No. 19 Women's Soccer Faces Loyola (Ill.) in Thursday Evening Match-Up

Thursday, September 1

Chicago, Ill.

8 PM ET

Xavier University

Loyola-Chicago

No. 19 Women's Soccer Faces Loyola (Ill.) in Thursday Evening Match-Up

08.30.22 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Ramblers face off at 8:00 p.m ET

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 19 Xavier women's soccer (3-0-1) continues its road stretch, heading to Chicago for a pair of matches this weekend, starting with the Loyola Ramblers on Thursday, set for 8:00 p.m. ET start on ESPN+ on WatchESPN.

GAME DETAILS

vs. Loyola (Ill.) (2-1-1)
Thursday, September 1 - 8:00 PM ET
Loyola Soccer Park - Chicago, Ill.

OPPONENT INFO

Loyola enters the match at 2-1-1 with wins over South Dakota and SIUE, and a 1-1 draw with No. 24 Wisconsin. The Ramblers' lone set back came against Miami (Ohio).
Madeleine Barone leads Loyola with four points on goal and a pair of assists, and 2021 MVC Player of the Year Megan Nemac, as well as Taylor Harrison each have three points on a goal and an assist.
The Ramblers are coming off a 13-3-2 season where they made a fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament after winning the Missouri Valley Championship.
Loyola was picked to finish third in the program's inaugural Atlantic 10 season, placing three on the A10's Preseason All-Conference Team.
Those selected include three returners, including last season's Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year Abby Swanson, MVC Player of the Year Megan Nemac, and All-MVC Second Team selection Alain Abel.
The Musketeers are 5-3-1 against the Ramblers after taking a 2-1 win last season in Cincinnati.

XAVIER NOTES

The Musketeers re-enter the United Soccer Coaches Poll this week at No. 19 after receiving votes last week. Xavier entered the season ranked at No. 24 in the preseason poll. Xavier is also ranked No. 20 by TopDrawerSoccer.
Simone Rivard-Roberts leads the Musketeers with four points on two goals, both game-winners. Rivard-Roberts scored her first goal as a Musketeer in the season opener against Western Kentucky, in her first appearance after dealing with injuries in her first two seasons at Xavier.
Newcomers Avery Lockwood, Emma Flick and Regan Dancer have each tallied once so far this season. Lockwood, a transfer from Indiana, scored the equalizer in the eventual 2-1 win over Louisville, while Flick and Dancer, both freshmen, scored the equalizer and the game-winner in Xavier's 4-2 win over Ball State.
Grad students Molly McLaughlin and Brooke Sroka both knocked in goals in the 4-2 win over Ball State, with McLaughlin's coming on a PK in the first half, and Sroka scoring an insurance goal in the final minute of the game.
Chloe Netzel, Grace Blumfeldt and Rachel Dewey each have a point on an assist.
Freshman Maria Galley has made all four starts in goal, collecting 12 saves, with a .800 save percentage, with three goals against for a GAA of 0.75. Her record stands at 3-0-1 with two shutouts.
Natalie Bain has played all 360 minutes on the Xavier backline in four starts so far in her freshman season. Maddie Reed has made three starts at center back and Grace Haggerty started the BSU game. Olivia Lawson and Elise Le have started all four matches as outside back, while Molly McLaughlin and Ella Rogers have started each match in the midfield.

LAST TIME OUT

After trailing going into the final 25 minutes of the match, Xavier women's soccer scored three times in the final 20 to top Ball State, 4-2, and remain undefeated, moving to 3-0-1 on the season.
The Musketeers held the advantage on offense in the first half, taking four shots on-goal to just one for the Cardinals, but BSU broke through first, scoring in the 30th minute to take a 1-0 lead.
Xavier evened the score up less than 10 minutes later, after a foul in the box led to a PK for Molly McLaughlin, who shot to the lower left for her first goal of the season, sending the game into halftime tied 1-1.
Less than 15 minutes into the second half, Ball State moved back in front on a penalty kick, and held the lead until the 70th minute. After a BSU goal kick, miscommunication on the Cardinal defense brought the BSU keeper off her line. Emma Flick found the ball in the penalty box and shot to the lower right corner to tie the match at 2-2.
Five minutes later, Xavier got behind the BSU defense, with Regan Dancer getting the ball into the box, scoring the eventual game-winner for the 3-2 lead. In the final minute, with Ball State pressing for an equalizer, Chloe Netzel found Brooke Sroka in front of the goal, where she finished through contact for the insurance goal.
Molly McLaughlin's goal was her first of the season. She's now 4-4 on PKs for her Xavier career.
Emma Flick's equalizer was her first goal of her collegiate career.
Regan Dancer's goal was her first tally and first game-winner as a Musketeer.
Brooke Sroka's goal was her first of the season and her eighth as a Musketeer.
Chloe Netzel picked up an assist on Sroka's goal, her first point of the season.
BSU finished with an 11-10 advantage on shots, but the Musketeers had a 7-3 advantage on looks on frame. Each team had three corner kicks.
Natalie Bain and Grace Haggerty both played the full 90 minutes on the Xavier backline and Maria Galley played the full time in-goal, picking up her third win of the season.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After scoring her second game-winning goal of the season last week, Xavier women's soccer's Simone Rivard-Roberts was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week. Regan Dancer was named to the conference's weekly honor roll as well.
Rivard-Roberts, a junior forward from Dublin, Ohio, scored in the 76th minute at Louisville, helping Xavier remain undefeated with a 2-1 win over the Cardinals. After UofL took a 1-0 lead into halftime, Xavier scored shortly out of the break, and remained tied until the 76th minute when Maddie Reed found Rivard-Roberts, who drove to the edge of the box and shot to the upper left corner to give the Musketeers the lead.
Rivard-Roberts leads the Musketeers with four points on two goals, both game-winners, and made her first start on Sunday against Ball State, helping Xavier remain the only unbeaten team in the BIG EAST.
Freshman Regan Dancer also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor roll after scoring the game-winning goal against Ball State, her first tally and first game-winner as a Musketeer. After the Musketeers tied up the match at 2-2 in the 70th minute, in the 75th minute the ball was served ahead to Regan Dancer from about midfield. She shot from about 12 yards out to the lower right corner to put the Musketeers in front 3-2, helping Xavier to a 4-2 win to stay undefeated.

MCLAUGHLIN ON HERMANN LIST

Women's soccer graduate student Molly McLaughlin was among the 61 NCAA Women's Division I college soccer players named to the 2022 Hermann Trophy Watch List by United Soccer Coaches.
McLaughlin, a midfielder from Granger, Ind., is coming off her third all-conference season as a Musketeer, earning a spot on the 2021 All-BIG EAST First Team and the USC All-East Region First Team, as well BIG EAST All-Tournament Team honors. She was voted to the 2022 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team by the league's coaches.
Last season, McLaughlin totaled 1,664 minutes in the midfield for the Musketeers, helping Xavier to a school-record 16 regular season wins and 10 shutouts. McLaughlin finished with three goals on the season, a pair coming in BIG EAST play, with one game-winner, against Marquette.
The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the National Player of the Year as determined by the voting of Division I coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.

2021 SEASON

The Musketeers finished the 2021 season at 16-3-1 overall, setting a new school record for regular season wins (16). The Musketeers went undefeated in the non-conference portion of the home schedule, winning seven straight matches to open the season and playing Bowling Green to a draw to move into conference play at 7-0-1.
Xavier went 9-1 in conference play, winning program's second BIG EAST Regular Season Championship and earning the opportunity to host the league Semifinals and Finals at Corcoran Field.
The Musketeers earned a program-best ranking in both the United Soccer Coaches Poll (No. 11) and the RPI (No. 7) last season.
Last season, Xavier earned the program's first at-large bid and home match in the NCAA Tournament.

THE MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers return 23 letter-winners from last fall, including All-BIG EAST First Team honoree Molly McLaughlin, BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ella Rogers, and All-Freshmen Team members Chloe Netzel and Shelby Sallee.
Xavier's returners account for over 80 percent of Xavier's goals last season, including Xavier's top six goal scorers in Netzel (6), Emma Marcus (4), Sallee (4), Rogers (4), McLaughlin (3) and Mathilde Rasmussen (3).
Netzel led the Musketeers last season with 14 points total, Marcus and Salle each added 11 for the Musketeers.
The Musketeers adds 13 newcomers, including four transfers and a nine-person freshman class.
Xavier enters the season ranked No. 24 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason poll after finishing last season at No. 19, and also open up the 2022 season ranked No. 21 by Top Drawer Soccer.
Xavier was selected to finish second in the BIG EAST Coaches poll, collecting a pair of first place votes.
All-conference honorees Molly McLaughlin and Ella Rogers were named Preseason All-BIG EAST by the league coaches.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier remains in the Chicago area for the final match of four-straight road matches, taking on Northwestern on Sunday.
Northwestern went 7-9-1 in 2021, posting a 3-6-1 record in Big Ten play.
Xavier is 1-0 against the Wildcats after taking a 2-1 win last season in Cincinnati.

BIG EAST COACHES POLL

BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First-place votes)
1.       Georgetown          98 (8)
2.       Xavier 91 (2)
3.       Butler                     83 (1)
4.       Providence            69
5.       St. John's               59
6.       Connecticut           57
7.       Creighton               43
8.       Marquette             42
9.       DePaul                    31
10.     Villanova                22
11.     Seton Hall              10

BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Katie Soderstrom, Butler, R-Sr., F

BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Julia Leas, Georgetown, Sr., M

BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Allie Augur, Georgetown, Sr., GK

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Aliyah Diagne, Butler, R-Jr., D
Katie Soderstrom, Butler, R-Sr., F*
Jaydah Bedoya, Connecticut, Jr., F
Aida Kardovic, Creighton, Sr., M*
Allie Augur, Georgetown, Sr., GK
Julia Leas, Georgetown, Sr., M*
Gia Vicari, Georgetown, Jr., F
Meg Hughes, Providence, Jr., F
Jessica Garziano, St. John's, Sr., M
Molly McLaughlin, Xavier, Grad., M
Ella Rogers, Xavier, So., M
*unanimous selection

XAVIER SOCCER ON FLOSPORTS

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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.

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