Women's Soccer takes on UC at Nippert on Sunday

Women's Soccer takes on UC at Nippert on Sunday

09.13.19 | Women's Soccer

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (5-1-1) heads across town on Sunday to face rivals Cincinnati in the Queen City Derby for the first time since 2015. First touch with the Bearcats is set for 6:00 p.m. at Nippert Stadium.

GAME DETAILS

at Cincinnati (American)
Sunday, Sept. 15 | 6 PM
Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio

MATCH HELD AT NIPPERT STADIUM

Sunday's match will be played at Nippert Stadium on the campus of University of Cincinnati.
The Bearcats and the Musketeers look to break Ohio's attendance record for a women's collegiate soccer match. The current record is currently 4,722 set in 2016 at UC against Northern Kentucky.
Nippert Stadium is home to the Cincinnati football program and Major League Soccer member, FC Cincinnati. The stadium has hosted two United States National Team matches since 2017.
Admission to the match will be free of charge. Fans are encouraged to sit on the west side of the stadium where restrooms and concessions will be available. Cash parking will be offered at Calhoun Garage for $5.

OPPONENT INFO

Cincinnati enters the match at 2-5 overall. The Bearcats opened the season with a 2-0 win over St. John's, and picked up a second win on Thursday evening at Lipscomb, 3-2.
UC fell against No. 25 Virginia Tech, Missouri, Western Michigan, Northwestern and Tennessee.
Han Tang leads the Bearcats with six points on three goals. Vanessa DiNardo has four points on a pair of goals. Two Bearcats, Sophie Gorman and Ying Zhan, each have three points on a goal and an assist. Five other Bearcats have recorded assists.
Madison less has played all seven matches in frame for UC, collecting 26 saves with 12 goal against for a GAA of 1.71.
The Bearcats finished 2018 at 6-9-3 overall and 1-6-2 in American Athletic Conference.
UC returned All-AAC Rookie Team selection in DiNardo but lost a Second Team All-AAC forward Jill Vetere to graduation.
Xavier is 6-23-1 against Cincinnati, with the last match-up between the two programs coming in 2015, a 0-0 draw through double overtime.
This marks the first match-up between the two programs since Nate Lie took over as head coach at Xavier. Lie previously served as associate head coach at UC.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier women's soccer scored four times in the second half to top the Northern Kentucky Norse, 4-0, on Thursday evening.
In the first 45 minutes, Xavier held the advantage on the offensive attack, leading 10-0 on shots in the first half, but the Musketeers were unable to find the back of the net, going into halftime in a scoreless draw.
Shortly after the break, Samantha Dewey found what would be the game winner from Grace Brauer, going ahead 1-0.
Xavier's offensive attack continued, outshooting the Norse 12-1 in the second period, with the Musketeers breaking through again in the 80th minute, off a rocket from Grace Bahr following a corner kick.
Xavier added two more goals in the next four minutes, including a second for Samantha Dewey and the final tally coming from Jackie Richards in the 84th minute.
Xavier's defense posted a third-straight shutout, the fourth of the season, not allowing the Norse an attempt on-goal. Xavier moves to 5-1-1 for 2019, while the Norse fell to 3-4-0.

XAVIER STATS

Samantha Dewey, the team leader in goals (7) and points (17) added another four points to her total on Thursday with a two-goal outing. It's Dewey's second multi-goal outing of the season.
Dewey's seven total goals are 10th in NCAA DI and first in the BIG EAST. She also leads the BIG EAST in total points and ranks seconds in goals per game at 1.0.
Dewey's first goal against NKU was the game-winner, her second of the season.
Jackie Richards added another two points to her point total with a goal against NKU to bring her season total to six, second on the team.
Gabrielle LoPresti added an assist against Kent State to bring her point total to five, third most on the team. LoPresti has a goal to go with a team-high matching three assists.
Grace Barh's goal against NKU was her first season. Bahr, along with Emily Burton, has three points on a goal and an assist.
Carrie Lewis matched the team-high with a third assist, helping on Grace Bahr's goal on Thursday.
Grace Brauer became the sixth Musketeer to score a goal, picking up the game-winner against Akron, then added a point on an assist on Thursday against NKU.
Sydney Schembri has two points on her game-winning goal against Kent State.
Hayley Jakovich and Rachel Dewey each added an assist against NKU, joining Molly McLaughlin, Brooke Sroka and Halle Rogers who each have a point on an assist.
Xavier leads the BIG EAST in shot accuracy at 0.523, and rank second in scoring offense (2.14), assists per game (2.14), points per game (6.43), total goals (15), total assists (17) and total points (47).
Toni Bizzarro has made four starts in frame, with a record of 3-0-1 after Thursday's win, collecting 17 saves with three goals against, and a pair of complete shutouts to her credit, as well as a partial shutout against NKU.
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.
Grace Bahr, Hayley Jakovich and Halle Rogers have started each match in the Xavier backfield. Maddie Thiss has also made six starts on defense.
Xavier has four shutouts on the season, including the last three matches, going 270 straight minutes without allowing a goal.

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.

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