No. 17 Women's Soccer Wraps Up Non-Conference Schedule at Rice

Sunday, September 17

Houston, Texas

2 PM ET

Xavier University

Rice

No. 17 Women's Soccer Wraps Up Non-Conference Schedule at Rice

09.15.23 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Owls set to get underway at 2:00 p.m. ET

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

HOUSTON, Texas - No. 17 Xavier women's soccer (6-2-0) wraps up its trip to Texas on Sunday afternoon, facing Rice in the final non-conference match of the regular season. The Musketeers and the Owls will get underway at 2:00 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 Rice
Sunday, Sept 17 - 2:00 p.m. ET
Holloway Field - Houston, Texas

OPPONENT INFO

Rice is 2-6-1 on the season with wins over Texas Southern and Northwestern State, and a draw with Sam Houston.
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.

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

No. 17 Xavier women's soccer fell, 1-0, at Lamar on Thursday evening to move to 6-2 on the season.
The match went into halftime scoreless, with Xavier holding a 10-4 advantage on shots overall, and a 6-1 advantage on shots on-goal.
The Musketeers continued creating pressure on offense out of the half, hold a 7-2 advantage on shots in the the first 20 minutes of the second half.
Following a Xavier red card in the 57th minute, Lamar was able to put pressure on the Xavier defense, breaking through for a goal to take 1-0 lead in the 71st minute.
Xavier finished with a 26-10 advantage on shots and a 13-4 advantage on shots on-goal, but were unable to find the equalizer, falling 1-0 to break a four-match win streak.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier opens up BIG EAST play on Thursday, Sept. 21, hosting Butler at Corcoran Field. First touch with the Bulldogs is set for 7:00 p.m. on FloSports.
Butler went 4-4-1 in non-conference play, with wins over Illinois State, IUPUI, No. 25 TCU and Ball State, also playing UC to a draw.
BU went 7-7-5 overall and 4-3-3 in BIG EAST play last season, earning the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Championship. The Bulldogs played Creighton to a draw in the first round of the league tournament, with the Bluejays advancing to the semifinals on PKs.
The Musketeers are 10-12-4 all-time against the Bulldogs.
Xavier took the 1-0 win in last season's match in Indianapolis, with Natalie Bain scoring the game-winner in the 23^rd minute.

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.

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