s saves came in the first half.

Momentum shifted to the Bulldogs in the second half as they produced five more shots than the Flames (7-2). This did not break the scoreless tie though, and the match went to overtime.

Neither team scored in two 10-minute overtime periods, and the match ended in a 0-0 tie.

Butler was the controlling team in overtime, recording the only two shots on net as well as the only two corner kicks. In the end, there was never a breakthrough for either side.

Sophomore forward Austin Oldham led Butler with five shots while Leyden and fellow junior forward Tyler Pollock each tallied three shots.

UIC senior forward Eric Frazier paced the Flames’ offense with five shots, and freshman forward Jesus Torres recorded three shots.

Dawson came away with his first tie of the season and his second career shutout for the Bulldogs. UIC redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Piotr Kikolski, who has earned a decision in all of the Flames’ matches this season, grabbed his third tie of the season.

“We’ve really started to click,” Dawson said.  “I think the IUPUI game was an awakening where we realized that we need to play every game.”

The Bulldogs will look to break their scoring drought against Indiana tonight at the Butler Bowl. The match is scheduled to start at 7 pm.

The Butler men’s soccer team has proven it can fight back with the best of them this season.

After falling behind 1-0 on Saturday, the Bulldogs (5-4-1, 1-1-0) roared back in the second half to defeat Loyola 3-1 and gain their first conference victory of the season.

From a shooting standpoint, the first half was evenly played, with the Ramblers (1-7-1, 0-2-0) holding a 4-3 advantage in shots. None of Butler’s shots were on goal, however, while Loyola was able to find the back of the net with one of its shots.

Sophomore forward James Howe scored in the 23^rd minute for the Ramblers’ first and only goal of the match. The 1-0 lead would hold up until halftime.

“We weren’t that sharp in the first half,” head coach Paul Snape said. “I just tried to calm them down and say ‘Look, this is a difficult situation we are in, but let’s just relax and take control of the game.’”

The tide of the match completely turned when both teams exited the locker room.

The Bulldogs came out in the second half and played inspired soccer, outshooting the Ramblers 12-6 in the half and tallying three goals.

Sophomore forward Adekunle Oluyedun got things started with an unassisted goal in the 52^nd minute on a strike from the left side of the box.

Junior forward Blake Leyden would get in on the action 12 minutes later when he scored an unassisted goal off of a corner kick.

“Ade made a run toward the near post, and I just fired it toward him as hard as I could,” Leyden said. “He faked at the ball and just let it go in, and they gave me the goal.”

Freshman midfielder Zach Steinberger would add an insurance goal just over two minutes later, and the Bulldogs were well on their way to claiming their first Horizon League win of the year.

The good feelings would not last long for Butler. The Bulldogs took a short road trip Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis yesterday and failed to score against the Jaguars (2-7-2), dropping a 3-0 decision.

IUPUI sophomore forward Ian Block tallied two goals in a five-minute stretch for the Jaguars midway through the first half. Senior forward Perez Agaba scored IUPUI’s third goal in the 81^st minute.

Butler outshot IUPUI 18-12 but could not put a shot past Jaguars’ senior goalkeeper Tyler Keever. Butler freshman goalkeeper Andy Holte allowed IUPUI’s first two strikes and suffered the loss.

The Bulldogs will look to get back on track when they continue conference play against Illinois Chicago. The match will take place in the Butler Bowl at 7:00 pm on Saturday.

Photo by Maria Porter

A dreary skyline provided a fitting backdrop to what turned out to be a lackluster afternoon for the Butler men’s soccer team on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (4-3-1, 0-1-0) fell 3-1 to Horizon League foe Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the conference opener for both teams at the Butler Bowl.

The defeat snapped Butler’s 10-match Horizon League regular season winning streak.

The  Panthers (4-4-0, 1-0-0) wasted little time seizing momentum. Sophomore defenseman James Aschcroft buried a pass into the back of the net off a corner kick in the match’s fourth minute, handing Milwaukee an early 1-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs have given up the first goal in six out of their eight matches this year. It is a stark contrast to last season’s squad, which allowed only three goals in its first eight games.

Freshman midfielder Zach Steinberger got Butler on the board in the 38th minute when he scored his first collegiate goal on a pass from sophomore forward Adekunle Oluyedun.

“Toward the end of the first half we really showed that we could come together and figure out some stuff on the field,” junior defenseman Jared Isenthal said.

The 1-1 tie at halftime would be the last bright spot of the match for the Bulldogs.  The Panthers opened up the second half like the first, scoring just three minutes in.

Senior midfielder Robert Refai was able to put the ball past Butler sophomore goalkeeper Jon Dawson on a play that caught the Bulldogs off guard,  allowing the Panthers to grab a 2-1 lead.

Milwaukee sealed its victory in the 71st minute when freshman forward Nick Langford deposited a header into the net.

“For them to score that third goal after we were pressing was just frusturating,” Dawson said.

The game saw its fair share of physical play. The Panthers committed 17 fouls, including four yellow cards and one red card, while Butler committed eight fouls.

Steinberger led the Bulldogs with two shots on goal, and Dawson recorded a career-high five saves in the loss.

On Sept. 21, the Bulldogs took down Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne 3-1 to pick up their fourth win of the campaign.

Oluyedun, junior defenseman Justin Sass and sophomore midfielder Adam Glanzer all contributed goals for Butler. The Mastadons (3-6-1) received a goal from senior midfielder Colin Helmrich.

Butler’s next match will pit the Bulldogs against Loyola on Saturday.

For the Butler men’s soccer team, it turns out the best thing to do in Dayton is leave—with a tournament win.

The Bulldogs (3-1-1) grabbed two wins to capture the Dayton Marriott Classic, their first tournament championship of the season.

Butler defeated Western Illinois 3-2 Friday and followed that up with a 2-1 win over Houston Baptist in the tournament final Sunday to win the crown.

“It wasn’t a perfect weekend,” Butler head coach Paul Snape said. “But we executed, and overall it was a positive weekend.”

The Bulldogs finished the tournament strong, outshooting the Huskies (0-5) from Houston Baptist 19-10 in the final match.

Sophomore forward Austin Oldham accounted for both Butler goals and junior defenseman Jordan Burt led the team with six shots in the match.

Oldham got things started three minutes into play when he received a pass from Burt. He settled the ball and found the back of the net from 15 yards out to give Butler the early 1-0 advantage.

A one-score lead would not be enough, however, as the Huskies responded with a goal of their own in the 10th minute.

Freshman midfielder Zach Pierce was able to slip past Butler defenders and tie the game after narrowly putting the ball past the outstretched hand of sophomore goalkeeper Jon Dawson.

The Bulldogs shook off the strike and came out firing in the second half.

It was Oldham again beating the Huskies’ freshman goalkeeper, Kevin Suarez, to give Butler the lead in the 66th minute.

The goal secured the Bulldogs’  second victory in three days.

Photo by Erin Drennan

The Bulldogs’ first win of the tournament came Friday against Western Illinois.

In a game that proved to be a battle throughout, Butler came from behind twice to win the contest.

The Leathernecks (2-3-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute on an unassisted strike from senior midfielder Daniel Lewis.

Lewis’ goal would be the only goal of the first half.

The second half of the match was an entirely different story, however.

Redshirt freshman defenseman Brandon Fricke scored the equalizer for the Bulldogs when he scored off of a rebound in the 54th minute.

The goal provided only temporary relief for Butler, as the Leathernecks scored just eight minutes later to grab a 2-1 advantage.

“It’s definitely frustrating falling behind twice,” Fricke said.  “But we just kept fighting and had a never say die attitude.”

It was Oldham who would tie the game a second time, scoring his third goal of the season in the 79th minute off an assist from freshman midfielder Zach Steinberger.

Three minutes later, the Bulldogs would tally the game-winner when sophomore midfielder Adam Glanzer received a pass from Oldham, who put the ball in the back of the net to seal a 3-2 victory for Butler.

The Bulldogs will head south to Kentucky Saturday to take on national powerhouse Louisville.

The Cardinals (4-1-0) started the season ranked No. 1 nationally but fell to No. 7 after a 2-1 loss to North Carolina, the new home of former Butler star Matt Hedges.

Hedges, who transferred to North Carolina from Butler, started all 20 games for the Bulldogs last season and was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year.

Photo by Taylor Cox

The broken scoreboard wasn’t the only thing out of sync at the Butler Bowl Friday afternoon.

The Butler University men’s soccer team dug itself a 3-0 hole before falling to Bradley 4-1 in front of a large season-opening crowd.

The pre-season No. 21 Bulldogs (0-1) never were able to gain any sizable momentum after the Braves (2-0) scored just six minutes into the game on a free kick by senior forward Christian Meza.

The Braves’ second goal followed 10 minutes later, with a 35-yard strike from Bradley senior forward Brian Gaul. The goal snuck in the upper right corner of the net, and the Bulldogs seemed taken off guard by the bold strike.

“The second goal was just clutch,” senior defenseman JC Aikenhead said.

Down by a pair, the Bulldogs turned up the pressure for the remainder of the first half. But a turnover followed by a lob pass over Butler defenders forced sophomore goalkeeper Jon Dawson to come out of the box.

Gaul was able to chip it over Dawson to give the Braves a 3-0 lead.

Just six minutes later, however, junior forward Austin Oldham provided the Bulldogs and those in attendance with a glimmer of hope.

Oldham juggled the ball past two defenders, settled it on open space and fired a strike past the outstretched arms of Bradley’s sophomore goalkeeper Brian Billings and into the back of the net.

The goal pulled the Bulldogs within two before the half.

“Austin’s goal was a touch of magic,” Butler head coach Paul Snape said.

While Bradley countered the Bulldogs’ pressure with great goalkeeping, freshman defenseman Alexei Davies-Campbell delivered a fourth goal for the Braves in the 57th minute, putting the game out of reach for good.

While the 21-8 advantage in shots was one positive that the team could take away from the game, fouls and poor defending hurt the Bulldogs.

“Our biggest problems were lack of discipline on defense, too many fouls and not taking away their options,” Snape said.

Next the Bulldogs will face Snape’s former school, No. 9 Michigan.

“We just need to work on keeping the ball out of our net, defending and really bringing the intensity,” Aikenhead said.

Butler will face off against the Wolverines Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., as part of the Michigan Invitational. The Bulldogs also will take on Oakland Sunday in the same invitational.

Men’s head soccer coach Paul Snape has adapted to smaller surroundings as he prepares his team for the upcoming season.

Snape recently began his first season on Butler’s campus of just over 4,000 students after spending eight seasons on the coaching staff at Michigan, a school of more than 40,000.

Snape said his experience has been a good one so far, and he cited a welcoming atmosphere as one of the reasons he has been able to make such a smooth transition.

“My experience so far has been incredible,” said Snape. “I’ve been very busy, and I’m excited.  It is a good program with strong values, and I have been very impressed with everybody at Butler. People have been incredibly friendly to me.”

Since Snape took over the program in late January, he has been busy trying to make it a smooth transition after former coach Kelly Findley departed for North Carolina State.

Findley left big shoes to fill, as Butler won both the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles last year along with achieving a best-ever No. 5 national ranking.

Snape is trying to build off the success of previous teams, but he isn’t giving the current group unrealistic goals.

“Our expectation is to be number one in the Horizon League,” Snape said “[The Horizon League] has some good coaches and players, but our goal is to make sure that we are ready to win it again. We want to win the Horizon Championship.”

Snape brings with him a style that is up-tempo and focused on technique, possession and intelligence.  His style of play will rely on players to make plays and use creativity.

Players and managers have been watching Snape transition since he arrived, and they said they have noticed the approach he has taken.

“He likes a very different brand of soccer—a high pressure, attacking style,” Jack Morlock, who has served as team manager under both Findley and Snape, said. “It has been interesting to watch the players change their mindsets, but it’s something that we have all embraced.”

Junior defenseman Jared Isenthal said he notices differences between the styles of soccer the team plays this season versus last season.

“Last year we defended first to attack, and this year everyone on the team is an attacker,” Isenthal said.

Snape made his first official appearance on the sideline as head coach on Thursday when Butler faced Notre Dame and again on Sunday when the Bulldogs took on Bowling Green.

Although Butler came up short in both contests, losing 2-1 in each game, Snape remained optimistic about what the future holds for his young team.

“There were a lot of positives, but at the same time things were exposed that we didn’t do,” Snape said.  “The great thing about it is that it’s all correctable, and we aren’t asking our players to do anything that they can’t do.”

Butler will take the field for its first regular season game Friday at home against Bradley.

The Butler men’s soccer team will look to stay undefeated when it travels to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana tonight.

Head coach Kelly Findley said he is ready to face the challenge the Hoosiers (8-4-2) pose.

“We’re playing very well,” Findley said. “We’re not planning on doing anything different than we’ve already done; just going out, sticking to our game plan and enjoying ourselves.”

The seventh-ranked Bulldogs improved to 13-0-1 after defeating Loyola 2-1 on Sunday.

After an hour rain delay, freshman forward Austin Oldham sent a shot into the back right corner of the net off a pass from senior midfielder Kyle Pateros in the 22nd minute. The goal was Oldham’s third of the season.

“I thought our guys did a great job today jumping on top of Loyola early.” Findley said. “They also responded well to their efforts later in the game.”

During the 52nd minute, a pass downfield from Oldham reached senior mid-fielder Ben Sippola, creating a two-on-one breakaway in front of the net. Sippola crossed the ball in front of Loyola junior goalkeeper Peter McKeown  and Pateros sent it to the back of the net.

The Ramblers (3-9-2, 3-2-1 HL) weren’t ready to surrender just yet. Their attack intensified, out-shooting the Bulldogs 9-3 over the final 45 minutes of play.

In the 70th minute, Loyola junior forward Scott Waggoner scored their lone goal from six yards out.

Findley said he recognized what led to the goal.

“I was a little frustrated,” he said. “We need to do a better job of maintaining possession in their half and capitalizing on some chances.”

This gives Findley and the Bulldogs a point of focus for practice this week, approaching their game against Indiana.

“It’s just going to require hard work, staying focused, not ever taking any plays off or days off, and just recognizing that we have bigger goals than just winning one game at a time,” Findley said.

Although they are still unbeaten, the Bulldogs had to settle for their first tie against IUPUI last Wednesday.

“I thought we threw away the first half, or at least the first 35 minutes,” Findley said. “It just reminded them that you can’t do that with any team.

“You can’t come out and let them hang around.”

After 90 minutes of play and two periods of overtime, the game remained scoreless, with neither team able to muster a point.

The Bulldogs will square off against Indiana at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, Ind., at 7 p.m. tonight.