Saint Louis Men's Soccer // Match Information
Match No. 1	Saint Louis (0-0) vs. Butler (0-0)
Date // Time	Thursday, Aug. 24 // 8:30 p.m.
Location	St. Louis, Mo. (Hermann Stadium)
Tickets	Purchase in advance
Stream	ESPN+
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Series History	SLU leads 5-1

Saint Louis officially begins the 2023 season on Thursday night when it takes on the Butler Bulldogs at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Game time has been pushed back to 8:30 p.m. due to an excessive-heat forecast.

The game is part of a doubleheader with the Billikens' women's team. They play Creighton at 6 p.m. at Hermann Stadium.

The Billikens, ranked No. 24 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, went 12-5-3 overall and 6-1-1 in Atlantic 10 Conference play a season ago. The captured the A-10 regular-season and tournament titles for a second straight season and reached the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship after knocking off Memphis in the first round at Hermann Stadium.

Butler was 10-6-3 overall and 4-3-3 in the BIG EAST a season ago. The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the Midwest Division in the BIG EAST preseason coaches' poll. Among the returners for Butler is Palmer Ault, who was selected as the BIG EAST preseason Player of the Year. Ault led last year's Bulldogs with 26 points (10G, 6A).

Thursday's match will be streamed on ESPN+ with Dan Bettlach on the call.

Here are five additional facts in advance of Thursday's match vs. Butler:

1 // The 2023 season marks the 65th season of SLU men's soccer. Saint Louis' all-time record is 825-273-118. The Billikens have won an NCAA-record 10 national championships and have made 50 appearances in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship to lead all NCAA program.

2 // Two Billikens, midfielder Christian Buendia and defender Diego Konincks, were selected to the preseason All-Conference team. Additionally, the Billikens were picked to win the A-10 in balloting of the league's head coaches. Read more here.

3 // Saint Louis welcomes 13 newcomers into the fold this year. The 2023 recruiting class was tabbed the top-ranked class in the country by Top Drawer Soccer. You can read more about the newcomers here.

4 // SLU head coach Kevin Kalish, the A-10 Coach of the Year each of the last two seasons, is in his sixth season at SLU and 12th overall as a collegiate head coach. He is 53-22-14 during his time at SLU and 102-68-28 in his career.

5 // SLU leads the all-time series against the Bulldogs 5-1. The last meeting came on Feb. 22, 2021, indoors in Westfield, Indiana, with SLU coming away with a 2-0 win. That was part of the 2020 season that was played in the early portion of 2021 due to the pandemic. The last time these two teams met at Hermann Stadium was in 2012 during Butler's one-year stint in the A-10.

UP NEXT
SLU hits the road to take on the Lipscomb Bisons in Nashville on Tuesday, Aug. 29, in a 6 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+.

Then, the Billikens play SIUE in a Bronze Boot affair at CITYPARK on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets (general admission) are $20 and can be purchased through CITYPARK ticket outlets.