2017 Big East Conference men's soccer season

The 2017 Big East Conference men's soccer season was the fifth season for the newly realigned Big East Conference. Including the history of the original Big East Conference, this was the 22nd season of men's soccer under the "Big East Conference" name.

2017 Big East Conference men's soccer season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Soccer
Duration	August 25, 2017 – November 1, 2017
Number of teams	10
2018 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pick	Eric Dick, Butler
Picked by	Sporting Kansas City, 13th overall
Regular Season
Season champions	Butler
Runners-up	Georgetown
Season MVP	FW: Brandon Guhl, Butler MF: Ricky Lopez-Espin, Creighton DF: David Enstrom, St. John's GK: Erick Dick, Butler
Tournament
Champions	Georgetown
Runners-up	Xavier

2017 Big East Conference men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#12 Butler +	8	–	1	–	0			14	–	5	–	2
#16 Georgetown ‡	6	–	2	–	1			14	–	4	–	2
Saint John's	5	–	2	–	2			9	–	7	–	3
Xavier	5	–	4	–	0			11	–	6	–	3
Providence	2	–	2	–	5			5	–	8	–	5
Creighton	3	–	4	–	2			9	–	7	–	2
Marquette	3	–	5	–	1			3	–	11	–	2
Seton Hall	3	–	6	–	0			6	–	10	–	1
DePaul	2	–	6	–	1			5	–	11	–	2
Villanova	2	–	7	–	0			7	–	11	–	0
‡ – 2017 Big East Tournament champion + – Invited to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship As of December 13, 2017; Rankings from United Soccer Coaches

The regular season began on August 25, 2017 and concluded on November 1, 2017. Butler won the regular season title. The 2017 Big East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to decide the Big East champion, and the conference's automatic berth to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship began on November 4, 2017 and concluded with the championship match on November 12, 2017.[1] Georgetown defeated Xavier in the championship game, 2–1, on a golden goal by Declan McCabe.[2]

Butler and Georgetown both qualified for the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Georgetown entered as an automatic berth, while Butler had an at-large berth. Georgetown was eliminated in the first round by SMU,[3] while Butler reached the round of 16 before losing to Wake Forest.[4][5]

Background

Changes from 2016

See also: 2016 Big East Conference men's soccer season

Head coaches

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	Big East record[6]	NCAA Tournaments[7]	NCAA College Cups[7]	NCAA Titles[7]
Butler	Paul Snape	Michigan (asst.)	7	52–40–20 (.554)	52–40–20 (.554)	18–16–2 (.528)	1	0	0
Creighton	Elmar Bolowich	North Carolina	7	375–173–52 (.668)	95–29–12 (.743)	23–10–3 (.681)	23	6	2
DePaul	Craig Blazer	U.S. national team (coordinator)	17	97–166–38 (.385)	97–166–38 (.385)	38–67–12 (.376)	1	0	0
Georgetown	Brian Wiese	Notre Dame (assistant)	12	118–61–25 (.640)	118–61–25 (.640)	58–32–7 (.634)	4	1	0
Marquette	Louis Bennett	Milwaukee	12	208–161–48 (.556)	73–97–31 (.440)	31–58–17 (.373)	7	0	0
Providence	Craig Stewart	Franklin Pierce	6	overall	55–35–11 (.599)
Seton Hall	Gerson Echeverry	Seton Hall (asst.)	6
St. John's	David Masur	Montclair State	27
Villanova	Tom Carlin	Villanova (asst.)	10
Xavier	Andy Fleming	Northwestern	8

Preseason

Recruiting

National Rankings

Team	CSN[8]	TDS[9]	Total Signees
Butler	NR	TDS	Total
Creighton	NR	TDS	Total
DePaul	NR	TDS	Total
Georgetown	8	TDS	Total
Marquette	NR	TDS	Total
Providence	NR	TDS	Total
Seton Hall	NR	TDS	Total
St. John's	NR	TDS	Total
Villanova	NR	TDS	Total
Xavier	NR	TDS	Total

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on August 16.[10]

	Team Ranking	First Place Votes	Raw Points
1.	Providence	9	81
2.	Creighton	1	70
3.	Butler	0	68
4.	Villanova	0	52
5.	Georgetown	0	46
6.	Xavier	0	45
7.	Marquette	0	30
8.	St. John's	0	27
9.	DePaul	0	21
10.	Seton Hall	0	21

Preseason All-Conference Teams

All conference teams were announced in conjunction with the preseason poll on August 16, 2017.[10]

Award	Recipient(s)
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year	Mac Steeves, Providence^[a]
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year	Cory Brown, Xavier^[b]
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year	JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown^[c]
Preseason All-Big East XI^[d]	Ricky Lopez-Espin, Creighton
	Mac Steeves, Providence
	Harry Cooksley, St. John's^[e]
	Lewis Suddick, Butler
	Jared Timmer, Butler
	Chris Lema, Georgetown
	Luka Prpa, Marquette
	Andreas Bartosinksi, Villanova
	Lucas Stauffer, Creighton
	Mark Jecewiz, Providence
	Cory Brown, Xavier^[e]
	JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown

Regular season

Rankings

United Soccer Coaches National

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week

Main article: List of NCAA Division I men's soccer teams ranked in the 2017 Top 25 coaches poll

		Pre[11]	Wk 1[12]	Wk 2[13]	Wk 3[14]	Wk 4[15]	Wk 5[16]	Wk 6[17]	Wk 7[18]	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Final
Butler	C	25	17	21	RV	RV	22	15	20
Creighton	C	14	23	RV	RV	NR	25	RV	NR
DePaul	C
Georgetown	C		RV	18	9	16	14	10	9
Marquette	C
Providence	C	12	RV	RV	NR
Seton Hall	C
St. John's	C
Villanova	C
Xavier	C					RV	NR

United Soccer Coaches Great Lakes Regional

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week

Postseason

Big East Tournament

Main article: 2017 Big East Conference Men's Soccer Tournament

	Semifinals					Final
	1	Butler	2 (1)
	4	Xavier (pen.)	2 (4)
						4	Xavier	1
						2	Georgetown (2OT)	2
	2	Georgetown	2
	3	St. John's	1

NCAA Tournament

Seed	Region	School	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
14	Chapel Hill	Georgetown	BYE	L 1–2^2OT vs. SMU – (Washington, D.C.)
N/A	Winston-Salem	Butler	W 2–0 vs. Lipscomb – (Indianapolis)	W 3–2 vs. #16 VCU – (Richmond)	L 0–2 vs. #1 Wake Forest – (Winston-Salem)

Awards

2017 B1G Men's Soccer Individual Awards[19]
Award	Recipient(s)
Offensive Players of the Year	Brandon Guhl, So., Butler Ricky Lopez-Espin, Sr., Creighton
Midfielder of the Year	Harry Cooksley, Sr., St. John's
Defensive Player of the Year	David Enstrom, Sr., St. John's
Goalkeeper of the Year	Eric Dick, RS-Sr., Butler
Coach of the Year	Paul Snape, Butler
Freshman of the Year	Derek Dodson, Fr., Georgetown

2017 B1G Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams[19]
First Team	Second Team	Freshman Team
Forwards: Brandon Guhl, So., Butler‡ Ricky Lopez-Espin, Sr., Creighton‡ Mac Steeves, RS-Sr., Providence Midfielders: Harry Cooksley, Sr., St. John’s Chris Lema, Sr., Georgetown Lewis Suddick, So., Butler Defenders: Cory Brown, Sr., Xavier David Enstrom, Sr., St. John’s Brendan McDonough, Jr., Georgetown Lucas Stauffer, Sr., Creighton Goalkeeper: Eric Dick, RS-Sr., Butler	Forwards: Derek Dodson, Fr., Georgetown Declan McCabe, Sr., Georgetown Matt Vasquenza, Sr., Xavier Midfielders: Andres Arcila, Jr., Seton Hall Noah Franke, Sr., Creighton Simen Hestnes, Jr., Xavier Luka Prpa, So., Marquette Defenders: Shane Bradley, So., Villanova Joe Moulden, Jr., Butler Cameron Taylor, RS-Jr., Xavier Goalkeeper: JT Marcinkowski, Jr., Georgetown	Forwards: Matt DePerro, Providence Derek Dodson, Georgetown‡ Jack Shearer, St. John’s‡ Midfielders: Jacob Montes, Georgetown‡ Kuba Polat, Creighton‡ Theo Quartey, Villanova Istvan Wilhelms, DePaul Defenders: Samuel Buzzas, Xavier Manuel Cukaj, Marquette Sean O’Hearn, Georgetown Goalkeeper: Zach Nelson, Xavier

‡ unanimous selection

Draft picks

Main article: 2018 MLS SuperDraft

Round	Pick #	MLS team	Player	Position	College	Other
1	13	Sporting Kansas City	Eric Dick	GK	Butler	[20]
2	26	Vancouver Whitecaps	Lucas Stauffer	DF	Creighton	[21]
2	33	Real Salt Lake	Ricky Lopez-Espin	FW	Creighton	[22]
2	34	FC Dallas	Chris Lema	MF	Georgetown	[23]
2	43	Houston Dynamo	Mac Steeves	FW	Providence	[24]
3	62	Vancouver Whitecaps	Cory Brown	DF	Xavier	[25]
4	80	FC Dallas	Noah Franke	DF	Creighton	[26]

Notable non-draft signees

The following are notable players who went pro following the end of the season that were not selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.

Player	Position	College	Moving to	Acquired	Ref.
Harry Cooksley	MF	St. John's	Mallorca	Free transfer	[27]
JT Marcinkowski	GK	Georgetown	San Jose Earthquakes	Homegrown player	[28]

See also

• 2017 NCAA Division I men's soccer season

Notes

^{^[a]} Mac Steeves won the 2016 Big East Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Award.[10]
^{^[b]} Cory Brown won the 2016 Big East Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Award.[29]
^{^[c]} J. T. Marcinkowski won the 2016 Big East Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year Award.[30]
^{^[d]} There are 12 players selected for the Big East All-Preseason XI due to a tie in voting.[10]
^{^[e]} Denotes a player that was unanimously selected for the preseason team.[31][32]

References

1. "2017-18 Championship Central: Men's Soccer". Big East Conference. bigeast.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
2. Goff, Steven (November 12, 2017). "Georgetown's golden goal caps thrilling — albeit controversial — win in Big East final". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
3. Goff, Steven (November 19, 2017). "Heartbreak for Hoyas as own goal bounces them from NCAA tournament". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
4. "Butler vs. #1 Wake Forest (Third Round) (NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship)". ESPN.
5. Johnston, Kevin (November 23, 2017). "NCAA men's soccer: Butler hopes to keep pulling off surprises in Sweet 16 vs. top-ranked Wake Forest". The Indianapolis Star. Gannett Company. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
6. "2017 Big East Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Big East Conference. bigeast.com. August 2, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
7. "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
8. "2017 Team Recruiting Classes". College Soccer News. March 3, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
9. Clark, Travis (July 10, 2017). "2017 Boys Recruiting Rankings: July update". Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
10. "Providence Friars Unanimously Selected As Preseason Favorite In Men's Soccer Coaches' Poll". Big East Conference. bigeast.com. August 16, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
11. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Preseason Ranking - Aug. 3, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. August 3, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
12. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 1 - August 29, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. August 29, 2017. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
13. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 2 - September 5, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 5, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
14. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 3 - September 12, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
15. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 4 - September 19, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
16. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 5 - September 26, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
17. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 6 - October 3, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
18. "United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 7 - October 10, 2017". United Soccer Coaches. October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
19. "BIG EAST Announces Men's Soccer Regular Season Awards". bigeast.com. Big East Conference. November 3, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
20. McDowell, Sam (January 19, 2018). "Sporting KC drafts Roeland Park-born keeper Eric Dick with top draft pick". The Kansas City Star. McClatchy. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
21. Davidson, Neil (January 19, 2018). "Whitecaps boss Carl Robinson likes versatility of top two draft choices". Times Colonist. Glacier Media. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
22. Montgomery, Matt (January 19, 2018). "RSL picks Ricky Lopez-Espin with second-round MLS Draft pick". RSL Soapbox. SB Nation. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
23. Epperly, Drew (January 19, 2018). "MLS Draft 2018: FC Dallas selects two in second round". Big D Soccer. SB Nation. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
24. Roepken, Corey (February 18, 2018). "Dynamo draft pick Mac Steeves impresses with scoring talent". Houston Chronicle. Hearst. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
25. "New Zealander Cory Brown selected by Whitecaps FC 62nd overall". whitecapsfc.com. Vancouver Whitecaps FC. January 21, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
26. "Creighton's Noah Franke drafted by FC Dallas". Omaha World-Herald. Berkshire Hathaway. January 21, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
27. "Cares noves al Mallorca" [New faces in Mallorca] (in Spanish). IB3. 6 February 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
28. Almond, Elliott (December 6, 2017). "Have the Earthquakes found their goalkeeper of the future? Team signs Alamo's JT Marcinkowski — a De Le Salle High alumnus — as its third Homegrown player". The Mercury News. Digital First Media. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
29. Brennan, Patrick (August 8, 2017). "Xavier's Cory Brown named to MAC Hermann Trophy watch list". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati: Gannett Company. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
30. Pearre, Tyler (August 30, 2017). "Making His Mark: JT Marcinkowski Pushes The Boundaries Of Georgetown Soccer". The Georgetown Voice. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
31. O'Connell, Andrew (August 16, 2017). "Harry Cooksley Unanimously Selected to Preseason All-BIG EAST Team". St. John's Red Storm. redstormsports.com. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
32. Bergen, Brandon (August 16, 2017). "Cory Brown Selected BIG EAST Preseason Defender of the Year". Xavier Musketeers. New York City: goxavier.com. Retrieved October 14, 2017.