Women's Soccer Hosts Butler to Open BIG EAST Play

Thursday, September 21

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 PM

Xavier University

Butler

Women's Soccer Hosts Butler to Open BIG EAST Play

09.20.23 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Bulldogs set to play at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evening

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (7-2-0) kicks off BIG EAST play on Thursday evening, hosting Butler at Corcoran Field. First touch with the Bulldogs is set for 7:00 p.m. on FloSports.

Xavier wrapped up non-conference play at 7-2 after splitting games in Texas last weekend. The Musketeers are receiving votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll after having a season-high ranking of No. 17 last week. Xavier is ranked in the top 25 in the Top Drawer Soccer (#23) and College Soccer News (#22) polls.

GAME DETAILS

vs. Butler
Thursday, Sept 21 - 7:00 p.m.
Corcoran Field - Cincinnati, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

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.

XAVIER STATS

Samantha Wiehe leads the Musketeers with 10 points, matching for team high with four goals and dishing out a pair of assists. Among her goals are a pair of game-winners.
Shelby Sallee also has a team-high matching four goals on the season, all coming in the last four matches.
Kennedy Clark has two goals and three assists on the season for seven points.
Regan Dancer and Sonia Vargas each have pair of goals and four other Musketeers have recorded a tally so far this season.
Jane Olcott leads the Musketeers with four assists. Emma Flick also has a pair of assists.
Maria Galley has made all nine starts in-goal, collecting 32 saves with six goals against. Her GAA stands at 0.68 and she has four shutouts on the season.
Maddie Reed has made every start for the Xavier defense, with Natalie Bain making the start in seven matches and Madison Ayson starting in a pair. Ella Rogers, Elise Le and Olivia Lawson have each started in all nine matches for the Musketeers in the midfield all playing over 500 minutes to help Xavier to four shutouts.

LAST TIME OUT

The Musketeers wrapped up the non-conference portion of the schedule with a win, taking a 4-2 victory at Rice to move into BIG EAST play at 7-2 on the season.
The match was scoreless through the first 26 minutes, when Xavier broke through for the first goal of the game, scored on a free kick from Samantha Wiehe.
The Owls responded less than two minutes later to tie the match at 1-1, but the Musketeer needed less than five minutes to move back in front.
Jane Olcott found the ball off a blocked Xavier shot, serving it back into the box for Shelby Sallee who put the Musketeer up 2-1 with a header.
The Musketeers added another tally just before halftime with a shot from Sallee bouncing off the crossbar to Tyler Kaseta on the right side of the box, shooting over the Rice goalkeeper for the 3-1 halftime lead.
In the second, the Musketeers notched a fourth goal less than 10 minutes into the half, with Regan Dancer scoring off a Rice turnover to put Xavier in front 4-1. The Owls responded less than two minutes later to make it 4-2. Neither team scored for the final 35 minutes to set the final score at 4-2.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier heads out on the road to face DePaul on Sunday afternoon, with the match with the Blue Demons set for a 2:00 p.m. ET start on FloSports.
The Blue Demons went 4-2-1 in non-conference play, picking up wins over Samford, EKU, UIC and Northern Illinois, and palying Green Bay to a draw. DePaul opens up BIG EAST play Thursday evening with Marquette.
The Blue Demons went 3-12-1 overall last season with a 1-7-1 record in BIG EAST play.
The Musketeers are 5-4-2 all-time against DePaul, bringing a seven-match unbeaten streak and a four-match winning streak in the 2023 match-up.
Xavier won last season's match, 2-1, in Cincinnati, with Natalie Bain and Emma Marcus each scoring a goal.

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