Xavier University Athletics
Sunday, November 8
Cincinnati, Ohio
4 P.M.
Xavier University
vs
No. 5 DePaul (Quarterfinals)
No. 25 Men's Soccer Hosts DePaul in BIG EAST Quarterfinals
11.06.15 | Men's Soccer
Fourth-seeded Musketeers face fifth-seeded Blue Demons on Sunday at 4 p.m.
CINCINNATI – No. 25 Xavier men's soccer hosts a BIG EAST Quarterfinal match on Sunday, battling DePaul at 4 p.m. at Xavier Soccer Complex.
Xavier is the tournament's four-seed, while DePaul is the five-seed. The winner will advance to play at second-seeded Georgetown on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m.
Sunday's match will be broadcast live on BEDN and fans can also follow along with live stats and Twitter updates.
• Xavier is 11-5-1 overall (5-3-1 BIG EAST) and unbeaten in five of its last six, while DePaul enters the match at 5-12-1 (4-4-1 BIG EAST). The Blue Demons finished the season 4-2-1 over their last seven following a disastrous 1-10 start.
• Xavier won in head-to-head action, 1-0, on Sept. 26 in Chicago. Senior Calum Latham scored the game-winner in the 105th minute, coming off an assist from Josh Grant.
• Xavier is 5-3-3 in conference tournaments under head coach Andy Fleming, winning Atlantic 10 Championships in 2010 and 2011.
• The Muskeeteers are 1-2 in BIG EAST Tournament play, advancing to the 2014 championship match before falling 2-1 to Providence.
• After three straight years, the league tournament moves back to campus sites in 2015. The highest seed will host every match throughout.
• Xavier will be trying to become the third straight four-seed to advance to the league championship match. Providence has done it in each of the last two seasons.
• After a disastrous 1-10 start, DePaul became one of the league's best stories. The Blue Demons wrapped up the year 4-2-1 to claim a BIG EAST Tournament spot for the first time since 2011.
• DePaul is coming off a 3-0 win against Marquette on Thursday at Wish Field. Kevin Beyer (29'), Jalen Harvey (33') and Erik Rodriguez (58') all provided goals in the match, whil Simon Megally had a career-high three assists.
• Senior Mack Robinson has spent the bulk of the time in net for DePaul. A transfer from Ohio Dominican, Robinson has logged 1,254 minutes in 15 matches and allowed 18 goals (1.29 GAA) while making 56 saves. He has two shutouts and two shared shutouts.
• Simon Megally is the Blue Demons' leading scorer (6g, 3a) and is coming off a three assist performance against Marquette on Thursday.
• Hans Wustling (0g, 6a), Erik Rodriguez (4g, 3a), Jake Scheper (3g, 2a) and John Freitag (3g, 1a) have also been consistent threats for the DePaul attack.
• The Blue Demons have been outshot 257-177 overall (99-77 in shots on goal).
• DePaul head coach Craig Blazer is a Xavier alum ('91), who played goalkeeper and earned a degree in political science and communications. While playing at Xavier, he served as an assistant coach at local LaSalle High School and coached at Fairfield High School in 1992. He is now in his 15th year at DePaul.
• The Musketeers lead the all-time series with DePaul 11-1-1 and have out-scored the Blue Demons 32-9 in 13 matches, including this season's 1-0 win in double overtime in Chicago.
• On Sept. 26, Calum Latham's 105th minute golden goal led Xavier to a 1-0 double overtime win at DePaul. It was Latham's first career game-winner.
• In last year's 2-0 win at home, then-senior Will Walker scored twice within 10 minutes in the second half to lead XU to a shutout win on Oct. 15. Matt Vasquenza assisted on the Musketeers' first goal in the 66th minute, while the second strike came unassisted in the 75th.
• The first meeting between the two schools came on Oct. 23, 1980 in a 2-2 tie in Cincinnati. The Musketeers would go on to win the next eight between the two schools until DePaul picked up its lone win in the series on Sept. 9, 2007, a 2-0 decision at Wish Field in Chicago.
• Should Xavier advance, a BIG EAST Semifinal rematch with Georgetown would be next on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. at Shaw Field.
• The Musketeers defeated the Hoyas 1-0 last season at PPL Park to advance to the program's first-ever BIG EAST Championship match.
• Xavier fell 3-0 on the road at Butler, capping the regular season with a rare road loss on a soggy night at the Butler Bowl.
• David Goldsmith put Butler up 1-0 in the 12th off a defensive miscue by the Musketeers and the Bulldogs were able to add to their lead late as Xavier pushed for an equalizer. Vincent Mitchell scored twice in the second half for a Senior Night brace.
• Xavier's seven-member senior class (Dallas Jaye, Vince Shaw, Alex Ridsdale, Calum Latham, Kyle Martin, Rhodes Moore and Chris Moore) come into Sunday's match with a 50-21-10 (.679) mark over the last four years, five wins against the NSCAA Top 10 and three NCAA Tournament wins.
• With a win against DePaul, this year's group would tie the 2014 Musketeer senior class for the program record with 51 wins by a class.
• The 2015 seniors are on pace to set the program record for winning percentage as well. The 2014 group set the current mark with a .677 winning percentage.
• Sophomore forward Matt Vasquenza broke out of a five-match scoring drought recently with the game-winner in the 95th minute at Marquette on Saturday, Oct. 24. He followed it up with another clutch score in the 89th minute, sending Xavier to a 2-1 win at No. 1 Creighton. He is now second on the team with five goals.
• After his heroics at Creighton, Vasquenza was named to the Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News National Teams of the Week.
• Since 2014, Vasquenza is XU's leading scorer with 31 points (12 goals, 7 assists).
• The Musketeers have been at their best away from home this year, putting up a 6-2-1 road record.
• XU's road wins include huge results against No. 1 Creighton (2-1, Oct. 28) and No. 2 Notre Dame (1-0, Sept. 15) in addition to victories against Wisconsin, Cincinnati, DePaul and Villanova.
• Xavier is tied for the second-most road wins in the nation with Stanford (6-2), Rutgers (6-2-1), Butler (6-1-2), Rider (6-2) and Cal St. Northridge (6-2-2).
• Only Akron (7-1-1) and SIUE (7-2-1) have more road wins.
• XU is sixth in the BIG EAST Conference in points (72), tied for fifth in goals (27) and is sixth in goals per game (1.59).
• The Musketeers' 27 goals through 17 matches are also 52nd in the NCAA.
• 19 of Xavier's 27 goals have come after halftime this fall. The Musketeers have outscored opponents 17-7 in the second half and 2-1 in overtime.
• Xavier sports a balanced offense with 11 different players scoring goals and 12 providing assists.
• Senior Alex Ridsdale leads Xavier in scoring (7g, 1a) and is coming off a brace against Seton Hall. Ridsdale's bicycle kick score against IPFW on Tuesday, Sept. 22 was the No. 6 play on ESPN SportsCenter that night.
• Matt Vasquenza is Xavier's second-leading scorer (5g, 1a) and has scored the game-winner in two of the last three matches for Xavier. He netted a 96th minute golden goal against Marquette on Saturday, Oct. 24 and then connected on the game-winner at No. 1 Creighton on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
• The Musketeers have outshot opponents 200-158 overall and 93-65 in shots on goal. Xavier averages 11.8 shots per match and has held opponents to just 9.3 attempts per match.
• Xavier has allowed 15 goals in 17 matches, ranking tied for third in the BIG EAST in GAA (0.88). The Musketeers' team GAA is also 36th in the NCAA.
• Xavier's blanking of Seton Hall last Saturday was its ninth of the season. In 2014, XU set a program record with 11 clean sheets.
• XU has kept shutouts in seven of its last 12 matches and ranks 14th in the nation in shutout percentage (53%).
• Goalkeeper Dallas Jaye is eighth in the nation in GAA (0.57) and seventh in save percentage (.851).
• Dallas Jaye, Matt Vasquenza and Chris Moore were all recognized by the BIG EAST Conference on Monday after starring in a historic 2-0 week for Xavier men's soccer. Jaye was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week, while Moore earned BIG EAST Defender of the Week honors. Vasquenza also earned a spot on the weekly honor roll.
• In addition to his conference honor, Vasquenza was named to the Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News National Teams of the Week for his efforts in the win at No. 1 Creighton.
• Graduate student Dallas Jaye is 8-2-1 in net for Xavier and is eighth in the nation in GAA (0.57) and seventh in save percentage (.851).
• The Musketeers are 9-2-1 with just seven goals allowed when Jaye plays. Without Jaye in net, XU is 2-3 overall with eight goals allowed in five matches (1.60 GAA).
• The San Ramon, Calif. native is had a career-high eight saves in the win at No. 1 Creighton.
• He is on pace to shatter the school record for individual GAA (0.74), which was set in 2014 by Eric Osswald.
• Making just his second start of the season at No. 2 Notre Dame, Jaye recorded 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 playing for Guam (Matao) in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers. Jaye also missed Xavier's Oct. 10 match against Providence due to national team obligations.
• Xavier has been ranked in the NSCAA Poll in five of 10 weeks and has climbed as high as No. 10. Xavier is currently ranked 25th, moving back into the rankings for the first time since the October 6 poll.
• 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.
• 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.
• Despite losing the winningest senior class in Xavier history, the Musketeers returned a seven-man senior group and three of their top-four scorers from 2014 – sophomore Matt Vasquenza (7g, 6a), senior Alex Ridsdale (5g, 4a) and junior Jalen Brown (4g, 2a).
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.
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.
• XU has six straight seasons with at least 10 wins, beginning the year as one of just 15 programs to claim five straight 10-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.
Xavier is the tournament's four-seed, while DePaul is the five-seed. The winner will advance to play at second-seeded Georgetown on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m.
Sunday's match will be broadcast live on BEDN and fans can also follow along with live stats and Twitter updates.
 | THE MATCHUP |
• Xavier won in head-to-head action, 1-0, on Sept. 26 in Chicago. Senior Calum Latham scored the game-winner in the 105th minute, coming off an assist from Josh Grant.
| TOURNAMENT TIME |
• The Muskeeteers are 1-2 in BIG EAST Tournament play, advancing to the 2014 championship match before falling 2-1 to Providence.
• After three straight years, the league tournament moves back to campus sites in 2015. The highest seed will host every match throughout.
• Xavier will be trying to become the third straight four-seed to advance to the league championship match. Providence has done it in each of the last two seasons.
| SCOUTING DEPAUL |
• DePaul is coming off a 3-0 win against Marquette on Thursday at Wish Field. Kevin Beyer (29'), Jalen Harvey (33') and Erik Rodriguez (58') all provided goals in the match, whil Simon Megally had a career-high three assists.
• Senior Mack Robinson has spent the bulk of the time in net for DePaul. A transfer from Ohio Dominican, Robinson has logged 1,254 minutes in 15 matches and allowed 18 goals (1.29 GAA) while making 56 saves. He has two shutouts and two shared shutouts.
• Simon Megally is the Blue Demons' leading scorer (6g, 3a) and is coming off a three assist performance against Marquette on Thursday.
• Hans Wustling (0g, 6a), Erik Rodriguez (4g, 3a), Jake Scheper (3g, 2a) and John Freitag (3g, 1a) have also been consistent threats for the DePaul attack.
• The Blue Demons have been outshot 257-177 overall (99-77 in shots on goal).
• DePaul head coach Craig Blazer is a Xavier alum ('91), who played goalkeeper and earned a degree in political science and communications. While playing at Xavier, he served as an assistant coach at local LaSalle High School and coached at Fairfield High School in 1992. He is now in his 15th year at DePaul.
| SERIES HISTORY |
• On Sept. 26, Calum Latham's 105th minute golden goal led Xavier to a 1-0 double overtime win at DePaul. It was Latham's first career game-winner.
• In last year's 2-0 win at home, then-senior Will Walker scored twice within 10 minutes in the second half to lead XU to a shutout win on Oct. 15. Matt Vasquenza assisted on the Musketeers' first goal in the 66th minute, while the second strike came unassisted in the 75th.
• The first meeting between the two schools came on Oct. 23, 1980 in a 2-2 tie in Cincinnati. The Musketeers would go on to win the next eight between the two schools until DePaul picked up its lone win in the series on Sept. 9, 2007, a 2-0 decision at Wish Field in Chicago.
| NEXT UP |
• The Musketeers defeated the Hoyas 1-0 last season at PPL Park to advance to the program's first-ever BIG EAST Championship match.
| LAST TIME OUT |
• David Goldsmith put Butler up 1-0 in the 12th off a defensive miscue by the Musketeers and the Bulldogs were able to add to their lead late as Xavier pushed for an equalizer. Vincent Mitchell scored twice in the second half for a Senior Night brace.
| A DECORATED CLASS |
• With a win against DePaul, this year's group would tie the 2014 Musketeer senior class for the program record with 51 wins by a class.
• The 2015 seniors are on pace to set the program record for winning percentage as well. The 2014 group set the current mark with a .677 winning percentage.
| VASQUENZA PLAYING HERO |
• After his heroics at Creighton, Vasquenza was named to the Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News National Teams of the Week.
• Since 2014, Vasquenza is XU's leading scorer with 31 points (12 goals, 7 assists).
| ROAD WARRIORS |
• XU's road wins include huge results against No. 1 Creighton (2-1, Oct. 28) and No. 2 Notre Dame (1-0, Sept. 15) in addition to victories against Wisconsin, Cincinnati, DePaul and Villanova.
• Xavier is tied for the second-most road wins in the nation with Stanford (6-2), Rutgers (6-2-1), Butler (6-1-2), Rider (6-2) and Cal St. Northridge (6-2-2).
• Only Akron (7-1-1) and SIUE (7-2-1) have more road wins.
| DOING IT WITH OFFENSE |
• The Musketeers' 27 goals through 17 matches are also 52nd in the NCAA.
• 19 of Xavier's 27 goals have come after halftime this fall. The Musketeers have outscored opponents 17-7 in the second half and 2-1 in overtime.
• Xavier sports a balanced offense with 11 different players scoring goals and 12 providing assists.
• Senior Alex Ridsdale leads Xavier in scoring (7g, 1a) and is coming off a brace against Seton Hall. Ridsdale's bicycle kick score against IPFW on Tuesday, Sept. 22 was the No. 6 play on ESPN SportsCenter that night.
• Matt Vasquenza is Xavier's second-leading scorer (5g, 1a) and has scored the game-winner in two of the last three matches for Xavier. He netted a 96th minute golden goal against Marquette on Saturday, Oct. 24 and then connected on the game-winner at No. 1 Creighton on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
• The Musketeers have outshot opponents 200-158 overall and 93-65 in shots on goal. Xavier averages 11.8 shots per match and has held opponents to just 9.3 attempts per match.
| DOING IT WITH DEFENSE |
• Xavier's blanking of Seton Hall last Saturday was its ninth of the season. In 2014, XU set a program record with 11 clean sheets.
• XU has kept shutouts in seven of its last 12 matches and ranks 14th in the nation in shutout percentage (53%).
• Goalkeeper Dallas Jaye is eighth in the nation in GAA (0.57) and seventh in save percentage (.851).
| WEEKLY HONORS |
• In addition to his conference honor, Vasquenza was named to the Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News National Teams of the Week for his efforts in the win at No. 1 Creighton.
| JAYE MAKING BIG IMPACT |
• The Musketeers are 9-2-1 with just seven goals allowed when Jaye plays. Without Jaye in net, XU is 2-3 overall with eight goals allowed in five matches (1.60 GAA).
• The San Ramon, Calif. native is had a career-high eight saves in the win at No. 1 Creighton.
• He is on pace to shatter the school record for individual GAA (0.74), which was set in 2014 by Eric Osswald.
• Making just his second start of the season at No. 2 Notre Dame, Jaye recorded 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 playing for Guam (Matao) in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers. Jaye also missed Xavier's Oct. 10 match against Providence due to national team obligations.
| XU IN THE NSCAA POLL |
• 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 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 |
| BROWN'S HARDWARE |
• 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 |
| AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE |
• 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.
Players Mentioned
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