Women's Soccer Hosts Ohio for Friday Evening Match

Friday, September 18

Cincinnati, Ohio

6:30 P.M.

Xavier University

Ohio

Women's Soccer Hosts Ohio for Friday Evening Match

09.17.15 | Women's Soccer

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's soccer closes out its non-conference schedule this weekend with a pair of in-state rivals, Ohio and Cincinnati. The Musketeers start the weekend slate by hosting the Bobcats on Friday, Sept. 18 at XU Soccer Complex, with first kick set for 6:30 p.m. Live stats will be available from GoXavier.com. The match with cross-town rival Cincinnati follows on Sunday with a 6:30 p.m. game time.

Xavier (5-2-0) is coming off a pair of shutout victories last weekend, marking three shutouts in a row for the Musketeers. Xavier's leading scorers Samantha Dewey and Kenadie Carlson each posted a goal as the Musketeers topped IUPUI, 2-0, last Friday. A pair of rookies collected their first goals in a 4-0 win over EKU on Sunday, with Kylie Hohlt scoring the game-winner less than five minutes into the match and Jessica Miller collecting a pair of tallies just before halftime.

Ohio is coming off a 3-0 win over Robert Morris last Friday to move to 1-5-0 on the season. The Bobcats' Alexis Milesky scored the game-winner off a pass from Celeste Fushimi-Karns less than four minutes into the match. Megan Niebuhr and Holly Harris added a pair of insurance goals for Ohio.

SERIES HISTORY

Friday's match will be the seventh time Ohio and Xavier have faced off, with the Musketeers leading the series 5-1-0. The series dates back to 1997 when Xavier topped the Bobcats, 6-1. In the most recent edition, the Musketeers pulled off a 3-2 win in double overtime in Athens, Ohio in 2014. In last season's matchup, Tori Doss scored twice in regulation to help force overtime. After 18 minutes of extra time, Catherine Allon knocked through the game-winner off a cross from Katie Schweer.

BIG EAST AND NCAA LEADERS

Xavier's offense is setting the standard among BIG EAST team, leading the conference with 2.86 goals per game, which matches VMI for the 14^th highest in the country. XU's total goals (20) stands as second in the conference, just behind No. 20/21 DePaul's total of 21, and matches VMI for the 17^th most in NCAA.

The Musketeers also lead the conference in assists per game (3.0) which stands as fifth most in NCAA DI. Xavier also leads the conference in total assists at 21, the eighth most in the country.

Xavier's BIG EAST-leading 8.71 points per game and is also among the top 10 in the country, and the Musketeers' total points (61) rates as highest in the conference and 11^th in all of Division I.

DEFENSE FORCES FOURTH SHUTOUT

The Xavier backline has not allowed a goal for over 340 minutes of game time, forcing three straight shutouts and totaling four for the season. Inside backs Courtney Kobashigawa, Carly Alfano and Maria Libertin and goalkeeper Rachel Piccus have anchored the defense for Xavier during the 2015 season where the Musketeers have only allowed eight goals total.

PICCUS EARNS WEEKLY AWARD

Junior keeper Rachel Piccus collected 12 saves over the weekend for a pair of shutouts, making three straight and four overall for the Musketeers in 2015. The BIG EAST Conference office recognized Piccus' performance by honoring the Cleveland, Ohio native with BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week. Against IUPUI, Piccus collected a career-high seven saves as the Musketeers held off the Jaguars in a 2-0 win. Piccus grabbed five more in the 4-0 win over EKU to bring her season total to 35.

This is Piccus' first weekly honor from the BIG EAST Conference. She is the fourth Musketeer to earn recognition from the conference, joining Samantha Dewey (Rookie of the Week – 8/24, Weekly Honor Roll – 9/7), Tori Doss (Weekly Honor Roll – 8/24) and Kenadie Carlson (Weekly Honor Roll – 8/31). A Xavier women's soccer student-athlete has been honored in each week of the 2015 season thus far, as the Musketeers have surpassed the totals wins and doubled the number of goals from the 2014 season in just seven games.

BALANCED OFFENSIVE ATTACK

Through seven games, 13 different Musketeers have scored points after only nine did so for all of 2014. Xavier has doubled its offensive output for last season (10 goals) in just seven games, posting 20 goals thus far in 2015. Nine Musketeers have knocked in a goal, while 10 different Musketeers have collected assists.

HOHLT'S GOAL A GAME-WINNER

Less than three minutes into the match with Eastern Kentucky, freshman Kylie Hohlt knocked in the first goal of her Xavier career off a pass from senior Catherine Allon to give the Musketeers a 1-0 lead, and the only goal XU would need for the win. Two more goals, both from Jessica Miller, and an own goal on EKU set the final margin at 4-0.

MILLER COLLECTS A PAIR

Seven games into her freshman season, Jessica Miller broke through for the first goal of her Xavier career, scoring at the 37 minute mark after Samantha Dewey played the ball deep into the box. Less than four minutes later, Miller collected her second tally after senior Erin McGauley set her up inside the six yard box to put Xavier up 3-0 against EKU.

DEWEY AMONG NATION'S BEST

After collecting a goal and an assist over the weekend, Samantha Dewey now holds team-highs in goals (5) and assists (4), and has accumulated a team-high 14 points, a number that stands as the second best in the BIG EAST and 21^st in the country. Dewey is averaging a BIG EAST-best 2.0 points per game, which is 17^th highest among all NCAA Division I players.

Dewey has collected a pair of honors from the BIG EAST Conference office in her rookie campaign, earning Rookie of the Week Honors for the week of August 24 and a taking a spot on the Weekly Honor Rolls for the week of Sept. 7.

CARLSON DOUBLES GOALS

Sophomore Kenadie Carlson's first game winner of 2015 brings her season total to four goals, doubling her total goals from last season through just seven games. After the Musketeers held a 0-0 draw with IUPUI for a half, Carlson knocked in a pass from senior Catherine Allon less than 10 minutes after the break to put Xavier up, 1-0.