Women's Soccer Finishes Four-Game Road Trip at RV West Virginia

Thursday, August 30

Morgantown, W. Va.

7 PM

Xavier University

West Virginia

Women's Soccer Finishes Four-Game Road Trip at RV West Virginia

08.29.18 | Women's Soccer

Musketeers return home on Sunday to host Southern Indiana

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's soccer finishes a four-game road swing on Thursday evening, traveling to RV West Virginia for a 7:00 p.m. match. A live stream and live stats are available from WVUSports.com.

Xavier returns home on Sunday, Sept. 2 to host Southern Indiana at 1:00 p.m.

THE MATCHUP

Xavier Musketeers at
West Virginia Mountaineers
Thursday, August 30 | 7:00 PM
Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium
Watch Live | Live Stats

PREVIEWING WVU

The Mountaineers enter the game a 0-1-3, picking up results in double overtime draws against Purdue (1-1) and No. 19 Northwestern (0-0) last weekend at the Boilermaker Challenge Cup, as well as against Arkansas (1-1) during the opening weekend. WVU's lone loss came against No. 4 Penn State, a 1-0 loss on the road.
Bianca St. Georges and Grace Cutler have each tallied for the Mountaineers so far this season.
Lauren Segalla and Lizzie Mayfield have each picked up an assist.
Rylee Foster has played the full time in-frame, collecting 36 shots, collecting 11 saves and allowing three goas for a GAA of 0.64.
WVU finished 16-4-3 in 2017 in head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown's 23^rd season, ending the season ranked 10^th after opening the season in the No. 1 spot in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and spending the first two weeks of the season.
The Mountaineers went 7-1-1 in Big 12 play, earning the No. 2 seed for the Big 12 Championship where WVU topped Texas Tech before falling to TCU on PKs (5-3) after playing the Red Raiders to a 1-1 draw through double overtime in the Big 12 Semifinals.
West Virginia earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where the Mountaineers topped Bucknell, 3-0, in the first round. WVU played No. 22 Rutgers to a 0-0 draw in double overtime in the second round, advancing on PKs to play No. 10 Penn State in the third round where WVU's season ended with a 3-1 loss.
The Mountaineers return All-Big 12 First Team defender St. Georges, as well as second team selections Vanessa Flores, Easther Mayi Kith, both defenders, and as goalkeeper Rylee Foster. Lauren Segalla, a forward, was a member of the Big 12 All-Freshman squad.
WVU lost Big 12 First Team selections Michaela Abam, who was a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, and Amandine Pierre-Louis, who was the Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year to graduation.
Xavier is 0-1 all time against WVU, with the lone official match coming in 2007, a 5-1 road loss for the Musketeers.

PREVIEWING WVU

UP NEXT

Xavier returns home on Sunday, Sept. 2 to host the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles at 1:00 p.m. The match will be live-streamed through GoXavier.com
The match against USI is Youth Jersey Day - Kids in grades 8 & under get in FREE wearing their youth team jersey.
All kids in grades 8 & under are invited to the field after the game to participate in penalty kicks on the field.
Xavier Frisbees to the first 150 Xavier students in attendance as well.

LAST TIME OUT - UT

UT's Amy Thompson scored the game winner in the 36th minute received the ball from Salera Jordan on the left side of the box. She shot from 10 yards on the left side to the right post to put the Vols up 1-0.
UT's Katie Cousins put the Vols up 2-0 early in the second half with a PK to the lower right corner.The Vols extended the lead to 3-0 after sinking a shot off a ball that bounced off the post.
Xavier took six shots, including a pair on-frame to 17 for the Vols.
Carrie Lewis led the Musketeers with three shots, including a look on-frame in the first half that forced the Tennessee keeper to make a save and forcing a corner kick.
Lewis collected two other shots in a flurry for Xavier's offense midway through the first half, which saw blocked shots for Lewis and Grace Brauer, and shot just wide for Lewis in less than two minutes.
After UT took the 1-0 lead in the first half, Rachel Dewey had look at the equalizer just before the break, but the Vols made the save to keep Xavier off the board.
In the closing minutes of the match, Samantha Dewey's shot from straight on, just outside the box went just over the crossbar.
Hayley Jakovich, Allison Klimkowski and Andie Kennard started in the back for the Musketeers.
Olivia Jenkins made her debut in-frame, facing 15 shots, collecting five saves with three goals against.

XAVIER STATS

Sydney Schembri leads the team with three points after collecting an assist against Toledo and goal against Louisville.
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 have started every game in the backfield this season. Andie Kennard and Abby O'Keefe have rotated into the starting line-up for the third backline position.
Carrie Lewis, Courtney Lankford, Grace Bahr and Rachel Dwewy have all played over 200 minutes so far this season in the midfield for the Musketeers.
Goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro played all three matches in-frame, facing 30 shots, making 14 saves with four goals against for a GAA of 1.29.
Olivia Jenkins made her first collegiate appearance against Tennessee, playing the full time, making five saves with three goals against.

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.