Women's Soccer Heads to Tennessee for Sunday Afternoon Match

Sunday, August 26

Knoxville, Tenn.

1 PM

Xavier University

Tennessee

Women's Soccer Heads to Tennessee for Sunday Afternoon Match

08.24.18 | Women's Soccer

Watch Live Live Stats

First touch with the Vols is set for 1:00 PM

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's soccer remains on the road for the third of four-straight road matches, playing at Tennessee on Sunday afternoon. The Musketeers, who stand at 1-2, and the Vols, 2-0-1, are set for a first touch at 1:00 p.m. with live stats as well as a live stream available from UT.

THE MATCHUP

Xavier Musketeers at
Tennessee Volunteers
Sunday, August 26 | 1:00 PM
Regal Soccer Stadium
Watch Live | Live Stats

PREVIEWING TENN

The Volunteers enter the game with the Musketeers at 2-0-1. UT was last in action on Thursday, playing Wake Forest to a 1-1 draw in double overtime. Previously, Tennessee had picked up wins over George Mason, 4-0, and St. John's, 2-0, during the opening weekend
Six Vols have scored this season, with Amy Thompson leading the way with a pair.
MA Vignola has collected a team high two assists with a goal to match Thompson for team-high on points at four.
Shae Yanez has played the full time in-frame in all three games for the Volunteers, collecting six saves with a single goal against for a GAA of 0.31
UT finished 2017 at 15-4-2, earning a ranking as high as No. 11 during the season.
The Vols went 6-3-1 in the SEC, earning the No. 5 seed in the SEC Tournament where Tennessee fell 1-0 on PKs to Vanderbilt.
UT earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, winning its First Round match, 2-0, over Murray State before falling on PKs to Washington State in the Second Round after playing Cougars to a 2-2 tied through double overtime.
Tennessee returns five all All-SEC selections from last season, forward Khadija Shaw, midfielder Katie Cousins and defender Maya Neal were all name First Team All-SEC. Midfielder Anna Bialczak was named to the Second Team and forward Erin Gilroy was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Xavier is 2-2 against Tennessee all-time. The last match-up occurred in 2000 when Xavier picked up the 1-0 road win over the Volunteers.

LAST TIME OUT - NKU

Xavier moved to 1-2 on the season after a goal in the final seconds for Northern Kentucky gave Xavier women's soccer its second set-back of the season.
The Musketeers fell, 1-0, after, in the 90th minute, NKU broke behind the defense, playing the ball to Erin Sutton in the box. Sutton passed the ball to Payton Naylor who shot to the right of goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro to put the Norse up, 1-0, with 15 seconds remaining
Xavier owned a 12-6 advantage on shots, including five looks on goal.
Samantha Dewey led the Musketeers with three shots, including a shot in the 55th minute on the breakaway that forced the NKU goalkeeper to come out to make a save.
Xavier led 5-1 on corner kicks, including a 4-0 advantage in the second half.
Courtney Lankford, Molly McLaughlin and Grace Bahr each had two shots, Lankford squaring up both on-goal.
McLaughlin had a header on-goal in the final five minutes that forced the NKU goalkeepr to come off her line to make the save.
Grace Bahr had two looks in the final minute off a free kick, including a look on-frame.
Hayley Jakovich, Abby O'Keefe and Andie Kennard each recorded a shot.
Toni Bizzarro played the full time in-frame, collecting three saves with one goal against.
Jakovich, Janszen and Klimkowski made the start on the backline for the Musketeers.

XAVIER STATS

Sydney Schembri's assist against Toledo and goal against Louisville brought her point total to three for the season.
Brooke Sroka and Kenadie Carlson each have two points after scoring goals against Toledo.
Samantha Dewey collected a point on an assist to Brooke Sroka against Toledo. Dewey leads the team with six shots, including three on-frame.
Freshman Allison Klimkowski and Hayley Jakovich join senior Andie Kennard in the starting backfield in both games so far this season. Abby O'Keefe and Abi Janszen have played significant minutes coming for the Musketeers' defense as well
Goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro has played all three matches in-frame, facing 30 shots, making 14 saves with four goals against for a GAA of 1.29.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

After playing a role in two of Xavier's three opening weekend goals, Sydney Schembri was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the week of August 20.
Schembri picked up the assist on Friday, Aug. 17 in the season opener on Kenadie Carlson's game-winner. Samantha Dewey served the ball to the right side of the net and Schembri saved it from going over the endline, flicking the ball to Carlson on the left side of the net for the goal.
On Sunday at Louisville, Schembri helped give the Musketeers the lead with a look off a placed kick that ricocheted off a Louisville defender into the net, putting Xavier up 1-0 in the first half.
This marks the second time the sophomore forward has earned the honor during her time at Xavier. Last season, Schembri also earned conference Freshman of the Year honors and was a member of the All-Freshman Squad.

XU LINEUP

Xavier returns 75 percent of its scoring from last season, including the scorers of 14 of the team's 19 goals.
Leading scorer Sydney Schembri is back after finishing with 12 points on six goals as a rookie, earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors.
Emma Westwater returns as a senior after a nine-point junior season, scored on four goals and an assist.
The Musketeers' attack is bolstered by the return of two of the program's most prolific scorers in recent years, redshirt junior Samantha Dewey and redshirt senior Kenadie Carlson.
Xavier also adds a pair of transfers up front, Sabrina Kunimoto, a sophomore from Delaware, and Raechel Eck, a grad transfer from Akron with two years of eligibility remaining.
.Four freshmen also join Xavier's offensive attack, Grace Brauer, Makenna Jordahl, Reagan Norvell and Brooke Sroka
Xavier returns the core of its midfield with Carrie Lewis and Courtney Lankford who, combined, accounted for six of Xavier's 14 assists on the season.
Lewis led the Musketeers with four in a season where she started every match, while Lankford added a pair.
Jessica Miller, who started two of the first three games last season before sitting out due to injury, also returns. Emily Burton and Abby O'Keefe combined to make 16 starts last season after Miller's injury. O'Keefe assisted on a pair of goals and Burton added an assist as well. Makayla Kolberg, who made multiple starts in 2017, and Megan Sullivan, who appeared in 15 matches, also return.
The Musketeers brought in a pair of experienced transfers in the midfield for the 2018 spring season, Claire Fisher, a sophomore transfer from Tennessee, and Grace Bahr, a junior transfer from Wisconsin.
Rachel Dewey, younger sister of Samantha Dewey, makes up part of a quartet of freshmen midfielders, which also includes Jordan Reddington, Molly McLaughlin and Rachel Butler.
Xavier returns defender Andie Kennard for her senior season after a junior campaign where she was second on the team in minutes played. Kennard also recorded her first career goal in 2017, the game-winner against Ohio.
Redshirt-freshman Abi Janszen also returns for the Musketeers after being limited to three appearance due to injury.
Five newcomers join the backfield, freshmen Hayley Jakovich, Isabella Langusch, Jenna Leslie, Allison Klimkowski and Olivia Popovich.
Goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro, who started all 19 games she appeared in last season, returns for her junior season. Bizzarro collected eight wins, including four shutouts last season, making 106 saves for a .828 save percentage with a GAA of 1.09.
Xavier added a pair of freshmen goalkeepers, Olivia Jenkins and Caroline Welsh, to join Bizzarro.

DEWEY NAMED PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST

For a second-straight season, Xavier women's soccer's Samantha Dewey was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
The red-shirt junior forward is the first Musketeer to earn preseason conference honor in back-to-back years since joining the conference. Last season, her nomination was the first preseason nod for a Musketeer since Xavier joined the BIG EAST in 2013.
Dewey, a native of Fairland, Ind., appeared in the first five matches in 2017 before sitting out the remainder due to injury. In her shortened season, Dewey still tallied three goals, fourth most on the team. Dewey led the Musketeers in scoring during the first five games of the season, tallying a pair in a win against Cleveland State and scoring the game winner against Ball State. She was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice in the first two weeks of the season.
Prior to the 2017 season, Dewey led the Musketeers in points in each of her two previous seasons at Xavier. After posting 20 points on eight goals and four assists in 2016, Dewey was named Second Team All-BIG EAST, making her the first Musketeer to earn first or second team honors since joining the conference. Dewey was also named to the All-Ohio Second Team after the 2016 season.
As a freshman, Dewey was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team after a 22-point rookie campaign. She was twice conference rookie of the week and has earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll honors fives times in her career.

2017 IN REVIEW

The Musketeers, picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST, are coming off a fifth-place finish in the 2017 season, which earned the program's first berth to the BIG EAST Championship since joining the conference and the program's first conference championship appearance since 2003.
In Nate Lie's first season as head coach, Xavier finished the season 8-8-4 overall, marking the first season at .500 or above since 2013, when Xavier finished 9-8-1. The Musketeers' record of 4-3-2 in BIG EAST play, posting a winning conference record for the first time since 2005. Xavier finished the regular season with a program-best 14 points in the BIG EAST standings.
The Musketeers limited 16 of 20 opponents to a single goal or less, including every BIG EAST regular season match-up.
In addition to Sydney Schembri's Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors, seniors Tori Doss and Carly Alfano both earned Second Team All-BIG EAST and CoSIDA Academic All-American after last season.