# 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.
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. Georgetown defeated Xavier in the championship game, 2–1, on a golden goal by Declan McCabe.
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, while Butler reached the round of 16 before losing to Wake Forest.

## Background
### Head coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | Big East record | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA College Cups | NCAA Titles |
| 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 | TDS | 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.
| | 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.
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Preseason Offensive Player of the Year | Mac Steeves, Providence |
| Preseason Defensive Player of the Year | Cory Brown, Xavier |
| Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year | JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Ricky Lopez-Espin, Creighton |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Mac Steeves, Providence |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Harry Cooksley, St. John's |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Lewis Suddick, Butler |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Jared Timmer, Butler |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Chris Lema, Georgetown |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Luka Prpa, Marquette |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Andreas Bartosinksi, Villanova |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Lucas Stauffer, Creighton |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Mark Jecewiz, Providence |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | Cory Brown, Xavier |
| Preseason All-Big East XI | JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown |

## Regular season
### Rankings
#### United Soccer Coaches National

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 |
| 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

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Butler | 2 (1) | | | |
| 4 | Xavier (pen.) | 2 (4) | | | |
| 4 | Xavier (pen.) | 2 (4) | 4 | Xavier | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Georgetown (2OT) | 2 |
| 2 | Georgetown | 2 | 2 | Georgetown (2OT) | 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.) | | | | |
| — | 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 :
| 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 :
| 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

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

### 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 | |
| JT Marcinkowski | GK | Georgetown | San Jose Earthquakes | Homegrown player | |