Xavier University Athletics
2010 Season Named One Of Nation's Most Memorable By College Soccer News
01.14.11 | Men's Soccer
Jan. 14, 2011
CINCINNATI - This week College Soccer News named Xavier's 2010 season, which included a Cinderella run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, among one some of the memorable seasons in the country.
The Musketeers, who finished the season 10-7-4 and 5-4 in the A-10, captured their first Atlantic 10 Championship by running the table as the No. 6 seed. They became the first six-seed to win the tournament, and did so by beating the top three seeds. Xavier eventually lost to West Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, but the turnaround coupled with the end-of-season run made the first-season under head coach Andy Fleming one of the top in the nation.
"I think such recognition is appreciated and well deserved by our players and staff," Fleming said. "We were the only NCAA Tournament team with no all-conference performers, and I truly believed that we were one of the teams of the year in Division I and I think this recognition points to that."
Xavier started the season 1-2-3, before winning five of its next six games, which included three wins in league play. The Musketeers went 2-1 in the final three games in A-10 play, highlighted by the come-from-behind win against Fordham on the final day of the season that helped them capture the final seed in the tournament. Xavier knocked off Temple 1-0 in the first round, advanced on penalty kicks (5-3) after a scoreless regulation and overtime against No. 15 Charlotte, before beating La Salle, 2-0, in the championship game.
"This honor is a feather in our cap, as we did become relevant, which was one of our primary goals last season," Fleming said. "We will use this past seasons experiences as we build towards maintaining our newly established culture and building a program."
It was a record-breaking season for Xavier who set school records in shutouts, goals against average, and shutout percentage. The improvement from 2009 to 2010 was the largest single-season turnaround in the nation.
