Men's Soccer Looks for Rebound Win at St. John's

Wednesday, October 14

Queens, N.Y.

7:30 P.M.

Xavier University

St. John's

Men's Soccer Looks for Rebound Win at St. John's

10.12.15 | Men's Soccer

Musketeers looking to shake two-match losing streak in Queens, N.Y.

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's soccer returns to action on the road Wednesday, visiting St. John's for a 7:30 p.m. ET match at Belson Stadium.

The match will be broadcast live on E SPN3 and fans can also follow along with live stats and Twitter updates.

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S

• The Red Storm (3-7-2, 1-1-1 BIG EAST) equalized against No. 1 Creighton in the 79th minute on Saturday as Filippo Ricupati scored, but ultimately fell after the Bluejays answered in the 87th minute.
• After an 0-5 start, St. John's is 3-2-2 in its last seven and 2-1-2 in its last five – the Red Storm's lone loss over the last five matches came at the hands of No. 1 Creighton.
• St. John's has faced five ranked opponents already and four teams (Xavier will make five) that played in last year's NCAA Tournament.
• Returning GK Jordan Stagmiller has made nine starts ranks and ranks third in the BIG EAST at 3.88 saves per match. He is also fifth in the league in save percentage (.775).
• Ricupati leads the Red Storm is scoring with seven points (3g, 1a), while Mike Prosuk and Luis Esteves have each scored twice.
• Five total players have tallied for SJU and eight have registered assists.
• St. John's has drawn even with its opposition in the first half (6-6), but has been out-scored 9-4 in the second half and 1-0 in overtime.
• Opponents have outshot SJU 151-121 and hold a 55-50 edge in corners.

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier leads the all-time series 2-1 and has taken two straight in the series, including a 1-0 win last season in Cincinnati.
• This will be the third meeting in Queens, N.Y. in the series. Last season's game in Cincinnati was the first for St. John's.
• Matt Vasquenza broke through for the game-winner in the 85th minute last fall, as Kyle Martin and Walker Andriot were credited with assists.
• The fall before, then-senior John McDermott scored five minutes into overtime to give Xavier a road win in Queens, N.Y.
• The only prior meeting came on Oct. 15, 1989 – a 1-0 win for St. John's.

NEXT UP

• The Musketeers stay on the road, making a short trip over to Philadelphia to play Villanova on Saturday, Oct. 17. First touch is set for 3:00 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier lost at home for the second time in a row against Providence as the Friars erupted late for a 3-0 win. It marked the first back-to-back home losses for the Musketeers since head coach Andy Fleming's first two matches in 2010.
• The Musketeers were without two key pieces in the match, including starting GK Dallas Jaye (3rd in nation in GAA) and center back Cory Brown (preseason MAC Hermann Watch List). Jaye was on the road with the Guam National Team, while Brown missed the match with an injury.
• The Musketeers kept PC off the board for the first 59 minutes, but the Friars took advantage of a number of fouls and a 10-man Musketeer lineup by scoring in the 59th, 66th and 77th to earn their first win in Cincinnati.
• Ian Vicars was assessed with a red card late in the first half, resulting in a 10-man Musketeer lineup for the majority of the match.
• Matt Vasquenza (three shots) and Calum Latham (two shots) led Xavier in shots, while Jake Ciricillo made three saves in goal.

NOTABLE

• Xavier is 7-4 overall (1-2 BIG EAST) and comes into Saturday's contest with five wins in its last seven matches.
• The Musketeers' current two-match losing streak has come at the hands of a 2014 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight qualifier in Georgetown and a 2014 NCAA College Cup semifinalist in Providence.
• XU has kept shutouts in four of its last six matches, but saw a scoreless streak of 485:38 snapped last Saturday against Georgetown. Xavier is 12th in the nation in shutout percentage (55%).
• 13 of Xavier's 19 goals have come after halftime this fall. The Musketeers have outscored opponents 12-5 in the second half.
• 10 different players have scored a goal this season for the Musketeers. Nine have registered an assist.
• Under Andy Fleming, the Musketeers are 7-4-2 vs. ranked opponents and 5-2-1 against the top-10, including a win over No. 2 Notre Dame this fall and last season's victories against No. 5 Indiana and No. 8 Georgetown.

DOING IT WITH OFFENSE

• XU is tied for fifth in the BIG EAST Conference in points (51), tied for third in goals (19) and goals per game (1.73).
• The Musketeers' 19 goals through 11 matches are also tied for 34th in the NCAA.
• Senior Alex Ridsdale leads XU in scoring (5g, 1a). His bicycle kick score against IPFW on Tuesday, Sept. 22 was the No. 6 play on ESPN SportsCenter that night.
• The Musketeers have outshot opponents 115-98 overall and 56-37 in shots on goal.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE

• Xavier has allowed just 10 goals in 11 matches, ranking third in the BIG EAST in GAA (0.89).
• The Musketeers' six shutouts are second in the BIG EAST and their 0.55 shutout percentage ranks 12th in the nation.
• GK Dallas Jaye is third in the nation with a 0.32 GAA and second nationally in save percentage (.900).
• Xavier goalkeepers have had to make just 27 saves in 11 matches. That averages out to 2.4 saves per match, which is the second-lowest average in the BIG EAST.

JAYE MAKING IMPACT

• Graduate student Dallas Jaye is 5-1 in net for Xavier and is ranked third in the nation in GAA (0.32) and second in the NCAA in save percentage (.900).
• Making just his second start of the season at No. 2 Notre Dame, Jaye recorded a career-high six saves and shut out the Irish on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
• Jaye was an offseason transfer from USF and missed the first couple weeks of the season, as well as this past Saturday's match against Providence, playing for Guam in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers.

XU IN THE NSCAA POLL

• Xavier has been ranked in the NSCAA Poll in four of seven weeks and has climbed to as high as No. 10, but the Musketeers will likely drop from last week's No. 24 spot when updated rankings are announced Tuesday.
• After beginning the season nationally-ranked for the first time in program history (No. 19), Xavier moved up nine spots to No. 10 on Tuesday, Sept. 1 after its 2-0 start to the season. The top-10 ranking was the third all-time for XU and the second-highest mark in program history.
• The highest NSCAA ranking ever for men's soccer came last October 28 when the squad was rated ninth in the poll – a mark that stands as the highest non-basketball ranking by any current Xavier program in school history.

XU PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH

• The Musketeers were selected to finish fourth in what has arguably become college soccer's premier conference, coming in just behind three preseason top-10 teams in Creighton, Georgetown and Providence. The fourth-place prediction is the highest for XU since entering the league in 2013.
• As a team, Xavier was picked to finish seventh in 2014 and fifth in 2013.

PLENTY LOST, PLENTY BACK

• Despite losing the winningest senior class in Xavier history, the Musketeers have an eight-man senior group and three of their top-four scorers back in sophomore Matt Vasquenza (7g, 6a), senior Alex Ridsdale (5g, 4a) and junior Jalen Brown (4g, 2a).

BROWN'S HARDWARE

Sophomore defender Cory Brown, a native of Nelson, New Zealand, picked up a laundry list of preseason honors, including:
• MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List
• Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
• College Soccer News Preseason All-America Third Team
• Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI Second Team
• Top Drawer Soccer National Top 100 (No. 22)
As a group, Xavier's 11 shutouts and 0.84 GAA were both program records in 2014 and Brown's steady presence in the backline was a big reason. The then-freshman stepped into the starting lineup immediately and did not miss a match. Brown's 23 starts tied a program record and his 2,119 minutes played led XU. On top of his defensive role, Brown added three goals and three assists from the back row and was the team's fifth-leading scorer.

A LOOK BACK ON 2014

In 2014, XU wrapped up the year with a 15-6-2 overall record and went 6-1-2 in the BIG EAST Conference en route to the program's first-ever BIG EAST Championship match and NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances. Setting program records for wins (15), shutouts (11) and team GAA (0.84), the Musketeers also boasted a No. 9 national ranking from the NSCAA on Oct. 28. That mark was the highest non-basketball ranking by any current Xavier athletic program in school history.

AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE

• XU is one of just 15 teams nationally with five straight 10-plus win seasons.
• XU is one of just 19 teams nationally to appear in four of last five NCAA Tournaments.
• XU is one of just four BIG EAST teams to make four of the past five NCAA Tournaments.
• XU is one of just 26 programs with multiple NCAA wins in the last three years.
• XU has collected six straight NSCAA Team Academic Awards, while the 2012 team boasted the nation's top GPA among Division I private institutions.
• Since 2012, XU has posted two top-10 national rankings, a top-10 MLS pick, led the nation in fewest yellow cards and carried a top-10 GPA.