Men's Soccer Kicks Off BIG EAST Play Saturday in Chicago

Saturday, September 26

Chicago, Ill.

2 P.M.

Xavier University

DePaul

Xavier men's soccer prior to match with Bucknell

Men's Soccer Kicks Off BIG EAST Play Saturday in Chicago

09.24.15 | Men's Soccer

Musketeers looking to remain undefeated against Blue Demons in conference play

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's soccer opens its third season in the BIG EAST Conference on Saturday, travelling to Wish Field in Chicago to face DePaul. First touch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET.

The match will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network and fans can also follow along with live stats and Twitter updates.

NOTABLE

• Xavier is 6-2 overall and ranked first in the BIG EAST in points (48), goals (18) and goals per game (2.25).
• XU is 13th in NCAA Division I scoring offense (2.25), 9th in total points (48) and 21st in the nation in points per match (6). The Musketeers' 18 goals through six matches are also eighth in the country.
• Senior Alex Ridsdale leads XU in scoring (5g, 1a) and is 17th in the nation in total goals per match. His bicycle kick score against IPFW on Tuesday was the No. 6 play on ESPN SportsCenter that night.
• Xavier generates 6.13 shots on goal per match, ranking 50th in the nation. The Musketeers have outshot opponents 49-21 in shots on goal.
• 12 of Xavier's 18 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 four matches, including the game-winning goal in the 47th minute at No. 2 Notre Dame last Tuesday.
• 10 different players have scored a goal this season for the Musketeers and nine have registered an assist.
• Xavier is 1-1 in BIG EAST openers over the past two seasons, dropping its first-ever league game to Marquette, 1-0, on Sept. 28. 2013. The Musketeers took last year's conference opener in a 1-0 win over St. John's at home on Sept. 27, 2014.
• Under Andy Fleming, the Musketeers are now 7-3-2 vs. ranked opponents and 5-2-1 against the top-10, including last Tuesday's win over No. 2 Notre Dame and last season's victories against No. 5 Indiana and No. 8 Georgetown.

SCOUTING DePaul

• The Blue Demons enter Saturday's match at 1-6 overall and on a three-match skid. DePaul's lone win came 4-0 against 2014 NCAA Tournament team Fordham at Wish Field.
• Shut out in four of seven matches, DePaul has scored all eight of its goals in just three fixtures. The Blue Demons average 1.14 goals per match and have outshot opponents 70-62.
• DePaul has a pair of attackers with three goals on the season. Erik Rodriguez leads the Blue Demons with seven points (3g, 1a) and Simon Megally has six points on three goals, while leading the team with eight shots on frame.
• Quentin Low and Mack Robinson have split time in net this season for DePaul, allowing an average of 1.86 goals per game.
• 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

• The Musketeers lead the all-time series with DePaul 10-1-1 and have out-scored the Blue Demons 31-9 in 12 matches, including last season's 2-0 win at XU Soccer Complex.
• Then-senior Will Walker scored twice within 10 minutes in the second half to lead XU to a shutout win on Oct. 15, 2014. 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 host No. 25 Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 3 at XU Soccer Complex in a rematch of the 2014 BIG EAST Quarterfinals. First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME OUT

• Alex Ridsdale scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season just 49 seconds into the match on a ridiculous bicycle kick score to help lead Xavier to a 2-0 win over visiting IPFW on Tuesday.
• Matt Vasquenza added his third goal of the season in the 17th, assisted by Matt Nance, to provide the insurance as XU moved its scoreless streak to three-plus matches (285:16).

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. He was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday for his efforts.
• Since that match, Jaye has made one save in each of XU's last two matches and has now recorded three consecutive shutouts.
• 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.

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.