2025 Big East Men’s Soccer: Where Are We Now?

Everyone has a conference match under their belts and now we have RPI rankings. Let’s take a spin through the league….

Akron Zips mascot Zippy performs in the third quarter in a game between the Akron Zips and Iowa State Cyclones at InfoCision Stadium.
Go Zips. | David Dermer - Imagn Images

Yes, yes, Big East men’s soccer started off league play last week. HOWEVER. We didn’t have RPI numbers then, and now we do! So, with seven matches left in conference play for everyone and Match #2 for Marquette coming up on Saturday night, let’s take a spin around the league to see what everyone has been doing this season.

This is going to double as our preview for MU’s match, so let’s hit those details first.

Big East Match #2: vs Seton Hall Pirates (2-2-3, 1-0-0 Big East)

Date: Saturday, September 27, 2025
Time: 7pm Central
Location: Valley Fields, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Streaming:Marquette Athletics on YouTube. It’s free!
Live Stats:Stat Broadcast
Twitter Updates:@MarquetteSoccer
All Time Series: Seton Hall leads, 8-7-3

We’ll go from here in order of the RPI through the results of September 25th, so we don’t get much more up to date than that. I’ll rattle off each team’s stat leaders on the offensive end of the field and point out the numbers for everyone’s primary keeper, too. We’ll wrap up the number drops with the best win and worst loss for each squad this season according to the RPI team sheets. Then we’ll note some things that may be interesting about each team. One lucky team gets a note about where they’re ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll, and honestly, I was surprised as to which one it is.

Akron

Record: 6-2-1, 0-1-0 Big East
RPI: #10
Points Leader: Stefan Dobrijevic, 11
Goals Leader: Jack Roman, 4
Assists Leader: Stefan Dobrijevic, 5
Keeper: Mitch Budler; 0.44 GAA, .810 SV%
Best Win: vs #14 Saint Louis, 3-0
Worst Loss: vs #26 UConn, 3-1

Akron might be back in the top 25 poll next week, as they’re coming off a mid-week home win over #8 Saint Louis, which is now their best win of the season so far. The problem for them in that regard is the two matches previous were the Zips’ first two losses of the year, including getting knocked around 3-1 at home by the Huskies. That was not a very fun loss, as Akron was up 1-0 in the 21st minute and then allowed three goals in 25 minutes of the second half. It was also Akron’s second loss in Big East play in their two-plus seasons in the league, so it’s definitely an unfamiliar experience for them.

Even after giving up those three goals, Akron still has the best defense/keeper in the Big East, as Mitch Budler’s .444 goals against average is nearly half the size of anyone else in the conference. He’s not quite the best in save percentage, but I presume that Budler will sleep fine at night knowing that his field defense is stopping shots from getting to him (17 saves on the year) as opposed to having to work for the best save percentage in the league like UConn’s Kyle Durham (43 saves).

Georgetown

Record: 5-2-2, 1-0-0 Big East
RPI: #23
Points Leader: Zach Zengue, 20
Goals Leader: Zach Zengue, 8
Assists Leader: Matthew Van Horn, 6
Keeper: Tenzing Manske; 0.92 GAA, .704 SV%
Best Win: at #21 George Mason, 5-2
Worst Loss: vs #32 Maryland, 1-0

It’s not that Zach Zengue has the most points in the league (no one else has more than 14) and it’s not that he’s leading in goals, beating out Xavier’s Cooper Forcellini’s 7. It’s that Georgetown has the top two shooters in the Big East this season. Mitchell Baker is #2 at 3.33 shots per match behind Zengue’s 3.44. Only Marquette’s Nico Pendleton is north of three as well, and he’s done that in just five appearances so far in 2025.

Georgetown hasn’t lost a match since starting out the year 0-2-0. They were riding a three match shutout streak for a moment there, but that George Mason match was their last time out earlier this week, and they let in two in the first half and trailed at the break for the first time since giving up a goal three minutes into the season against High Point. They bounced back from that with four strikes in the second half, although Mason helped them out with two penalty kicks given up in the final 12 minutes.

Connecticut

Record: 6-1-3, 1-0-0 Big East
RPI: #26
United Soccer Coaches Ranking: #22
Points Leader: Austin Brummett, 13
Goals Leader: Austin Brummett, 6
Assists Leader: Balthazar Saunders, 4
Keeper: Kyle Durham; 0.90 GAA, .827 SV%
Best Win: at #10 Akron, 3-1
Only Loss: vs #6 Bryant, 4-1

Yep, #3 in terms of the RPI, but the only team in the national rankings. As usual with this, I wonder how much of that has to do with the fact that there are EIGHT PEOPLE voting in the USC poll. What would happen if they had 16, which is still a silly small number? We’ll see what happens with their ranking, as they got in after beating Akron, but followed that up by losing 4-1 to #14 Bryant on Tuesday night. UConn trailed 3-0 after 34 minutes of action there, so it was out of control early. That was UConn’s first loss of the season, which is why it’s curious as to how the voters will react to it.

Austin Brummett is third in the Big East in points so far this year, so they’ve been putting up numbers on offense while Kyle Durham holds things together in the back end. Remember: The numbers you see up there are after Bryant got through with him. All of this is particularly notable, since the Big East coaches voted the Huskies to finish fourth in the East Division this season, and for the moment, things are trending much better than that for them.

Creighton

Record: 4-2-2, 1-0-0 Big East
RPI: #54
Points Leader: Miguel Arilla, 8
Goals Leader: Miguel Arilla, 3
Assists Leader: Miguel Arilla & Matthew Reed, 2
Keeper: Matthew Hudson; 1.12 GAA, .690 SV%
Best Win: vs #72 Marquette, 1-0
Worst Loss: at #41 Florida Atlantic, 3-0

Well, it’s great news for Creighton that they’re on a four match winning streak, even better that they’re undefeated in the last five, and still pretty solid that they’ve shutout four of those five teams. The Bluejays haven’t allowed a goal in their last two contests, and I’m sure that Matthew Hudson would love to keep that rolling along for more than a few more matches after giving up three in two of CU’s first three matches.

I suspect that Hudson would like it if Creighton started scoring goals in the first half, too. Last week we saw Creighton beat Marquette because they scored in the 81st minute, and they were the beneficiary of a lucky bounce to make it happen. Overall in 2025, the Bluejays have just three goals in the first 45 minutes of a match, but eight after intermission. I’m all for nervy performances under pressure, but also I’m a big fan of protecting a lead, too. Maybe do more of that, Creighton!

Seton Hall

Record: 2-2-3, 1-0-0 Big East
RPI: #57
Points Leader: Til Kauschke, 10
Goals Leader: Til Kauschke, 4
Assists Leader: Til Kauschke, 2
Keeper: Matias Molina; 1.00 GAA, .714 SV%
Best Win: vs #107 Providence, 2-0
Worst Loss: at #14 Saint Louis, 1-0

Seton Hall had a four match unbeaten streak broken on Tuesday night as they fell 3-1 to Princeton. That’s a better loss than their loss earlier this season to SLU, so no fault to the Pirates there. That said, they’re probably surly about giving up a go-ahead goal less than two minutes after they equalized in the 64th minute, much less about giving up an insurance goal, so it’s probably not a great time for Marquette to have to tangle with them.

The Pirates have kind of been playing with fire all season by averages. When your entire deal is “hey, let’s keep this thing under 20 shots total between both teams,” you’re going to be prone to some games suddenly tilting on you when you let a goal or two in. That’s also how you end up with three ties on the year so far. If MU can find a way to get to their average of nearly 15 shots per match, that feels like a pathway to victory against the Pirates, but the Golden Eagles have also struggled to play a normal match this season.

Marquette

Record: 4-1-2, 0-1-0 Big East
RPI: #72
Points Leader: Mitchell Dryden, 7
Goals Leader: Mitchell Dryden, 3
Assists Leader: Five men tied with 2
Keeper: Marten Brink; 1.20 GAA, .667 SV%
Best Win: vs #62 North Florida, 2-1
Only Loss: at #54 Creighton, 1-0

Honestly, it’s weird that Marquette is one of just two teams in the conference to have just one loss so far this season. Unfortunately for MU, the one came in Big East play and in divisional action at that, so the climb to a conference tournament berth is a little bit harder than it was a week ago.

The Golden Eagles are coming off team history earlier this week, as they had an offensive explosion in the second half against Milwaukee to keep the Milwaukee Cup for a fourth straight season. That’s the longest possession streak in program history, so let’s see if Marquette can build on that kind of success.

St. John’s

Record: 4-2-3, 0-0-1 Big East
RPI: #73
Points Leader: Guilherme Gomes, 8
Goals Leader: Guilherme Gomes, 4
Assists Leader: Jeremy Sharp & Godwin Partey, 2
Keeper: Alec Mclachlan; 0.80 GAA, .706 SV%
Best Win: at #125 Temple, 1-0
Worst Loss: vs #175 Rhode Island, 2-1

I had to stop and figure out exactly who was STJ’s active keeper because Nicholas Bezama had two starts and three appearances with 250 minutes played. That’s not nothing, and it appears he relieved Mclachlan 20 minutes into the loss to Rhode Island. Now, that’s not because Mclachlan had let in both goals already, it was right after the first one, and the Johnnies equalized almost immediately. They lost that game because St. John’s gave up a penalty kick before the half was over and that was that. Bezama played the next two matches, which seems to indicate that Mclachlan was injured on the first URI goal, but he started and went the distance last time out against Xavier in a 1-1 draw in New York.

Gomes is the scorer that teams need to watch out for this season, but it’s Antonio Biggs that’s leading the Johnnies in shots on goal right now. Nine of his 14 attempts have been on frame, but he’s only come up with one goal to this point of the year. I’m trying to figure out what’s up with all of that shooting for him, as STJ lists him as a defender and the goal in question is the first of his career in his third season in Queens.

Also: Congrats to the Johnnies for being a top 75 team even though they have the second worst loss in the entire Big East this season.

DePaul

Record: 2-2-5, 0-0-1 Big East
RPI: #104
Points Leader: Keagan Pace, 8
Goals Leader: Keagan Pace, 4
Assists Leader: Ethan Gordon & Jayden Waski, 2
Keeper: Santiago Davila; 1.29 GAA, .700 SV%
Best Win: vs #122 Loyola Chicago, 2-1
Worst Loss: vs #101 Bowling Green, 2-1

I just want to note that the Bowling Green contest was DePaul’s most recent match as you read this, and backup keeper Clayton Brooks played all 90 minutes of that, and DePaul outshot the Falcons 23-9 in that one, AND Brooks gave up both goals in the second half, less than three minutes apart, while the score was still 0-0 before them. I presume that Santiago Davila is still good to go as he had played every minute of the previous matches. If he’s not? That feels like this season’s about to fall apart for the Blue Demons, right?

I’m just saying, they have one win in their last six matches and a Big East leading (worst? best?) five draws. That’s all.


I think it’s worth dropping in a note here to point out that with 213 teams in Division 1, this is the dividing line between the top half and the bottom half of the country. Apologies to the team that’s next, because “halfway” on 213 is 106.5, and, well….


Providence

Record: 2-5-1, 0-1-0 Big East
RPI: #107
Points Leader: Sam Montalto, 4
Goals Leader: Seven men, including Montalto, tied at 1
Assists Leader: Sam Montalto, 2
Keeper: Ryan Carney; 1.25 GAA, .714 SV%
Best Win: vs #76 Boston College, 2-0
Worst Loss: vs #158 New Haven, 1-0

….. The Friars are at #107 and over the midway point. I think everyone — including the PC players and coaches! — can agree that the primary reason they’re on that side of the aisle is because they lost to New Haven, a team in their first year in Division 1, in a match they outshot the Chargers, 21-5. Win that one, and they’re somewhere better than #106, right? Yeah, five total losses is bad and not helping so sure, literally any one of those flipped over would nudge them at least one spot better, but you see my point.

Why does Providence have the second most losses in the entire conference this season? Well, I don’t think it’s because Ryan Carney is stopping over 71% of the shots on frame, that’s pretty solid work. Pretty sure it’s more about no one on the roster having a second goal yet this season. It’s not like PC is struggling to get the ball up the field or something. They’re outshooting teams 13.4 to 9.0 on average this season. They’re just not putting it in the net or even on frame, as their opponents are much more accurate than the Friars are.

Xavier

Record: 3-2-2, 0-0-1 Big East
RPI: #109
Points Leader: Cooper Forcellini, 14
Goals Leader: Cooper Forcellini, 7
Assists Leader: Eight men tied at 1
Keeper: Gabriel Kuffel; 0.67 GAA, .846 SV%
Best Win: at #130 Northern Kentucky, 2-1
Worst Loss: at #52 Bellarmine, 3-1

I presume that Gabriel Kuffel is going to keep playing keeper for Xavier going forward. He’s only played in the last three matches but his numbers are great as Xavier has gone 2-0-1. Jonny Mennell was the starter to begin the season and he started every match last year, but allowing 1.75 goals per 90 minutes and only saving 68% of shots on goal through the first four contests meant it was time for head coach John Higgins to start looking for a solution.

We’ll see if that change sticks, and if it does, whether or not it changes Xavier’s fortunes. They don’t have any awful losses, and Cooper Forcellini is one of the best scorers in the league. If they get some better defensive work, that could lead to better offensive chances, which could lead to more goals for Forcellini (or maybe someone else as teams try to mark Forcellini!) and who knows what happens after that. Going to a draw with St. John’s is a solid way to start Big East play as they try to figure out what they’re doing long term in the net.

Villanova

Record: 2-3-3, 0-0-1 Big East
RPI: #147
Points Leader: Sam Nyenka, 6
Goals Leader: Sam Nyenka, 3
Assists Leader: Seven men tied with 1
Keeper: Sebastian Cutler DeJesus; 1.25 GAA, .808 SV%
Best Win: vs #168 Saint Joseph’s, 1-0
Worst Loss: at #88 Penn, 3-0

I’m not 100% sure what’s going on with Nova’s goalkeeping, but statistically, it seems like DeJesus is the move for head coach Mark Fetrow. He was the opening day starter, played the first two matches, gave way to Alex Yagudayev for the next four where VU went 1-2-1, and then the Wildcats went back to DeJesus for the last two. Both men have allowed just five goals in four matches, but DeJesus did that on 26 shots on frame, while Yagudayev did it on just 14, giving him a save percentage of just .643.

Can VU stop shots from happening in front of DeJesus the way they did against Yagudayev? That would be helpful in terms of putting positive result son the board, but it’s also possible that the lack of shots is more about their opponents than anything else. Heck, merely getting more out of their offense would work too. If the ball is on the other end of the field, teams can’t shoot at DeJesus, and Villanova has the second lowest shots per game average in the entire conference. They’re dead last in shots on goal per game with less than four, and that’s definitely a way to lose three times and tie in three other matches.

Butler

Record: 2-7-0, 0-1-0 Big East
RPI: #195
Points Leader: Aiden Benitez, 5
Goals Leader: Aiden Benitez & Sam Pitts-Eckersall, 2
Assists Leader: Josemir Gomez, 3
Keeper: Aurie Briscoe; 2.22 GAA, .545 SV%
Best Win: vs #101 Bowling Green, 1-0
Worst Loss: vs #187 Western Illinois, 1-0

HEY, REMEMBER WHEN I PICKED BUTLER TO WIN THE MIDWEST DIVISION, AND THEN THE BIG EAST COACHES PICKED THEM TO FINISH LAST IN THE DIVISION? I THINK WE FIGURED OUT WHO WAS RIGHT.

Nothing further, your honor.

Holy crap, play some defense already, Bulldogs.


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Category: General Sports