No. 20 Men's Soccer Hosts First Ranked Opponent of Season on Saturday

CINCINNATI – No. 20 Xavier men's soccer hosts its first ranked opponent of the season on Saturday, as No. 16 Georgetown visits XU Soccer Complex. First touch is scheduled for 7:00 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.

PROMOTIONS

• Alumni Game and 2010 Atlantic 10 Champions Reunion.
• Xavier men's soccer will host a pre-game alumni reception for its alums and recognize the 2010 A-10 Champions prior to kickoff on Saturday.

SCOUTING GEORGETOWN

• The Hoyas enter Saturday's match at 5-2-2 overall and 1-0 in BIG EAST play.
• Georgetown opened conference play with a 1-0 home win against Providence on Saturday. Junior Brett Campbell connected with Alex Muyl and Brandon Allen for the game-winner in the 64th minute.
• Senior forward Brandon Allen and junior defender Joshua Yaro were both named to the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Last season, Allen was a Third-Team All-American while leading the BIG EAST in goals. Yaro was a First Team All-American and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
• Muyl (4g, 4a) and Allen (3g, 5a) are the leading scorers for the Hoyas, which have received goals from seven players and assists from eight. Allen, a 2014 Third Team All-American, also leads the team in shots (22) and shots on goal (10).
• GU starts a freshman, J.T. Marcinkowski, in goal. He has made all nine starts, making 36 saves with a GAA of 0.97.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Musketeers lead the all-time series with Georgetown, 2-1, after winning 1-0 in the 2014 BIG EAST Semifinal on Friday, Nov. 14 at PPL Park. Jalen Brown took in a cross from Cory Brown in the 64th minute, burying the game-winner and sending XU to its first-ever BIG EAST Championship match.
• The two programs split the prior two meetings, both occuring in the regular season. Georgetown won 1-0 in overtime on Oct. 29, 2014 at Shaw Field, while Xavier won the first-ever matchup, 2-1, on Oct. 12, 2013 in Cincinnati.

NEXT UP

• The Musketeers host Providence on Saturday, Oct. 10 at XU Soccer Complex in a rematch of the 2014 BIG EAST Finals. First touch is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.

LAST TIME OUT

• Calum Latham buried his first-ever game-winner, tallying in the 105th minute off a pass from Josh Grant as Xavier beat DePaul 1-0 to open BIG EAST play.
• GK Dallas Jaye made four saves to improve to 5-0 in net with his fourth straight clean sheet.
• The overtime was the first for Xavier since Nov. 20, 2014 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament – a 2-1 win over Monmouth at XU Soccer Complex.
• With the win, XU moved to 2-1 all-time in conference openers.

NOTABLE

• Xavier is 7-2 overall (1-0 BIG EAST) and comes into Saturday's contest with a five-match winning streak – a mark that is tied for the sixth-longest in the nation.
• The Musketeers have kept shutouts in each of their last four matches, building a scoreless streak of 389:52 going back to the second half of the UC match on Sept. 11.
• 13 of Xavier's 19 goals have come after halftime this fall. The Musketeers have outscored opponents 12-2 in the second half.
• 10 different players have scored a goal this season for the Musketeers. Nine have registered an assist.
• Under Andy Fleming, the Musketeers are 7-3-2 vs. ranked opponents and 5-2-1 against the top-10, including a win over No. 2 Notre Dame this fall and last season's victories against No. 5 Indiana and No. 8 Georgetown.

DOING IT WITH OFFENSE

• XU is second in the BIG EAST in points (51), tied for first in goals (19) and third in goals per game (2.11).
• XU is 20th in NCAA Division I scoring offense (2.11), 23rd in total points (51) and 31st in the nation in points per match (5.67).
• The Musketeers' 19 goals through six matches are also 14th in the country.
• Senior Alex Ridsdale leads XU in scoring (5g, 1a) and is 31st in the nation in total goals. His bicycle kick score against IPFW on Tuesday, Sept. 22 was the No. 6 play on ESPN SportsCenter that night.
• Xavier generates 6.11 shots on goal per match, ranking 53rd in the nation. The Musketeers have outshot opponents 98-67 overall and 55-25 in shots on goal.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE

• Xavier has allowed just six goals in nine matches, ranking second in the BIG EAST in GAA (0.67).
• The Musketeers' six shutouts are tied for first in the BIG EAST and their 0.67 shutout percentage ranks sixth in the nation.
• GK Dallas Jaye is second in the nation with a 0.19 GAA and fourth nationally in save percentage (.929).
• Xavier goalkeepers have had to make just 19 saves in nine matches. That averages out to 2.11 saves per match, which is the lowest average in the BIG EAST.

JAYE MAKING IMPACT

• Graduate student Dallas Jaye is 5-0 in net for Xavier and has a current shutout streak of four-plus matches (389:52).
• Making just his second start of the season at No. 2 Notre Dame, Jaye recorded a career-high 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 in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers.

BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS

• Calum Latham was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after tallying Xavier's game-winner in the 105th minute at DePaul last Saturday. It was the first weekly honor of Latham's career.

XU IN THE NATIONAL POLLS

• Xavier is back in the NSCAA rankings this week, checking in at No. 20 on Tuesday after receiving votes last week.
• Xavier is also ranked No. 15 by College Soccer News and No. 19 by Soccer America.
• 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.

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