Men's Soccer Meets Crosstown Rival Cincinnati on Friday Night

Friday, September 11

Cincinnati OH

7 P.M.

Xavier University

Cincinnati

Men's Soccer Meets Crosstown Rival Cincinnati on Friday Night

09.10.15 | Men's Soccer

Musketeers looking to snap two-match losing streak, extend unbeaten streak against Bearcats

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Men's soccer continues its rivalry against Cincinnati on Friday night, travelling to Gettler Stadium for a 7 p.m. match. The Musketeers (2-2) will be looking to snap a two-match losing streak and extend an unbeaten streak against the Bearcats that goes back to 2010.

Admission to Gettler Stadium is free for all fans, and the game will also be broadcast live on BearcatsTV.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI

Cincinnati (2-2) has split its first four matches this season, defeating NKU (3-2) and Valpo (1-0 2OT) while falling to Virginia Tech (5-1) and Wright State (3-0). The Bearcats have been outshot 51-48 by their opponents this season and are allowing 2.5 goals per match.

Alejandro Garcia leads UC with a pair of goals on the year. Emmanuel Appiah and Adam Wilson have each added one goal and one assist. Alex Gill has spent the majority of time in net, collecting 11 saves and allowing 10 goals in four starts (2.47 GAA).

SERIES HISTORY

Friday's match will be the 42nd meeting between the two programs, which has been played annually since 1974. UC leads the all-time series 25-11-5, but haven't won in the series since a 2-1 overtime result on September 30, 2009.

Current head coach Andy Fleming is 3-0-2 against the Bearcats, including a 3-0 victory at Xavier Soccer Complex last season. Xavier has scored seven goals against just two for the Bearcats in that stretch.

NEXT UP

The Musketeers stay on the road, visiting No. 2 Notre Dame on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier is coming off a disappointing match, falling 3-1 at home against Virginia Tech – a result that knocked the Musketeers out of NSCAA Top 25. Chris Moore scored the first goal of his career in the 14th minute, but the Hokies answered in the 27th and 32nd minutes before adding another goal late. The match was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, Sept. 5, but inclement weather forced it to be moved to Sunday mornng.

XU IN THE NATIONAL POLLS

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. After a two-match losing streak, however, the Musketeers find themselves back in the "receiving votes" section of the NSCAA Poll.

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.

PRESEASON WRAP

Xavier put together a 2-0-1 preseason, defeating SIUE, 1-0, and Cincinnati State, 5-1, while earning a 1-1 draw against Ohio State. Ian Vicars (1g, 2a) was the side's leading scorer over the three matches, tallying against SIUE and contributing a pair of helpers in the Cincinnati State win. Jalen Brown (1g), Majed Osman (1g), Joash Sutherland (1g), Kyle Martin (1g), Eric McWoods (1g, 1a), Chris Moore (1a) and Samson Sergi (1g) also contributed points during the exhibition season.

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 five 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.