Women's Soccer Heads to Villanova for First BIG EAST Road Test

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's soccer (6-4-2; 2-0 BIG EAST) looks to build on a two-game conference winning streak on Sunday, when the Musketeer head to Villanova to face the Wildcats on Sunday afternoon. First touch is set for 1:00 p.m.

A live stream of the game will be available on Villanova.com but a paid subscription is required.

THE MATCHUP

Xavier Musketeers at
Villanova Wildcats
Sunday, Oct. 1 | 1 PM
Higgins Soccer Complex

PREVIEWING VILLANOVA

Villanova enters the game at 5-6-0 overall and 1-1-0 in BIG EAST play after picking up a 4-1 win at Marquette on Thursday night.
Against Marquette, Emily Kuefler scored in the 17th minute to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead going into the break. Kristin Barbour scored the eventual game-winner in the 50th minute off a penalty kick. Amanda Vocelka added an insurance goal in the 59th minute and Kuefler scored her second of the night in the 68th minute to put the Wildcats up 4-0. Marquette picked up a tally on a VU own goal off a corner kick in the 82nd minute to set the final score.
The win over MU was the first over the Golden Eagles in program history and the first road win of the season for the Wildcats.
VU also picked up wins against Harvard (2-1), LaFayette, (5-0), Saint Joseph's (1-0) and an overtime win over Delaware (2-1) in the season opener.
Prior to the win over Marquette, VU had dropped a pair, at Drexel and at Providence in the BIG EAST opener.
The Wildcats also suffered setbacks against LaSalle, at Lehigh, against Princeton and at James Madison.
Kuefler's pair of goals against Marquette brought her goal total to six for the season, a team-high. Kuefler also leads the team with 13 points.
Vocelka has four goals on the season, second most for the Wildcats. Jasmine Ruiz and Barbour each have a pair.
Emily Harris has played the full season in-goal for VU, collecting 35 saves with 12 goals against. Her record stands at 5-6-0 with two complete shutouts.
Villanova finished 2016 at 4-14 overall and 2-7 in the BIG EAST.
Xavier picked up the win over the Wildcats last season at UC's Gettler Stadium after Samantha Dewey scored in the 54th minute. Toni Bizzarro and Rachel Piccus shared time in-goal for the combined shutout.
The series with the Wildcats stands at 2-2-0 all-time.

XU STATS

Xavier moved to 6-4-2 on the season and 2-0 in BIG EAST play with the win over Providence. The win improved the Musketeers to 6-2-2 at home.
The back-to-back wins over Creighton and Providence mark the first time in 2017 the Musketeers have won two straight.
The last time Xavier won back to back games was during the non-conference portion of the 2016 season, topping Youngstown State, 3-2 on Sept. 11, 2016 and then defeating Ohio, 2-1, on Sept. 16, 2016.
The 2-0 start in BIG EAST marks the first time Xavier opened the conference with two wins since 2007 when Xavier opened Atlantic 10 play with a 2-1 win at George Washington (9/28/2007) and then beat Saint Joseph's, 5-0, at home (9/30/2007). That's also the last time the program posted back-to-back wins in conference play.
Emma Westwater and Sydney Schembri match each other for team-high with four goals, tying for sixth in the conference. Schembri's goals per game (0.36) are tied for seventh in the conference.
Westwater leads the team with nine points, tied for eighth most in the BIG EAST. Schembri's eight points stands in second on the team.
Carrie Lewis picked up the assist on Doss' goal against Providence, her fourth of the season to lead the team. She ranks T-2nd in the BIG EAST for total assists and T-5th in the BIG EAST with 0.33 assists per game.
Doss' goal against Providence was her second of the season and her first game-winner. Schembri leads the Musketeer and tied for the second most in the BIG EAST with two game-winners.
Toni Bizzarro's total saves (62) rank second in the BIG EAST and 47th in NCAA D-I. Her saves per game (5.64) ranks second in the conference and 51st in the country.
As a team, Xavier ranks in the top five in the conference in total shots (137 - 4th), total points (41 - T-5th), total goals (15 - T-4th) and total assists (11 - T-5th). The Musketeers also lead the conference in saves (69) as a team.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier took home a 1-0 BIG EAST win over Providence on Thursday evening after Tori Doss scored her second goal of the season.
On a counter attack in the 13th minute, Carrie Lewis served the ball over the top from just past midfield into the penalty box. Tori Doss shot the ball from just inside the 18-yard box to the top right corner to give Xavier the 1-0 lead.
Doss' goal was her second of the season and her first game-winner of 2017.
Carrie Lewis picked up the assist on the goal, bringing her team-high total to four for the season.
Xavier took nine shots to 20 for PC, but the two squads were even on corner kicks with a pair each.
Courtney Lankford took a team-high three shots, including a pair on-frame.
Toni Bizzarro collected eight saves with no goals against for her second shut-out of the season.
Bizzarro picked up her sixth win of the season, moving to 5-4-1 overall.
Lewis, Andie Kennard and Carly Alfano played full time for the Musketeers
The win marked the first for Xavier over Providence since 1995, ending a four-game losing streak to the Friars.

UP NEXT

Xavier stays on the road for a match at Butler on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Xavier returns home to host DePaul on Sunday, Oct. 8 at 1:00 p.m. The Musketeer will celebrate Senior Day prior to the match with the Blue Demons.

WEEKLY HONORS

After scoring the game-winner against Creighton, Xavier women's soccer's Sydney Schembri earned the first conference honor of her career. The freshman forward was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, announced by the BIG EAST offices on Monday, September 25.
With the clock winding down to the end of the second half with Xavier and Creighton in a 1-1 draw, Carrie Lewis set up for a corner kick. Lewis served the ball in from the left side, finding Schembri just outside of the six-yard box. Schembri used a header to flick the ball over the head of the CU goalkeeper, bouncing off bottom of the crossbar to score what would be the game-winner with less than five seconds remaining on the clock.
Schembri is the fourth Musketeer to earn Weekly Honor Roll accolades. Samantha Dewey picked up the honor in weeks one and two of the season. Andie Kennard was named to the Honor Roll for the week of Sept. 4 and Emma Westwater earned the accolade for the week of Sept. 11.

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