No. RV/20 Men's Soccer Welcomes St. John's for 2018 BIG EAST Home Opener on Friday

Friday, September 21

XU Soccer Complex

7 PM

Xavier University

St. John's

No. RV/20 Men's Soccer Welcomes St. John's for 2018 BIG EAST Home Opener on Friday

09.20.18 | Men's Soccer

Live Stats Watch (BEDN)Tickets

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. RV/20 Xavier men's soccer hosts St. John's on Friday night at 7 p.m. for its 2018 BIG EAST home opener at XU Soccer Complex.

The Musketeers (3-0-3) extended their unbeaten streak to six straight to start the season, claiming a road win against preseason favorite Georgetown to start league play last Saturday. Xavier's unbeaten streak is its longest to start a season since 2012 and has featured four shutouts in six matches.

As a result, XU broke into the national rankings for the first time this season at No. 20 in the weekly College Soccer News Top 30 poll. Xavier is also receiving votes in the Top Drawer Soccer and United Soccer Coaches polls.

St. John's comes into the match at 4-3 overall and 1-0 in BIG EAST action after opening conference play with a 1-0 home win against Seton Hall on Saturday. The Red Storm also have wins against Loyola Marymount, Fairfield and Temple.

THE OPPONENT

at ST. JOHN'S RED STORM
Match Info: Friday, Sept. 21 – 7 p.m. – XU Soccer Complex
2018 Record: 4-3, 1-0 BIG EAST Conference
Postseason: BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals

Notable:
• Xavier leads the all-time series 3-2-1, but fell 3-0 to the Red Storm last season in Queens.
• The Red Storm finished last season third in the BIG EAST standings with a 5-2-2 record, posting their best conference season since 2009.
• Prior to 2013, the two programs met just once - a 1-0 win for St. John's on Oct. 15, 1989.
• St. John's has 25 newcomers, returning just eight players from last year's roster. That does include three of the Red Storm's top five goal scorers, however, in Jack Shearer, Filippo Ricupati and Matt Forster.

PROMOTIONS

CAMPER REUNION: Andy Fleming Soccer Camp participants receive free admission.
STUDENT PROMO: Xavier Water Bottles to first 150 students.

VIDEO

LAST TIME OUT

• Xavier came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat Georgetown, 3-2, on the road to start BIG EAST action. XU got goals from Cameron Belle (1), Jacob Goodall (1) and Tomek Pauer (2), while Matt Nance assisted on all three tallies.
• Cameron Belle's 65th minute equalizer was his first career goal and earned him BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors.
• Matt Nance had a big day, assisting on all three Xavier goals (a career-high) including a skillful free kick in the 86th minute to set up the game-winner.
• Taylor Crull also had an assist on the game-winner, his first point in a Xavier uniform.
• Simen Hestnes assisted on XU's first goal to give him his team-leading 11th point of the season (4g, 3a).
• Xavier conceded two goals in a match for the first time this fall. The Musketeers had begun the season with four shutouts in five matches and have only allowed three goals in six matches overall.
• Redshirt sophomore Zachary Nelson set a new career-high with seven saves in the match. Nelson now has a 0.50 GAA on the year and four clean sheets in six outings.
• Xavier took the advantage in the all-time series against Georgetown, 5-4.

NOTABLE

• After six matches, Xavier ranks eighth in the nation in shutout percentage (.667) and eighth in team goals against average (0.45).
• XU also ranks sixth nationally in shots per game (17.00) and tied for 27th nationally in shots on goal per match (6.50).
• XU's goal differential for the year is 12-3 and the Musketeers are outshooting their opposition 102-57. XU also holds a 39-26 edge in shots on goal.
• The Musketeers hold a 34-27 edge in corner kicks against their opposition this season.
• Xavier is unbeaten in six matches to start the season for the first time since a program record 14-match unbeaten streak to start the 2012 season.
• Balanced offense has become a hallmark for Xavier and the team already has eight different players with an assist this season as well as eight different goal scorers.
• Head coach Andy Fleming moved to 95-48-27 (.638) with a draw on Tuesday and is now five wins from 100 in his career.

X IN THE RANKINGS

• Xavier is ranked No. 20 nationally by College Soccer News this week, its first national ranking of any kind this season.
• The Musketeers were receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 and have received votes in that poll in five of six weeks this season.
• Top Drawer Soccer currently lists Xavier in the receiving votes category as the first team outside of their weekly Top 25.
• XU has been ranked in the nation's top-10 three times in the last six years by the United Soccer Coaches.
• The Musketeers have been nationally-ranked in at least one major college soccer poll (United Soccer Coaches, Top Drawer Soccer, College Soccer News, Soccer America) in every season since 2011.

BIG (EAST) SUCCESS

• With a 1-0 record in 2018, Xavier is now 27-15-4 (.630) in BIG EAST play since joining the conference ahead of the 2013 season.
• The Musketeers have never finished below fifth-place or missed qualifying for the BIG EAST Championships. After an Oct. 28 win over Seton Hall, XU clinched its fifth straight appearance in the league tournament.
• Xavier has reached the league semifinals twice (2013, 2015) and has appeared in the title game twice (2014, 2017). Xavier was defeated in the quarterfinals at Creighton in 2016.

HOME SWEET HOME

• Xavier is currently riding an 11-match unbeaten streak at home, including a 2-0-1 mark in 2018.
• The Musketeers' last loss at XU Soccer Complex came on Friday, August 25 against Loyola Chicago in the 2017 season opener.
• The Musketeers are 16-3-3 (.796) at home since the start of the 2016 season.
• Xavier is 56-16-8 (.750) at Xavier Soccer Complex since Andy Fleming took over the program in 2010.

SIMEN SAYS "SCORE"

• Senior midfielder Simen Hestnes is off to fast-paced start in 2018, leading Xavier with 11 points (4g, 3a) in six matches.
• Hestnes ranks tied for 26th nationally with 1.83 points per match. His four goals rank tied for 41st nationally, while his 11 points rank tied for 31st.
• Hestnes scored or assisted in all three goals during XU's 3-1 win over rival Cincinnati in the "Crosstown Derby" on Friday, Sept. 7.
• Hestnes began the season with his first career hat trick, scoring three times in just 32 minutes in a 6-0 win over Cincinnati Christian.
• Hestnes transferred to Xavier from LIU Brooklyn before his junior season and is XU's leading returning scorer after recording 21 points (7g, 7a) in 2017.
• The Oslo, Norway native has been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice in the first four weeks and was a preseason All-BIG EAST selection.

GETTING IT DONE WITH "D"

• After six matches, Xavier is tied for third in the nation with four team shutouts.
• The Musketeers are among the national leaders in several defensive categories, including team GAA (8th, 0.450), shutout percentage (8th, 0.667) and save percentage (6th, .885).
• Goalkeeper Zachary Nelson ranks 14th in the nation in goals against average (0.504) and ninth in save percentage (0.875).

XU'S STINGY START

• Xavier saw its season-opening shutout streak come to an end against UC on Friday, Sept. 7 after 364:41 minutes of scoreless soccer.
• XU's three match shutout streak to start the season was the longest for the program since the Musketeers had three consecutive shutouts from Oct. 4-11 during the 2016 season, a span of 279:07 minutes without allowing a goal.
• Xavier's last four match shutout streak was from Sept. 15-26 during the 2015 season, which tied a program record from 1988 and 2014. The shutout streak stretched a total of 485.38 minutes, including the second half of a 2-1 win over UC on Sept. 11, 2015.

XAVIER AGAINST THE BEST

• Xavier has faced 30 United Soccer Coaches-ranked opponents since Andy Fleming took over the program in 2010, including No. 6 Kentucky this season.
• Since 2010, Xavier boasts an 11-12-7 overall record against USC ranked opposition, including wins over No. 9 Georgetown and No. 22 Boston College last season.
• XU has a home draw against No. 6 Kentucky this season and is 0-0-1 against ranked opponents in 2018.
• The Musketeers are also an incredible 7-2-2 against the Top-10 in that time frame, including wins at No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 1 Creighton in 2015. In 2014, the Musketeers claimed victories against No. 5 Indiana and No. 8 Georgetown on the way to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 berth.

2018 AWARDS

BIG EAST Major Awards

NAME	AWARD	LINK
Simen Hestnes	Preseason All-BIG EAST	Story
Cameron Taylor	Preseason All-BIG EAST	Story

BIG EAST Weekly Awards

NAME	AWARD	LINK
Simen Hestnes	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (8/27)	Story
Zachary Nelson	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (9/3)	Story
Simen Hestnes	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (9/10)	Story
Zachary Nelson	BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week (9/17)	Story
Cameron Belle	BIG EAST Freshman of the Week (9/17)	Story
Matt Nance	BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (9/17)	Story

PRESEASON WRAP-UP

• Xavier wrapped the 2018 preseason with a 1-0-1 record against a pair of vaunted opponents.
• The Musketeers topped preseason No. 2 Indiana by a score of 2-1 on the road on Sunday, Aug. 12. Bryce Curran and Cameron Belle supplied the goals in the first period of the match.
• XU then closed exhibition action on Friday, Aug. 17 with a 0-0 draw against preseason No. 7 Michigan State.

PRESEASON POLL/HONORS

• Xavier was picked third in the BIG EAST preseason poll, receiving 60 points for its highest-ever preseason ranking. Xavier had previously been picked as high as fourth in the 2016 preseason poll.
• Cameron Taylor and Simen Hestnes were also picked to the preseason All-BIG EAST Team, giving XU multiple players on that team for the third time in six seasons.

PRESEASON POLL
1. Georgetown (7) - 79
2. Butler (3) - 73
3. Xavier - 60
T4. Creighton - 54
T4. Providence - 54
6. Marquette - 37
7. St. John's - 33
8. Villanova - 31
9. Seton Hall - 20
10. DePaul - 9

AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE

• Xavier men's soccer has reached the NCAA Tournament in four of the last eight seasons.
• The Musketeers have won 10 or more matches in seven of the last eight seasons.
• Xavier was the only program in the nation with five consecutive major conference awards from 2012-16, including 2016 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Cory Brown.
• XU has qualified for five consecutive BIG EAST Championships, including trips to the title game in 2014 and 2017.
• XU has been ranked in the nation's top-10 three times in the last six years by the United Soccer Coaches. The Musketeers have been nationally-ranked in at least one major college soccer poll (United Soccer Coaches, Top Drawer Soccer, College Soccer News, Soccer America) in every season since 2011.
• In 2015, XU knocked off the national No. 1 (Creighton) and No. 2 (Notre Dame) on the road last season. The Musketeers are widely believed to be the first program to ever knock off both a No. 1 and a No. 2 on the road in the same season.
• Four XU players have been selected in the MLS SuperDraft in the last seven years, including 2018 third rounder Cory Brown.