Men's Soccer Looks to Extend Winning Streak Tuesday Against Visiting IPFW

Tuesday, September 22

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 P.M.

Xavier University

IPFW

Men's Soccer Looks to Extend Winning Streak Tuesday Against Visiting IPFW

09.21.15 | Men's Soccer

Musketeers have won three straight, shut out last two opponents

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's soccer stays home on Tuesday night, looking to extend a three-match winning streak against visiting IPFW. First touch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

The match will be broadcast live on GoXavier.com with commentary from Mike Schmaltz and Erik Alanson. Fans can also follow along with live stats and Twitter updates.

PROMOTIONS

• Xavier men's soccer is hosting 'Boy Scout Night.' X patches will be given away to all scouts in uniform.

NOTABLE

• Xavier is 5-2 overall and ranked first in the BIG EAST in points (42), goals (16) and goals per game (2.29).
• XU is 14th in NCAA Division I scoring offense (2.29), 16th in total points (43) and 21st in the nation in points per match (6.14). The Musketeers' 16 goals through six matches are also ninth in the country.
• Senior Alex Ridsdale leads XU in scoring (4g, 1a) and is 26th in the nation in total goals per match.
• Xavier generates 6.57 shots on goal per match, ranking 37th in the nation. The Musketeers have outshot opponents 46-20 in shots on goal.
• 12 of Xavier's 16 goals have come in the second half and the Musketeers have outscored opponents 12-2 after halftime.
• BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week Jalen Brown has all four of his points in Xavier's last three matches, including the game-winning goal in the 47th minute at No. 2 Notre Dame.
• 10 different players have scored a goal this season for the Musketeers and nine have registered an assist.
• Under Andy Fleming, the Musketeers are now 7-3-2 vs. ranked opponents and 5-2-1 against the top-10, including Tuesday's win over No. 2 Notre Dame and last season's victories against No. 5 Indiana and No. 8 Georgetown.

QUOTABLE

"They're having a pretty good season so far. We saw them in the preseason and they have some interesting pieces, and definitely some talent. We've got to make sure we finish our non-conference slate on a high note and ride some of our momentum. It's only a two-day turnaround and I think starting tonight and into tomorrow we've got to make sure we beat IPFW on Sunday and Monday, which will help facilitate things on Tuesday." - Head Coach Andy Fleming on IPFW

SCOUTING IPFW

• The Mastodons are coming off a 3-2 loss to Bowling Green on Friday, Sept. 18 in Bowling Green and are 3-4 overall.
• Jose Rodriguez and Austin West lead IPFW with three goals apiece. Rodriguez's 11 shots on goal lead the Mastodons.
• IPFW had a 6-9-4 (3-3 Summit League) season in 2014, a marked improvement from a 1-15-1 season in 2013.
• Nine starters are back from last year's side, including GK Raphael Kotzock and leading scorer Corey Tom – who had five goals and two assists last season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Xavier leads the all-time series 2-0 with the last meeting coming on Sept. 18, 2012 in Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Then-No. 23 Xavier won 2-0 in the last meeting. Goals came from Gino De Paoli and Luke Spencer, as XU kept its first shutout of the season.
• XU also won 5-0 in the first matchup between the two schools on Sept. 13, 2011 at Xavier Soccer Complex.

NEXT UP

• The Musketeers open BIG EAST play on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Chicago, facing DePaul at 2:00 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME OUT

• Chris Moore delivered the game-winner in the 53rd minute as Xavier won its third straight, 1-0, over a tough Bucknell side. Jalen Brown was credited with the assist.
• Xavier and Bucknell were even, 7-7, in total shots and the Bison held a 1-0 edge in corner kicks.
• Dallas Jaye made one save and earned his second straight shutout in goal.

JAYE MAKING IMPACT

• Graduate student Dallas Jaye, making just his second start, recorded a career-high six saves in keeping a clean sheet against No. 2 Notre Dame last Tuesday.
• Jaye also made a save against Bucknell, keeping a second straight clean sheet and improving to 3-0 in goal this season.
• Jaye was an offseason transfer from USF and missed the first couple weeks of the season playing for Guam in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers.

BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS

• XU cleaned up in the BIG EAST Weekly Awards after a 2-0 week, picking up BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week (Jalen Brown), BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (Chris Moore) and BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week (Dallas Jaye).
• Brown scored the game-winner at No. 2 Notre Dame last Tuesday, polishing off a corner in the 47th minute for his first tally of the season. He also assisted on Moore's game-winner on Saturday against Bucknell.
• Moore started and played the full 90 in both of XU's shutout wins last week, connecting for the game-winning goal in the 53rd minute on Saturday against Bucknell.
• Jaye kept clean sheets in both of his starts last week, improving to 3-0 as the starter and making a career-high six saves in XU's win at No. 2 Notre Dame.

XU IN THE NATIONAL POLLS

• Xavier is receiving votes in the latest NSCAA Top 25 Poll, which was announced on Tuesday. Coming off a 2-0 week, the Musketeers are 28th overall with 21 votes.
• Xavier is ranked 19th in the College Soccer News Poll after falling out for the past two weeks.
• 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.

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.