Women's Soccer Opens BIG EAST Play at Villanova

Women's Soccer Opens BIG EAST Play at Villanova

09.26.19 | Women's Soccer

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By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (7-1-2) opens up BIG EAST play on Sunday, Sept. 29 at Villanova. First touch with the Wildcats is set of 1:00 p.m on the BEDN.

GAME DETAILS

at Villanova
Sunday, Sept. 29 | 1:00 PM
Higgings Soccer Complex | Philadelphia, Pa.

OPPONENT INFO

The Wildcats enter the game at 4-3-2. VU started off the season with a 1-0 win over top-25 LSU, and also picked up wins over Delaware, Temple and Brown, as well as draws with St. Joseph's. and Princeton. VU's three losses have come to power-five squads, a double overtime loss at Oregon State, at Oregon and against defending national champions Florida State.
Brice McInroy leads VU on offense with nine points on four goals and an assist.
Three Wildcats, Sam Rosette, Allison Breed and Chloe O'Neill, each have six points. Rosette and Breed each have a pair of goals and a pair of assists while O'Neill has a team-high four assists to go with a goal.
Hensley Hancuff has made six starts in goal with six goals against and 22 saves for a record of 3-1-1. Rebecca Gartner has appeared in four matches, starting in three, with 21 saves and a record of 1-2-1.
Villanova finished 2018 at 9-9 overall and 3-6 in BIG EAST play.
The Wildcats return four All-Conference selections, Second Team defender Kristin Barbour and All Freshman team selections Hensley Hancuff (GK), Niki Molina (M) and Chloe O'Neil (F).
Xavier is 3-3-0 all-time with the Wildcats after Villanova took the 2-1 win in Cincinnati last season.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier women's soccer closed out the non-conference schedule with a 2-1 win at Lipscomb on Sunday afternoon to move to 7-1-2 on the season.
Samantha Dewey put the Musketeers ahead in the first half on a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. The 1-0 lead held until shortly after halftime, when Lipscomb broke an over five-match scoreless streak for the Musketeers to tie the game at 1-1.
The draw held until the 76th minute when Jenna Prathapa used a header to put the Musketeers back ahead, 2-1. Xavier picked up its seventh win of the season, the first time the Musketeers have picked up seven wins in non-conference play since 2013.

XAVIER STATS

Samantha Dewey, the team leader in goals (9) and points (21) added another two points to her total with her ninth goal of the season on Sunday at Lipscomb. Among those nine goals are three game-winners.
Dewey's nine total goals lead the BIG EAST and are tied for fourth in NCAA DI.
Jackie Richards added another two points to her point total with her 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 Brauer became the sixth Musketeer to score a goal, picking up the game-winner against Akron, then added a point on an assist against NKU. Brauer, along with Grace Bahr and 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 against NKU.
In just her second appearance of the season, Jenna Prathapa became the eighth Musketeer to score a goal, the game-winner against Lipscomb.
Sydney Schembri has two points on her game-winning goal against Kent State.
Courtney Lankford assisted on Prathapa's game-winner against Lipscomb, her first point of the season. Lankford joins Hayley Jakovich, Rachel Dewey, Molly McLaughlin, Brooke Sroka and Halle Rogers who each have a point on an assist.
Toni Bizzarro has made five starts in frame, with a record of 4-0-1 after the win against Miami. Bizzarro has collected 17 saves with three goals against. She's clocked 437 straight minutes without allowing a goal, going back to the season opener at Murray State, for three complete shutouts to her credit, as well as a partial shutout against NKU.
Olivia Jenkins has made five starts at goalkeeper, earning a record of 3-1-1 and two shutouts to her credit, with 10 saves and five 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 nine starts on defense.
The Lipscomb goal in the 57th minute ended a streak of 522 minutes without allowing a goal, going back to the Kent State game on Sept. 6. The Musketeer collected five of their six shutouts on the season in that stretch.
Xavier finished non-conference play at 7-1-2, the best mark since going 7-1-1 in non-conference play in 2013.
Xavier's six-match unbeaten streak is the longest since non-conference play in 2013.

DEWEY SENIOR CLASS FINALIST

Xavier women's soccer red-shirt senior Samantha Dewey was named one of 30 candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® for collegiate women's soccer on Monday.
Sixty NCAA® men's and women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Dewey, who earned the honor of 2018 BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year, has been a consistent force on offense during her Xavier career, leading the Musketeers in points in each of her three full seasons leading into 2019.
Through 10 matches in 2019, Dewey has lived up to her billing as the Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, leading the conference with 21 points to help the Musketeers to a 7-1-2 record.
Dewey's nomination, along with Xavier men's soccer's Samson Sergi's nod, makes Xavier one of three schools that has both a male and a female candidate in 2019 (Bowling Green, Memphis, Xavier). She is one of four female nominees from the BIG EAST.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After leading the Musketeers on offense with four points on two goals over the weekend, Samantha Dewey was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor roll, the conference offices announced on Monday.
Both of Dewey's goals were crucial in Xavier's 2-0 weekend, to extend the Musketeers' unbeaten streak to a league-best six matches. Dewey picked up the game winner in the 1-0 win at Miami, scoring on free kick early in the match for her third game-winner of the season.
Dewey repeated the feat on Sunday at Lipscomb, scoring on a free kick in the first 20 minutes of the match to put Xavier up 1-0 in what would eventually finish as a 2-1 win for the Musketeers. Dewey led the team in shots in both matches, totaling 13 shots with four on frame.
The two goals over the weekend adds to her team-high totals in goals (9) and points (21).
This is the third week in a row and the fourth time this season that the BIG EAST points leader has earned a spot on the Weekly Honor Roll.

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