Women's Soccer Hosts Northern Kentucky on Thursday Evening

Thursday, September 12

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 PM

Xavier University

Northern Kentucky

Women's Soccer Hosts Northern Kentucky on Thursday Evening

09.11.19 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (4-1-1) returns home to host Northern Kentucky (3-3-0) on Thursday evening at the XU Soccer Complex. First touch is set for 7:00 p.m.

GAME DETAILS

Northern Kentucky (Horizon)
Thursday, Sept. 12 | 7:00 PM
XU Soccer Complex | Cincinnati, Ohio

PROMOTIONS

STUDENT PROMO: Students in attendance will be entered to win a chance to kick for AirPods at halftime.

OPPONENT INFO

Northern Kentucky enters the match at 3-3 overall after picking up a season opening win at Lipscomb, 4-0, topping Murray State, 3-1, on Sunday, Sept. 1 and then getting a 3-1 win over Eastern Kentucky last Sunday.
NKU's three losses have come to Ohio (1-0), Butler (2-1) and Kentucky (1-0).
Shawna Zaken leads the Norse with five goals, and has a team-high 11 points, picking up an assist as well.
Ally Perkins has a pair of goals, four other Norse have a single tally on the season.
Kailey Ivins has a team-high four assists.
Mimi Stines has played the full-time in-goal for NKU, collection 36 saves with six goals against.
The Norse finished 2018 at 10-6-1 overall and 6-2-1 in Horizon League play, falling to Oakland in the Horizon League tournament.
NKU returned Horizon First Team honoree Shawna Zaken and All-Freshman honoree Lily Menssen from 2018, but lost a pair of First Team All-Conference selections in seniors Samantha Duwel and Taylor Spaulding.
Xavier is 4-1-1 all-time against the Norse, falling to NKU for the first time last season on a goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After a pair of shutout victories for Xavier women's soccer last weekend, senior Grace Bahr was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week by the conference offices on Monday.
Bahr anchored the Musketeers' defense as Xavier limited its opponents to just seven shots on goal last week, outshooting Kent State and Akron on the road by a 29-14 margin, including 13-7 on target.
The pair of clean sheets brought Xavier's total to three shutouts in 2019 for the Musketeers.
This is Bahr's first weekly award of 2019, and third of her Xavier career, earning Defender of the Week from the league twice in 2018. It's the second weekly award for Xavier in 2019, with Jackie Richards earning Freshman of the Week after the opening weekend.
Red-shirt Senior Samantha Dewey also earned recognition from the BIG EAST Offices, earning a spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the second time this season. Dewey collected four points in
Xavier's 2-0 weekend, picking up an assist on Sydney Schembri's game winner against Kent State, and an assist on Grace Brauer's game-winner against Akron. Dewey also added an insurance goal in 2-0 win against the Zips, her fifth goal of the season.

XAVIER STATS

Samantha Dewey, the team leader in goals (5) and points (13) added another four points to her total last weekend, picking up a pair of assists and a goal. Her total points leads the BIG EAST.
Dewey's five total goals are 26th in the country and second in the BIG EAST.
Gabrielle LoPresti added an assist against Kent State to bring her point total to five, second most on the team. LoPresti has a goal to go with a team-high matching three assists.
Jackie Richards added another two points on her goal against Missouri to bring her season total to two goals, third most on the team.
Emily Burton has three points on a goal and an assist.
Grace Brauer became the sixth Musketeer to score a goal, picking up the game-winner against Akron. Sydney Schembri also has two points on a goal.
Carrie Lewis picked up a second assist against Akron. Molly McLaughlin, Brooke Sroka, Grace Bahr, Halle Rogers and Emily Burton each have a point on an assist.
Toni Bizzarro has made three starts in frame, with a record of 2-0-1, collecting 17 saves with three goals against, and a pair of shutouts.
Olivia Jenkins has made three starts at goalkeeper, with a record of 2-1-0 and one shutout to her credit, with four saves and four goals against on the season.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier picked up a second-straight shutout win to close out the weekend road trip, topping Akron, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon to move to 4-1-1 on the season.
Xavier owned the advantage on offense in the first half, earning four corner kicks and getting three shots on-frame to one for the Zips before the break, but neither team was able to score in the first 45, sending the game into halftime still scoreless.
Shortly after the break, the Musketeers got behind the Akron defense to set up the game-winning goal for Grace Brauer, with helpers from Carrie Lewis and Samantha Dewey, going ahead 1-0.
Less than five minutes later, Samantha Dewey drove past the Akron defense for the insurance goal, going up 2-0.
Xavier posted a second-straight clean sheet, and the third of the season, with Olivia Jenkins in-frame for her first shutout of 2019.

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