Women's Soccer Heads to Youngstown State for Sunday Match

Sunday, September 11

Youngstown, Ohio

1 p.m.

Xavier University

Youngstown State University

Women's Soccer Heads to Youngstown State for Sunday Match

09.10.16 | Women's Soccer

Live Stats WatchESPN YSU Soccer Info Xavier Season Stats (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

Penguins and Musketeers face off at 1 PM on WatchESPN

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (4-2-1) begins a five-game road swing on Sunday with a trip to Youngstown, Ohio to face the Youngstown State Penguins (2-3-1).
The match, which will be streamed on WatchESPN, is set to start at 1:00 p.m.

THE MATCHUP

Xavier Musketeers at
Youngstown State Penquins
Sunday, Sept.11 | 1 PM
Farmers National Bank Field
Youngstown, Ohio
Live Stats / WatchESPN

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS

• YSU is coming off a 6-0 loss at St. Bonaventure on Friday night. The Bonnies jumped out to a quick lead, scoring two in the first five minutes of the match and the Penguins were unable to recover. St. Bonaventure added two more to take a 4-0 lead into the break and added another two in the second period.

• Youngstown States picked up wins in it season opener at Robert Morris (1-0) and against Longwood (3-1) on Sept. 4, The Penguins played Duquesne, Xavier's last opponent, to a 1-1 draw through two over times. YSU also faced off with Central Michigan and Fort Wayne, falling in both of those contests.

• Through six games, junior midfielder Ernestina Abambila leads the Penguins with team-highs in goals (4) and assists (4) for a team-leading eight points

• Senior goalkeeper Katie Montgomery has started every game in goal for YSU, collecting 33 saves for a saver percentage of .688. Montgomery's GAA stands at 2.41 with 15 goals against in the Penguins' first six matches.

SERIES HISTORY

• This is the first matchup between Xavier and Youngstown State.

LAST TIME OUT

• On Friday night, Xavier fell, 2-0, against Duquesne at a game the Musketeers host at Cincinnati's Gettler Stadium, moving to 4-2-1 on the season.

• Duquesne score a pair in the first half, getting the first in the sixth minute and adding the insurance goal at the 34:55 mark.

• On the defensive end, Rachel Piccus started in goal for the Musketeers, facing nine shots by the Dukes and collecting three saves. Toni Bizzarro made her second appearance at goalkeeper, starting the second half and collecting four saves, including a pair of diving stops to keep the Musketeers within two. Courtney Kobashigawa and Ellie Eckerle each played over 75 minutes on the Xavier backline.

• The Musketeers took six of their nine shots in the second period, with Samantha Dewey's three, including a pair on-frame. Six different Musketeers had attempts, and Xavier forced DU's goalkeeper to make five saves on the day to shutout the XU offense for the first time this season.

XU STATS

• Through seven games, Samantha Dewey, the lead points scorer from 2015, leads the Musketeers with nine points off a team-highs in goals (3) and assists (3).

• Tori Doss has a pair of goals and Maddie Tierney has a goal and pair of assists for four points each, sitting as the second highest point total on the team.

• Maddie Tierney, Kenadie Carlson and Ellie Eckerle each have a goal and an assist for three points on the season.

• Xavier's 11 goals through seven games have come from eight different Musketeers. Six Musketeers have also dished out assists.

• Rachel Piccus has played a team-high 560 minutes in goal, allowing six goals against while collecting 82.1 percent of shots against her for a total of 32 saves. Piccus has picked up three wins on the season, including a pair of shutouts.

• Toni Bizzarro made her college debut against NKU, playing 45 minutes, collecting a pair of saves and picking up her first win. Bizzarro made another second half appearance against Duquense, holding the Dukes scoreless with four saves in the half.

• In the backfield with Piccus, Carly Alfano is averaging over 87 minutes of action in her four appearances including 102 minutes in the double overtime match at Ball State. Courtney Kobashigawa chips in 85.2 minutes per game and Ellie Eckerle is averaging just over 80 minutes through seven games as part of a defense that is holding teams to 1.00 goal per game.

WEEKLY AWARDS

• After a two-tally half for the Musketeers, helping secure the 3-1 win over Dayton, Samantha Dewey earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll last week.

• This is the first appearance on the Weekly Honor Roll for Dewey this season, and second in her career, previously earning the honor on Sept. 7, 2015. Dewey, a unanimous choice to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team last season, was also honored as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week twice in 2015 (8/24/2015 and 10/26/2015).

• Dewey is the third Musketeer to earn a weekly award from the BIG EAST this season. In week one, Rachel Piccus earned Goalkeeper of the Week honors, while Maddie Tierney was named to the Weekly Honor Roll.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

• After facing Youngstown State, Xavier will head to Athens, Ohio to face the Ohio Bobcats on Friday, Sept. 16 at 4:00 p.m.

• After OU, Xavier will travel to IUPUI before jumping into the BIG EAST slate at DePaul and Providence.

• Xavier's next home match is scheduled for Oct. 2, when the Musketeers are slated to host the Georgetown Hoyas for their BIG EAST home-opener at 1:00 p.m. Please stay tuned to GoXavier.com and @XavierWSOC, the official Twitter account of Xavier women's soccer, for potential changes to time and venue.