Women's Soccer Kicks Off the 2021-22 Season for Xavier Athletics at Saint Louis

Thursday, August 19

Saint Louis, Mo.

8:00 PM

Xavier University

Saint Louis

Women's Soccer Kicks Off the 2021-22 Season for Xavier Athletics at Saint Louis

08.18.21 | Women's Soccer

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers face the Billikens on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET on WatchESPN

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer opens up the Fall 2021 schedule for Xavier Athletics on Thursday, August 19, traveling to Saint Louis to face the Billikens in the season opener for both squads. First kick is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on WatchESPN.

Following the match with SLU, Xavier returns home to host Northwestern on Sunday, August 22nd at 1:00 p.m.

GAME DETAILS

at Saint Louis (A10)
Thursday, August 19 - 8:00 PM ET
Hermann Stadium - St. Louis, Mo.

OPPONENT INFO

This is the season opener for the Billikens who went 2-0 in exhibition matches with wins over SIUE (3-0) and Evansville (1-0).
SLU went 15-1-1 last season, including an 8-0 mark against Atlantic 10 competition. SLU won the A10 Tournament title to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament where the Billikens played Washington to a 0-0 draw through double overtime in the first round. Washington advanced after taking a PK shootout, 4-3.
Junior Hannah Friedrich led the Billikens with 22 points on four goals and 14 assists and was named A10 Offensive Player of the Year.
Sophomore Abbie Miller and freshman Hannah Larson each had a team-high eight goals last season. Miller earned conference Midfielder of the Year honors, while Larson earned a spot on the all-conference first team.
Freshman Emily Puricelli played the bulk of the time in-goal, going 13-0-1, allowing just nine goals all season for a 0.51 GAA, earning A10 Defensive Player of the Year.
All together, nine Billikens earned post-season A10 honors following the sweep of the conference titles last season.
Xavier is 3-3 against Saint Louis all-time after falling 2-0 in the season opener at Grand Park near Indianapolis last spring.

SPRING 2021 SEASON

Xavier finished spring 2021 at 3-6 overall and 2-4 in BIG EAST play, picking up wins over Bellarmine in the non-conference portion of the schedule, and BIG EAST wins over Creighton and DePaul, all three coming on the road.
Following the spring season, two Musketeers earned all conference honors, All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree, senior midfielder Molly McLaughlin, and All-Freshman Team member, forward Sonia Vargas.
McLaughlin led the Musketeers with four points on two goals, while sophomore Grace Blumfeldt finished her rookie season with three point on a goal and an assist.
After finishing fourth in the Midwest Division, the Musketeers missed the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time in Nate Lie's tenure as head coach.

THE MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers return 26 letter-winners from the spring, including All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree, senior midfielder Molly McLaughlin, and All-Freshman Team member, forward Sonia Vargas.
Xavier's returners account for over 70 percent of the goals scored last season, led by McLaughlin's pair of tallies.
The Musketeers added and 11-person freshman class for the fall after losing 11 letterwinners from spring 2021.
Xavier was picked seventh in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll, collecting 45 points. Georgetown was picked to win the conference.
Ahead of the start of the 2021 season, head coach Nate Lie announced additions to his staff. Katy Etelman joins Xavier as an assistant coach, while Tyler Smaha, who served as Xavier's Director of Player Development last season, also moves into the role of assistant coach. Jacob Morrison joins Xavier as the Director of Goalkeeping and Kaitlyn Jones joins Lie's staff as Director of Player Analysis/Operations.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier opens up the home portion of the schedule on Sunday, August 22, hosting Northwestern at 1:00 p.m on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
It will be the season opener for the Wildcats, who finished last season at 6-6-1, going 5-6 in an All-Big Ten regular season. NU topped Purdue 1-0 in post-season play before the season came to a close against Wisconsin, falling 4-2 on PKs after playing to a 1-1 draw through double overtime.
Senior Regan Steigleder led Northwestern with nine points on a team-high four goals and an assists.
Junior Olivia Stone and sophomore Aurea Martin each tallied three times last season.
Junior Mackenzie Wood played nearly 1200 minutes in frame, staring all 13 matches. She finished with a 6-6-1 record, and a GAA of 0.91.
This is the first match-up with the Wildcats in program history.

BIG EAST COACHES POLL

1. Georgetown	100 (10)
2. Butler	88
3. UConn	74
4. Providence	65 (1)
5. Creighton	64
6. St. John's	47
7. Xavier	45
8. Marquette	43
9. DePaul	41
10. Villanova	27
11. Seton Hall	11

(first-place votes)

BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Zsani Kajan, St. John's, Grad., F

BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Kelly Ann Livingstone, Georgetown, Grad., D

BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Stephanie Rodriguez, Butler, Grad., GK

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Stephanie Rodriguez, Butler, Grad., GK
Anastasia Savich, Butler, Sr., F*
Katie Soderstrom, Butler, Sr., F*
Jessica Mazo, UConn, Jr., M
Aida Kardovic, Creighton, So., M
Kelly Ann Livingstone, Georgetown, Grad., D
Daisy Cleverley, Georgetown, Grad., M
Julia Leas, Georgetown, Jr., M
Meg Hughes, Providence, So., F
Jessica Garziano, St. John's, Jr., M
Zsani Kajan, St. John's, Grad., F
*unanimous selection

XAVIER SOCCER ON FLOSPORTS

Fans can sign up now to watch Xavier Athletics on FloSports! Men's and women's soccer and volleyball will debut this fall on the streaming platform, while women's basketball and baseball will be available later this academic year.
Xavier will broadcast every home soccer and volleyball match that isn't produced by the BIG EAST Digital Network. Both broadcasts will be available for fans to watch on FloSports.

Sign up today via the Xavier Athletics FloSports Account for special pricing!

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