Junior defender Kieran Geldenhuys makes a pass in Butler’s 1-0 win over Evansville on Sept. 12. Photo by Jimmy Lafakis.
JOSHUA DOERING | STAFF REPORTER | jdoering@butler.edu
The Butler men’s soccer team defeated the University of Evansville 1-0 in their final tune-up before conference play. The team is now 4-2 on the season.
Butler started the game off on the front foot, accounting for the first seven shots. In the 12th minute, freshman midfielder Joel Harvey netted the first goal of his Butler career. Sophomore forward Brandon Guhl and senior midfielder Eric Leonard got assists on the play.
“It was probably like, one of the best feelings I can remember in my entire life,” Harvey said. “To be honest, it went in and my head started spinning. I was kinda like, ‘is this even real right now?”
12 – BUTLER GOALLLLLLLL!!
Joel Harvey scores his first Butler goal as he tucks the ball through the goalkeeper legs.
Butler lead 1-0?
— Butler Men’s Soccer (@ButlerMenSoccer) September 12, 2017
The fast start offensively helped take some of the pressure off of Butler’s defense early in the game.
“Absolutely delighted right now with keeping the clean sheet,” head coach Paul Snape said. “We started off really well. We moved the ball well. It was a great goal from Joel.”
The Bulldogs outshot the Purple Aces 10-5 and 3-2 in shots on goal in the first half.
The second half was almost a mirror image of the first, and Butler was the team on the attack at the start once again.
Evansville made a late push, but redshirt senior goalie Eric Dick’s diving save in the final minutes of the game preserved the victory for the Bulldogs.
Butler had a 20-9 advantage in shots on the night. Nine different Bulldogs had shots in the game, led by sophomore midfielder Isaac Galliford with four.
“I think we could have put some more goals away,” Snape said. “Overall, absolutely delighted. We’ve got to build on this. We’ve got a great opponent coming in Saturday.”
The team will begin Big East play when they host Creighton University on Saturday, Sept. 16, in a rematch of last season’s Big East tournament championship game.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Varsity Field.
