Women's Soccer Heads Out on the Road to Face Illinois

Thursday, September 2

Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

8:00 PM ET

Xavier University

Illinois

Women's Soccer Heads Out on the Road to Face Illinois

08.31.21 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Xavier moved to 4-0 after topping Murray State on Sunday

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (4-0) head out on the road to face another Big Ten opponent, traveling to Champaign, Ill., to face the University of Illinois on Thursday, September 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed through the Big Ten Network +.

Following the match with the Illini, Xavier returns home for three-straight home matches, starting with Tennessee Tech on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 1:00 p.m.

GAME DETAILS

at Illinois
Thursday, September - 8:00 p.m. ET
Demirjian Park - Champaign, Ill.

OPPONENT INFO

Illinois is 2-2 after going 2-0 during opening weekend with wins over Mizzou (4-0) and Illinois State (5-1) before falling to North Carolina, 5-1, on Thursday evening and Butler, 3-1, on Sunday.
Hope Breslin leads the Illini with five goals on the season, while Makena Sibler and Kendra Pasquale have each scored a pair.
The Illini finished last season at 6-5-1, entering the Big Ten Regional weekend at 6-4-1 before falling to No. 7 Iowa, 2-1, to end the season.
Redshirt junior Kendra Pasquale earned All-Big Ten honors after leading Illinois with 12 points on five goals and two assists. Junior Makena Sibler also earned third team honors after tallying three goals last season.
Freshman defender Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman team.
Senior Sami Sample played all 12 games for the Illini in-goal, collecting 56 saves with 12 goals against for a GAA of 0.98.
Xavier is 0-2 all-time against the Illini, with the last match-up occurring in 2007.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier women's soccer continued its best start since 1997 on Sunday, moving to 4-0 after picking put a 2-1 win over Murray State at Corcoran Field.
Xavier took a 2-0 lead into halftime on goals from Shelby Sallee and Sarah Owusu, with the tallies coming less than three minutes apart. In the second half, Murray State cut into Xavier's lead on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, but were unable to find the equalizer, setting the final score at 2-1 in favor of the Musketeers.
Shelby Sallee's first half tally was her first collegiate goal. Combined with an assist, Sallee has three points on the season, matching Sonia Vargas for second most on the team.
Sarah Owusu's first half goal was her first tally and first game-winner as a Musketeer.
Carrie Lewis' assist on Sallee's goal was her second of the season.
Elise Le and Grace Brauer each picked up an assist on Owusu's goal, the first of the season for each of them.
Xavier had a 22-9 advantage on shots overall, out-shooting the Racers 9-5 on shots on goal. The Musketeers also lead 11-3 on corner kicks
Olivia Jenkins moved to 4-0 on the season after playing the full game in-goal, collecting three saves with one goal against.
Grace Brauer and Hayley Jakovich also played the full 90 minutes on the Xavier backline.
Xavier moves to 4-0 for the first time since starting the 1997 season at 5-0.

XAVIER QUICK STATS

Mathilde Rasmussen has four points on two goals, with both marks being team-highs.
Shelby Sallee scored her first collegiate goal against Murray State to bring her season total to three points, matching Sonia Vargas has three point on a goal and an assist while
Sarah Owusu's game-winner against Murray State gives her two points on the season, matching Chloe Netzel.
Owusu, Rasmussen, Vargas and Netzel each have a game winner
Carrie Lewis picked up a pair of points over the weekend on assists.
Hayley Jakovich, Emma Marcus, Elise Le and Grace Brauer each have a point on an assist.
Marcus and Rasmussen led the Musketeers in shots, with Marcus recording 12 and Rasmussen with nine.
Jakovich and Grace Brauer have both played the full time in each of Xavier's matches on the Musketeer backline, clocking 360 minutes each.
Olivia Jenkins has played the full 90 in all four matches so far, going 4-0-0 with two shutouts. Jenkins has collected 11 saves with two goals against.

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 for the first week of the season (8/23/2021)
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.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier returns home to host Tennessee Tech on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 1:00 p.m. The match will be available for live stream through FloSports.
The Golden Eagles enter the game at 1-3 after falling to No. 18 Vanderbilt, 1-0, in overtime in the season opener, and picking up a 1-0 win over Liberty. Last weekend, TTU fell to No. 17 Tennessee, 6-0, and Chattanooga, 1-0, in overtime.
Freshman Yao Giada Zhou score the game-winning goal against Liberty.
The Golden Eagles went 4-5-1 overall last season, all against OVC competition.
Sophomore Bailey Taylor led TTU with five points on two goals and an assist. Freshman Gabby Garcia also had two goals.
Senior Isabella Austin earned OVC Goalkeeper of the Year, finishing with a GAA of 0.67 after allowing just seven goals against and collecting 57 saves.
Freshmen Selma Askildsen and Meredith Nye were both named to All-OVC Second Team and the All-OVC Newcomer team.
This is 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