Women's Soccer Closes Out Road Trip at Akron

Sunday, September 8

Akron, Ohio

1 PM

Xavier University

Akron

09.07.19 | Women's Soccer

Live Stats Watch Live

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (3-1-1) closes out a three-match road trip on Sunday at Akron (2-3-0) after picking up the 1-0 shutout win over Kent State on Friday evening. T

GAME DETAILS

at Akron (MAC)
Sunday, Sept. 8 | 1:00 PM
FirstEnergy Stadium | Akron, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

Akron enters the game at 2-3-0 after picking up the 1-0 win over Youngstown State on Friday. The Zips fell 1-0 to Charlotte in the opening match, the fell 2-1 in double overtime to Cleveland State. The Zips topped Niagara, 2-1, for their first win of the season before falling 2-1 at Morehead State.
Ashley Amato has a pair of goals on the season, while Bailee Bowers, Charley Kale and Aislinn Meany each have a tally. Four Zips have an assist.
Three goalkeepers have split time in-frame, with Harper Libby leading in minutes, appearing in each match so far for Akron.
Akron finished 2018 at 8-10-2 overall and 5-5-1 in MAC play. The Zips closed out the season with a 1-0 loss to Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament.
The Zips return Second Team All-MAC honoree Ashley Amato and All-Freshman Team honorees Carly Pcholinksy and Sydney Worthy.
Xavier is 1-0 all-time against the Zips, beginning the series last season with a a 3-0 win in Cincinnati.

XAVIER STATS

Samantha Dewey, the team leader in goals (4) and points (10) added another point to her total with an assist on Sydney Schembri's goal against Kent State.
Dewey's four total goals were 18th in the country and top in the BIG EAST as of 9/5
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 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.
Sydney Schembri was the fourth Musketeer to score a goal, picking up the game-winner against Kent State.
Molly McLaughlin picked up an assist, joining four other Musketeers, Brooke Sroka, Grace Bahr, Halle Rogers and Emily Burton, with a point.
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 two starts at goalkeeper, and is 1-1-0, with two saves and four goals against.

LAST TIME OUT

Sydney Schembri's first goal of the season would be the only tally Xavier women's soccer would need to pick up the 1-0 win at Kent State on Friday evening. Xavier moved to 3-1-1 on the season with the win.
The Xavier offense was aggressive early, taking nine shots to three for the Golden Flashes in the first half, breaking through around the 30-minute mark with Schembri's goal, set up by Samantha Dewey and Gabrielle LoPresti, to give Xavier a 1-0 lead at the break.
Coming out of the break, Kent State turn up its attack, leading 5-1 on shots early in the second period before Xavier reestablished control, outshooting the Golden Flashes 9-4 the rest of the way. Neither team would be able to find the back of the net to give the Musketeers the 1-0 win.
Xavier's defense, with Toni Bizzarro in-goal, picked up its second clean sheet of the season.
Sydney Schembri's goal was her first of the season and ninth of her Xavier career. It's her fifth game-winner as a Musketeer.
Samantha Dewey picked up her second assist of the season on Schembri's goal. Combined with four goals, the assist brings her team-high point total to 10.
Gabrielle LoPresti added a team-high third assist which, combined with a goal, gives her five points, second on the team behind Dewey.
Xavier led 19-12 on shots overall, and 8-5 on shots on frame. LoPresti and Dewey each had five shots, with three on-frame for LoPresti and a pair on-goal for Dewey.
Toni Bizzarro collected all five shots on-goal for her second shutout of the season. It's also the Musketeers' second shutout. Bizzarro is now 2-0-1 on the season.
Hayley Jakovich and Grace Bahr also played the full time in the Xavier backfield.
Xavier moved to 2-0 against MAC teams on the season, with two more MAC opponents scheduled, including Sunday's match-up at Akron.

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