Women's Soccer Hosts Cincinnati for Thursday Evening Match Up

Women's Soccer Hosts Cincinnati for Thursday Evening Match Up

08.25.21 | Women's Soccer

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Musketeers went 2-0 over opening weekend with wins over Northwestern and SLU

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (2-0) hosts crosstown rivals Cincinnati (1-0-1) on Thursday, August 26 at Corcoran Field. The game, set for a 7:00 p.m. first kick, will be available for live stream through FloSports.

The game is the second of a three-game home stand that concludes with Murray State on Sunday, August 29 at 1:00 p.m., part of a doubleheader with Xavier's men, who will face IUPUI at 6:00 p.m.

GAME DETAILS

vs. Cincinnati
Thursday, August 26 - 7:00 PM
Corcoran Field - Cincinnati, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

Cincinnati started the season at 1-0-1, opening up the season with a 2-1 win at Northern Kentucky last Thursday, then playing Toledo to a 1-1 draw through double overtime last Sunday.
Lauren Bastian, Vanessa DiNardo and Chloe Spitler each have a goal on the season. Kendall Battle and Karli Royer each have an assist.
Anna Rexford has played the full 200 minutes for the Musketeers in-goal, allowing two goals and collecting four saves. Defenders Karli Royer and Ashley Barron have also played the full time in both matches.
The Bearcats finished 2020 at 5-5-1 overall and 3-3-1 in AAC play. UC earned a bid in the AAC Championship, topping Memphis 1-0 to move into the championship match where the Bearcats fell 4-0 to South Florida.
Sophomore Kendall Battle led the Bearcats with two goals on the season. Freshman Lauren Bastian and sophomore Alli Pestaina each had four points on a goal and two assists and seven other Bearcats recorded goals. All three earned All-AAC honors following the season.
Sophomore Ashley Barron was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year for the conference as well as selected to the AAC First Team.
Freshman Anna Rexford started all 11 game in-goal, collecting 36 goals with 14 goals against for a 1.25 GAA. She finished with a 5-5-1 record.
Xavier is 6-23-2 all-time against UC, playing to a 0-0 draw through double overtime in each of the last two match-ups, in 2019 and in 2015.

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!

PRICING
$6.99 per month with a .edu email address
$12.50 per month via the Xavier Athletics Link (fans without a .edu email address)

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TV: Download the FloSports TV app on Roku, Apple TV 4, and Amazon Fire TV
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LAST TIME OUT

Xavier women's soccer moved to 2-0 on the season, coming from behind to take a 2-1 win over Northwestern at Corcoran Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats struck midway through the first half, off a set piece to take the 1-0 lead into the break.
Xavier responded just out of the half, with Mathilde Rasmussen scoring from Sonia Vargas in the 53rd minute to tie the game. Rasmussen tallied again, this time the game-winner, from a header from Shelby Sallee off a free kick from Hayley Jakovich.
Rasmussen's goal in the 53rd minute was the first of her collegiate career, while her second goal was her first game-winner. She leads Xavier with four points on the season.
Sonia Vargas picked up a third point on the season on the assist on Rasmussen's first goal, her first assist of the season.
Hayley Jakovich and Shelby Sallee each picked up a point on an assist on the game-winner.
Xavier out-shot Northwestern 15-7 overall and 8-4 on looks on-frame. The Musketeers were led by three shots for Rasmussen, with 10 other Musketeers recording shots. Hayley Jakovich, Sonia Vargas, Chloe Netzel, Lexi Czerwien and Shelby Sallee each recorded a shot on-goal.
Olivia Jenkins picked up the win after playing the full-time in-goal, collecting three saves. Hayley Jakovich and Grace Brauer both played the full 90 minutes on the Xavier backline.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Following a two-goal performance in her first start as a Musketeer, Xavier women's soccer's Mathilde Rasmussen was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.
Sophomore Sonia Vargas also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after collecting three point during the opening weekend, helping the Musketeers start at 2-0.
Rasmussen tallied both goals for the Musketeers in her first collegiate start, against Northwestern on Sunday. Rasmussen, originally from Skive, Denmark, scored from Sonia Vargas shortly after halftime to tie the match at 1-1, marking her first collegiate goal.
Rasmussen found the back of the net again off a set piece, from Shelby Sallee and Hayley Jakovich, in the 65th minute with what was the eventual the game-winner. She now leads Xavier with four points.
Vargas collected three points on a goal and an assist in Xavier's first two matches. Vargas, originally from Hilliard, Ohio, scored from Emma Marcus in the 85th minute of the season opener at Saint Louis, breaking the scoreless draw and helping the Musketeers to a 1-0 win. The goal marked her first as a Musketeer.
Vargas also picked up an assist in the win over Northwestern, also her first at Xavier, after stealing the ball in Xavier's attacking third and finding Mathilde Rasmussen for the goal that tied the game, 1-1, in an eventual 2-1 win for the Musketeers.

XAVIER STATS

Mathilde Rasmussen has four points on two goals, with both marks being team-highs.
Sonia Vargas has three point on a goal and an assist.
Hayley Jakovich, Emma Marcus and Shelby Sallee each have a point on an assist.
Marcus and Rasmussen each have a team-high five shots on the season, with five of Marcus' coming on-frame.
Molly McLaughlin, Ella Rogers and Chloe Netzel each have three shots on the season, with all three of Netzel's on-goal.
Jakovich and Grace Brauer have both played the full time in each of Xavier's matches on the Musketeer backline.
Olivia Jenkins has played the full 90 in both matches so far, going 2-0-0 with a shutout. Jenkins has collected five saves with one goal against.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier hosts Murray State for the final of three-straight home matches. The Racers enter the game at 2-0 with wins over Missouri State (6-1) and Louisiana Tech (3-2).
The Racers finished last season at 9-2 overall, playing an all-OVC schedule. MSU was 9-1 when it entered the OVC Championship, falling to SEMO in the semifinals, 1-0, to conclude the season.
Freshman Chloe Barnthouse led the Racers with 15 points on a team-high seven goals and an assist to earn All-OVC First Team honors. Rebeca Kubin and Lilly Strader each had four goals on the season.
Izzy Heckman was named OVC Defender of the Year and head coach Matt Lodge was named Coach of the Year by the conference.
All told, six Racers earned all-conference honors last season.
Jenna Villacers started all 11 games at goalkeeper, allowing 10 goals and collecting 37 saves with a GAA of 0.90.
Xavier is 1-0 against Murray after taking a 4-3 win in double overtime in 2019, the first match up between the two programs.

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.

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