No. 17 Women's Soccer Opens Texas Trip at Lamar on Thursday

Thursday, September 14

Beaumont, Texas

8 PM ET

Xavier University

Lamar

No. 17 Women's Soccer Opens Texas Trip at Lamar on Thursday

09.13.23 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Cardinals set to get underway at 8:00 p.m. ET

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 17 Xavier women's soccer (6-1-0) heads to Texas to wrap up the non-conference schedule, opening the trip with Lamar on Thursday evening. The Musketeers and the Cardinals are set to face off at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Xavier moved up in the United Soccer Coaches Top 20 this week, coming in at No. 17 after picking up wins over Pitt and Bellarmine. Xavier is ranked in the top 20 in the Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News polls as well.

GAME DETAILS

at Lamar
Thursday, Sept 14 - 8:00 p.m. ET
LU Soccer Complex - Beaumont, Texas

OPPONENT INFO

Lamar is 4-2-1 on the season, with wins over Sam Houston, Tarleton State, Southern and Louisiana. The Cardinals enter the match on a three-game win streak.
The Cardinals went 15-2-2 overall in 2022, with a 10-1-1 record in Southland Conference play, winning the league's regular season title. Lamar took wins over Houston Christian and Texas A&M – Commerce to win the Southland's Tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
The Cardinals fell to No. 8 LSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
This is the first match-up between the two programs.

WEEKLY AWARDS

A three-goal week for Shelby Sallee earned the junior forward BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors, the league office announced on Monday.
Sallee, originally from Strongsville, Ohio, collected six points on three goals in a pair of Xavier wins. On Thursday, she scored both goals in Xavier's 2-1 win over No. 22 Pitt, putting Xavier up 1-0 just before halftime with her first goal of the season, then scoring the eventual game-winner in the 75th minute.
In Sunday's 2-0 win over Bellarmine, Sallee also added an insurance goal late for her third of the season, now matching Samantha Wiehe for team-high in goals.
Defender Maddie Reed also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after Xavier's 2-0 week.
Reed, a senior from Louisville, Ky., played the full time in both of Xavier's matches last week, helping Xavier to a 2-1 win over No. 22 Pitt and a 2-0 win over Bellarmine.
In the Bellarmine match, Reed helped prevent the Knights from taking a single shot, with the Musketeers finishing with a 27-0 advantage on shots overall and 15-0 advantage on shots on-frame. The shutout was the fourth of the season for the Musketeer defense.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier moved to 6-1 on the season with a fourth-straight win after topping Bellarmine, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Corcoran Field.
Xavier took the lead about 10 minutes into the match, with Sonia Vargas scoring off a Kennedy Clark assist. The Musketeers took the one-goal advantage into halftime, leading the Knights 10-0 on shots overall and 6-0 on shots on frame in the first 45 minutes.
The Musketeers' 1-0 advantage held into the final minutes of the game, when Shelby Sallee scored from Jane Olcott, off a corner kick from Samantha Wiehe, to set the final score at 2-0 in favor of the Musketeers.
Xavier had 17 shots in the second half, while not allowing a single look from the Knights, finishing the game with a 27-0 advantage on shots overall and a 15-0 advantage on shots on-goal.
Sonia Vargas' first half goal was her second of the season, and her first game-winner.
Shelby Sallee's second half goal was her third of the season, matching Samantha Wiehe for team-high.
Kennedy Clark picked up an assist on Vargas' first half goal, giving her six points on two goals and two assists.
Jane Olcott picked up her third assist of the season on Sallee's goal.
Samantha Wiehe also picked up an assist on Salle's goal, her second of the season. She has eight points to lead the Musketeers.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier wraps up the non-conference schedule this weekend in Texas against Rice, facing the Owls on Sunday, Sept 17, set for a 2:00 p.m. ET start on ESPN+.
Rice is 2-5-1 on the season with wins over Texas Southern and Northwestern State, and a draw with Sam Houston. They'll face RV SMU on Thursday ahead of the match with the Musketeers.
In 2022, Rice went 11-8-1 overall with a 9-0-1 record in Conference USA play, winning the league's regular season title. The Owls fell to Charlotte in the Quarterfinals of the CUSA Championship.
This will be the first match-up between the two programs.

2022 SEASON

Xavier, which is currently ranked No. 17 in the USC Preseason Poll, is coming off a 14-4-5 season in 2022.
The Musketeers went 6-0-4 in BIG EAST play to finish second in the league standings, marking the first unbeaten conference slate in program history.
Xavier earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship for a second-straight season, the program's fifth NCAA bid overall.
In the NCAA Tournament, Xavier advanced for the second time in program history with a 4-1 double overtime win at Tennessee in the first round.

THE MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers return 19 letterwinners in all from last season, and added a pair of transfers in addition to a 10-person freshman class for the 2023 season.
Xavier returns a trio of all-conference honorees from last season, with goalkeeper Maria Galley and defender Natalie Bain earning All-BIG EAST Second Team and All-Freshman Team honors, and forward Regan Dancer picking up a nod to the All-Freshman squad.
Bain and junior midfielder Ella Rogers were selected to the 2023 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.

BIG EAST COACHES POLL

BIG EAST Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches' Poll
(first-place votes)
1. Georgetown 100 (10)
2. Xavier             89 (1)
3. St. John's       73
4. Butler             69
5. Creighton       67
6. UConn            63
7. Providence    47
8. Marquette     34
9. Villanova        33
10. DePaul         16
11. Seton Hall    14

Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Abby Isger, Butler, R-Sr., F

Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Julia Leas, Georgetown, Grad., D*

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

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Abby Isger, Butler, R-Sr., F
Talia Sommer, Butler, So., F/M
Chioma Okafor, UConn, So., F
Lara Kazandjan, Creighton, Sr., M
Allie Augur, Georgetown, Grad., GK*
Julia Leas, Georgetown, Grad., D*
Eliza Turner, Georgetown, Jr., M
Meg Hughes, Providence, Sr., F
Jessica Garziano, St. John's, Grad., F
Natalie Bain, Xavier, So., D
Ella Rogers, Xavier, Jr., M
*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 air on the streaming platform this fall, 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!

QUESTIONS? HELP SIGNING UP?
Click on the FloSports FAQ PDF at the top of the page for help signing up today!

HOW TO WATCH
TV: Download the FloSports TV app on Roku, Apple TV 4, and Amazon Fire TV
MOBILE: Download the FloSports iOS and Android apps
WEB: Bookmark FloSports.TV in your favorite browser