Women's Soccer Hosts Bowling Green for First Home Match

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer opens the home schedule for Xavier Athletics on Sunday, August 25, hosting Bowling Green at 1:00 p.m at XU Soccer Complex. The Musketeers are 1-0 after picking up the 4-3 win in double overtime at Murray State.

GAME DETAILS

Bowling Green (MAC)
Sunday, Aug. 25 | 1:00 PM
XU Soccer Complex | Cincinnati, Ohio

PROMOTIONS

SUNDAY FUNDAY: $5 Mimosas and Bloody Mary's for those 21 and older.
STUDENT TAILGATE: Pre-game tailgate with games and food for students.
POST-GAME: All kids in grades 8 & under are invited to the field after the game to participate in autographs.

OPPONENT INFO

BGSU opened the season with a 3-3 double overtime draw at Kentucky on Thursday. Nikki Cox, Katie Cox and Maureen Kennedy each scored for the Falcons.
The Falcons went 14-5-3 last season, including a 10-1-0 mark in MAC play.
Bowling Green topped Eastern Michigan and Ohio in the MAC Tournament to earn a spot in the MAC Championship, where the Falcons advanced on PKs over Ball State.
Bowling Green faced No. 14 Penn State in the NCAA Tournament, falling 4-1
The Falcons return three First Team All-MAC selections, Maureen Kennedy, who was also MAC Defensive Player of the Year, as well as Chelsee Washington and Kathleen Duwve. BGSU also returns MAC All-Freshman Honoree Sarah Allen. Head coach Matt Fannon was named MAC Coach of the Year for a second-straight season.
BGSU lost seven seniors, including two-time MAC Offensive Player of the Year Erica Hubert and MAC First Team Honoree Morgan Abbitt.
Xavier is 2-2-0 all-time against BGSU, including last season's 1-0 win in double overtime in Bowling Green.

LAST TIME OUT

Samantha Dewey lived up to the preseason billing as BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, tallying four times against Murray State in a 4-3 double overtime win to start the season.
Murray State took the early lead, scoring in the 18th minute, but Dewey answered less than three minutes later to tie the match 1-1 in the 21st minute. Murray State would score twice before the break to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room.
Dewey scored again off an assist from Emily Burton to pull the Musketeers to within one less than five minutes out of halftime, then collected the hat trick off an assist from Halle Rogers in the 63rd minute.
The draw held through the end of regulation and nearly two full overtimes when Grace Bahr set Dewey up for the golden goal with less than a minute remaining in the second overtime.

XAVIER STATS

Samantha Dewey set a new career high with eight points on four goals, with both marks ranking as No. 1 in NCAA DI after opening day. The four-goal outing tops her previous career-high of three goals against Marian (Ind.)
Emily Burton collected an assist on Dewey's second goal, Burton's second assist of her Xavier career.
Halle Rogers assisted on Xavier's third goal, the collecting her first point as a Musketeer in her first collegiate outing.
Grace Bahr collected her second assist as a Musketeer on the game-winner.
Toni Bizzarro collected six saves in-frame with three goals against, picking up the win.

THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier finished the 2018 season at 10-8-3, a .548 winning percentage, marking the first winning record for the Musketeers since 2013. Xavier's 10 wins in 2018 are the most for the program since 2003's 12-win season.
The Musketeers finished a program-best fourth in the BIG EAST standings, hosting a BIG EAST Championship match for the first time since joining the conference and advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2003.
Xavier's 0-0 draw against No. 4 Georgetown to close out the regular season on Oct. 25, 2018 was the first result against a top-five team in program history.
Xavier's defense forced its ninth shutout of the season in the regular season match against Georgetown, the most since 2000's school-record 11 shutouts. The Musketeers ranked third in the BIG EAST for shutouts. Nine shutouts stand as the second most in a single season in program history, matching 1985 and 1991's season totals.
Xavier 2018 finished the season with 31 goals, the most since 2006's 31-goal season. The Musketeers return 87 percent of their scoring, including BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Samantha Dewey, who finished with 25 points on nine goals and seven assists.

DEWEY NAMED OFFENSIVE POY

Redshirt senior Samantha Dewey was named Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and earned a unanimous nod to the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad for the 2019 season, as voted on by league coaches. The Musketeers are picked fourth in the BIG EAST Preseason poll, the highest preseason selection for the team since joining the conference.
Dewey appeared in all 21 matches for the Musketeers in 2018, collecting a team-high 25 points, a new career-best mark which topped her previous career-high point total of 22. Dewey's 25 points also marks the most for a Musketeer since Lauren Giesting's 25 points in 2003.
Dewey's 25 points came on team-leading totals in goals (9) and assists (7), the most goals by a Musketeer in over 10 years. Of Dewey's nine goals, four were game-winners.
Among BIG EAST returnees, Dewey ranked first in points from the 2018 season, third in total goals and second in total assists.
Following the 2018 season, Dewey was named BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and First Team All-Conference, the first Musketeer to earn either honor, following Xavier's 10-8-3 season.
Dewey also earned All-East Region Third Team honors from United Soccer Coaches as well as BIG EAST All-Tournament Team honors after Xavier advanced to the BIG EAST Semifinals.
Dewey, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., has earned preseason All-BIG EAST honors for the past three seasons after leading Xavier on offense in her first two full seasons as a Musketeers. Her Preseason Player of the Year nomination is the first for a Musketeer since joining the conference in 2013.
Dewey has totaled 73 points so far in her Xavier career, earning post-season conference honors in each of her three complete seasons. In 2016, she became the first Musketeer to be named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team as a sophomore, and was unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST Freshman team in 2015.

MUSKETEERS PICKED FOURTH

The Musketeers are picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST, returning 23 letterwinners, including eight starters, from last season's squad that went 10-8-3 overall an 4-3-2 in BIG EAST play.
The 2018 season marked the first winning record for the Musketeers since 2013 and the most wins for the program since 2003's 12-win season. The Musketeers finished a program-best fourth in the BIG EAST standings, hosting a BIG EAST Championship match for the first time since joining the conference.
Xavier's 2018 team advanced to the BIG EAST Semifinals for the first time since joining the conference in 2013, the first time the Musketeers have advanced in the postseason since 2003, when Xavier topped St. Joseph's, 2-0, in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
The Musketeers return 87 percent of their scoring from 2018's 31 goal season, the goals most for the program since 2006. The 2018 Musketeers also posted nine shutouts, tied for second most in program history and the most since 2000. Xavier finished ranked in the top 75 of the RPI for the first time in nearly 20 season.
The Musketeers were picked behind reigning BIG EAST Champion and 2018 College Cup Semifinalist Georgetown, which received nine first place votes, as well as Butler and Providence.

BIG EAST COACHES POLL

1.   Georgetown              81 (9)
2.   Butler 67 (1)
3.   Providence 62
4.   Xavier 55
5.   DePaul 46
6.   Villanova 38
       St. John's 38
8.   Marquette                 34
9.   Creighton 20
10. Seton Hall 9

BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Samantha Dewey, Xavier, R-Sr., M

BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Meaghan Nally, Georgetown, Sr., D

BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Shelby Hogan, Providence, R-Jr., GK

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Anja Savich, Butler, So., F
Annika Schmidt, Butler, R-Sr., D*
Taryn Jakubowski, Creighton, Sr., M*
Paula Germino-Watnick, Georgetown, Sr., F*
Kelly Ann Livingstone, Georgetown, Jr., D
Meaghan Nally, Georgetown, Sr., D*
Katrina Wetherell, Marquette, So., M
Shelby Hogan, Providence, R-Jr., GK
Hannah McNulty, Providence, Jr., F
Zsani Kajan, St. John's, R-Jr., F*
Samantha Dewey, Xavier, R-Sr., M*
*unanimous selection

CREIGHTON HOSTS BE TOURNEY

Creighton University will serve as host of the 2019 BIG EAST Women's Soccer Championship Presented by Jeep. The league tournament's semifinals and final will be played Nov. 7 and 10 at the Bluejays' Morrison Stadium, with first round matches being held at higher-seeded campus sites on Nov. 3. This marks the second time Creighton is serving as the host for the BIG EAST Championship, last doing so in 2015.
The top two teams in the standings at season's end earn an automatic bye into the semifinals, with the first round matches pitting the No. 6 seed at the No. 3 seed and the No. 5 seed at the No. 4 seed to determine who will also earn a trip to Omaha. Georgetown has won three consecutive BIG EAST Championships, all at Shaw Field in Washington, D.C. Butler won its first conference crown at Morrison Stadium in 2015, after DePaul won in Queens, N.Y., in 2014, and Marquette won in 2013 in Milwaukee, Wis. The Hoyas advanced to the NCAA College Cup in two of their last three championship seasons.
Morrison Stadium's seating capacity is 7,500. Construction on the stadium was completed in 2004 and included a video scoreboard, champions room, nearly 2,000 covered chairback seating, five luxury suites, an enclosed press box, concession stands and a banquet area. An athletic training room and locker rooms were built in the adjacent Ryan Athletic Center, which opened in 2009. The $13 million facility hosted its first match on Aug. 29, 2003 and was officially dedicated on Oct. 15, 2004.
Morrison Stadium received an upgrade just this summer with the installation of FieldTurf CORE. The FieldTurf CORE sports turf is a FIFA Quality Pro certified surface and is currently featured at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the home facility of the MLS Atlanta United FC and NFL Atlanta Falcons and at Providence Park in Portland, the home facility of the MLS Portland Timbers and NWSL Portland Thorns. CORE is "the first multi-layer dual-polymer fiber ever," and "rewrites the playbook for sports turf, reinvents the playing field, and redefines the player experience," according to FieldTurf.

2019 BIG EAST Women's Soccer Championship Presented by Jeep
First Round – Nov. 3 – higher seeds
No. 6 seed at No. 3 seed, TBD
No. 5 seed at No. 4 seed, TBD
Semifinals – Nov. 7 – Omaha, Neb.
No. 1 seed vs. No. 4/5 winner, 6 p.m. ET
No. 2 seed vs. No. 3/6 winner, 8:30 p.m. ET
Final – Nov. 10 – Omaha, Neb.
Semifinal winners, TBD

Schedule

Upcoming Events