No. 17 Women's Soccer Closes Non-Conference Slate at Bowling Green

Thursday, September 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

6:00 PM

Xavier University

Bowling Green

No. 17 Women's Soccer Closes Non-Conference Slate at Bowling Green

09.15.21 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeer face Falcons on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 6:00 p.m.

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 17 Xavier women's soccer (7-0) closes out the non-conference schedule on the road, traveling to Bowling Green to face the Falcons on Thursday, September 16, with first touch set for 6:00 p.m. The match will be live streamed through WBGU.

Following the match with BGSU, the Musketeers have an open date before opening up BIG EAST play on the road at Providence on Thursday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. All BIG EAST matches this season will be available through FloSports.

GAME DETAILS

vs. Bowling Green
Thursday, September 16 - 6:00 p.m.
Cochrane Stadium - Bowling Green, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

The Falcons enter the game at 1-4-1 overall, picking up a 6-0 win over Oakland and a 1-1 double overtime draw at Michigan State. BGSU has also faced Big Ten foes RV Michigan, RV Ohio State and Illinois, as well as Notre Dame.
Madi Wolfbauer's three goal and an assist brings her to seven points for the season, while Nikki Cox has seven points on two goals and three assists.
Lace Betha also has three goals on the season.
Lili Berg has made all six starts at goalkeeper, playing the bulk of the time in-frame for the Falcons. She has 25 saves and 12 goals against in 514 minutes of action.
Bowling Green went 6-1-1 last season, going 5-1-0 in a MAC-only regular season to win the East division, then topped Ball State in the conference championship match for the team's third-straight MAC title and NCAA bid. In the NCAA Tournament, the Falcons played Ole Miss to a 0-0 draw through double overtime, but Mississippi advanced on PKs, 4-3.
Junior Madi Wolfbauer led BGSU with 10 points on five goals, earning All-MAC First Team Honors. Senior Nikki Cox joined her on the first team.
Kennedy White finished with nine points on four goals and an assist.
Redshirt sophomore Lili Berg played over 700 minutes in-goal, allowing just three goals against for a GAA of 0.38, and finishing with a 6-1-1 record.
Berg earned All-MAC Second Team honors, and was joined by sophomore Jasmijn Dijsselhof and sophomore Audrey Shea on the second team.
Xavier is 3-2 all-time against the Falcons, taking the 2-1 win over BGSU in the last match-up in 2019.

WEEKLY AWARDS

Following a 2-0 weekend for No. 23 Xavier, a pair of Musketeers, Chloe Netzel and Emma Marcus, earned Weekly Honors from the BIG EAST, the conference office announced on Monday.
Netzel, a forward from St. Louis, was named Freshman of the Week after she picked up three points over the weekend. Netzel scored her team-high third goal of the season early in the first half of Xavier's 2-1 win over Loyola Chicago. Netzel also picked up another point on the assist on Emma Marcus' game-winner against Ball State to give her a team-high seven points for the season.
Netzel is the second Musketeer to earn Freshman of the Week honors, joining Mathilde Rasmussen who picked up the honor in the first week of the season.
Marcus, a junior forward from Winter Springs, Fla., earned Weekly Honor Roll honors after scoring her first two goals as a Musketeer over the weekend, both game-winners.
Marcus' first goal of the season came in the 23rd minute of the 1-0 win over Ball State. She then followed that with a goal in the 49th minute in the 2-1 win against Loyola Chicago to help the Musketeers move to 7-0.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier continued its hot start to the 2021 season, moving to 7-0 on Sunday after picking up a 2-1 win over Loyola University Chicago.
Xavier took the early lead on a goal from Chloe Netzel in the first 10 minutes, holding the 1-0 lead into halftime.
Shortly after the break, Emma Marcus added another tally, the eventual game-winner, scoring less than five minutes into the second half.
The Musketeers held the 2-0 lead until the 65th minute when the Ramblers scored to set the final score at 2-1.
Emma Marcus' second-half goal is her second of the season, and her second-straight game-winner. Marcus has a pair of assists as well to give her six points on the season.
Elise Le picked up the assist on Netzel's goal, her second of the season.
Xavier led 9-4 on shots in the first half, but the Ramblers had a 7-2 advantage in the second half, with both teams finishing with 11 shots apiece and four on-frame. Marcus led the Musketeers with three shots, with two on-goal.
Hayley Jakovich and Grace Brauer anchored Xavier's backline, playing the full 90 minutes.
Olivia Jenkins collected two saves with one goal against in the start, moving to 7-0 on the season.
Xavier's win to move to 7-0 continues the best start since going 8-0 to start 1990, making it the second-best start in school history.

XAVIER STATS

Xavier moved to 7-0 with the win over Loyola Chicago, continuing the best start since the 1990 team started the season at 8-0.
Chloe Netzel scored in the first 10 minutes of Sunday's 2-1 win over the Ramblers, giving her a team-high three goals for the season. Combined with an assist, she leads the Musketeers with seven points.
Emma Marcus became the seventh Musketeer to score, knocking in the game-winner against Ball State on Thursday night, then followed that up with the game-winner against Loyola on Sunday. She has six points on two goal and two assists.
Mathilde Rasmussen also has four points on a pair of goals for the season.
Shelby Sallee's goal against Murray State brought her to three points for the season, matching Sonia Vargas who also has a goal and an assist on the season.
Ella Rogers scored her first collegiate goal against Illinois, becoming the sixth Musketeer, and fourth newcomer, to score this season.
Sarah Owusu also has two points on a goal.
Elise Le picked up an assist on Chloe Netzel's goal against Loyola, joining Hayley Jakovich and Carrie Lewis who each have two points on a pair of assists. Grace Brauer has also recorded a helper this season as well.
Jakovich and Brauer have anchored Xavier's backline, playing the full time in all seven matches so far, helping limit opponents to just four goals through seven matches.
Olivia Jenkins has made all seven starts in frame, playing the full time in each match. She's collected 16 saves with four goals against for a GAA of 0.57 and has a record of 7-0-0 with three complete shutouts.

XAVIER IN THE RANKINGS

Xavier moved up to a program-best ranking of 17 in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll in week four (9/14/21) after going 2-0 against Ball State and Loyola Chicago the weekend before to move to 7-0 on the season.
The Musketeers made their first appearance of the season in the USC National Poll in week three (9/7/21), entering the rankings at No. 23, marking the first time the Musketeers have been ranked in the USC National Poll since finishing the 2019 season at No. 24. The Musketeers had been receiving votes in each of the two previous weeks.
Xavier also moved up to the No. 1 spot in the East region in week three, after being at No. 3 in the region for week two.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier has Sunday off before moving into BIG EAST play next week, opening up on the road at Providence on Thursday, September 23, set for a 6:00 start.
The Friars are 4-2-1 overall this season picking up wins over Sacred Heart (4-0), Stony Brook (4-0), Monmouth (3-1) and Boston U (5-1), and picked up a result in a 1-1 draw against Rhode Island. Both of PC's losses came to Big Ten opponents, No. 22 Rutgers (5-1) and Wisconsin (3-2).
Last spring's BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Meg Hughes leads the Friars with five goals. Combined with a pair of assists, she has a team-high 12 points. Gillian Kenny, Kyla Gallagher, Amber Birchwell and Maria Pavejlio each have multiple goals for Providence this season.
Emma Bodmer has made all seven starts in-goal for the Friars, collecting 30 saves with 10 goals against. Bodmer has combined with Sam Murrary for two shutouts on the season.
The Friars went 7-2-3 last season, with a 5-2-3 mark in BIG EAST play, finishing third in the East Division.
Sophomore midfielder/defender Alexis Rothmann earned All-BIG EAST First Team Honors.
Meg Hughes was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, earning a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team and All-Freshman Team after leading the team with 14 points on four goals and six assists.
Defender Avery Snead also earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
Senior Christian Rodgers was named the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Xavier is 4-4 all time against the Friars after taking a 2-0 win in 2019 in Cincinnati.

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