No. 20 Women's Soccer Heads to St. John's on Thursday Evening

Thursday, October 17

Queens, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Xavier University

St. John's

No. 20 Women's Soccer Heads to St. John's on Thursday Evening

10.16.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers take on Red Storm at 7:00 p.m. on FloSports

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (12-1-2; 5-0-1 BIG EAST) heads out on the road to face St. John's on Thursday, Oct. 17, in Queens, N.Y. The Musketeers and the Red Storm are set to get underway at 7:00 p.m., streamed live on FloSports.

The Musketeers came in at No. 20 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and remained at No. 18 in this week's Top Drawer Soccer poll. The Musketeers also rank in the top 25 in the RPI, currently sitting at No. 21.

Xavier extended its unbeaten streak in BIG EAST regular season play to 34 matches with a 3-0 win over Seton Hall. The Musketeers now have 16 points in the conference standings to stand in first place.

BIG EAST STANDINGS


SCHOOL	CONF	PTS.	OVERALL	STREAK
Xavier	5-0-1	16	12-1-2	W4
Georgetown	4-1-1	13	8-2-4	L1
Creighton	3-3	9	6-5-1	W2
UConn	2-2-2	8	8-3-3	W1
Villanova	1-1-3	6	4-5-4	T2
DePaul	1-1-3	6	3-5-5	W1
Providence	2-3	6	5-7-1	L3
Seton Hall	1-2-2	5	4-7-3	L1
Butler	1-2-2	5	6-4-3	L1
Marquette	1-3-1	4	4-8-3	L1
St. John's	0-3-3	3	5-4-5	T1

GAME DETAILS

at St. John's
Thursday, Oct. 17 - 7:00 p.m.
Queens, N.Y. - Belson Stadium

OPPONENT INFO

The Red Storm, which was picked to finish sixth in the league's preseason poll, is 5-4-5 overall and 0-3-3 in BIG EAST play.
St. John's went 10-6-3 overall and 5-4-1 in BIG EAST play, earning the No. 5 seed in the league tournament.
SJU fell to Providence in the BIG EAST Tournament First Round.
The Musketeers are 4-7-1 all-time against the Red Storm after taking a 3-0 win in Cincinnati last season.

OFFENSE Notables

Fifteen games into the season, 13 Musketeers have recorded points, including 10 who have scored goals.
Among Xavier's 10 goal scorers, eight have notched multiple tallies this season, led by seven each for Samantha Wiehe and Samantha Erbach, and six from Emma Flick.
Samantha Wiehe, who leads Xavier with 20 points, remained perfect on penalty kicks at 5-for-5 with the make against Creighton, and is the only player in the country with five made PKs so far this season.
Flick has a team-high seven assists, most in the BIG EAST and the 18th most total assists in NCAA DI. Flick's assists per game (0.47 - 34th in DI) also leads the BIG EAST.
Flick and Erbach each have three game-winners on the season, the most in the conference and 32nd most in NCAA DI.
Regan Dancer leads the BIG EAST and ranks 17th in NCAA DI with a 0.647 shot accuracy, with 22 of her 34 shots going on-frame. She has five goals for the season.
As a squad, Xavier leads the BIG EAST and are No. 5 in NCAA DI with 42 total goals on the season.
The Musketeers lead the BIG EAST and are No. 6 in the country in goal differential (31), rank 6th in the country in scoring offense (2.80 goals per game) and are 8th in the country in total points (115).
The Musketeers are also in the top 25 in NCAA DI and lead the BIG EAST in points per game, ranking 11th with 7.67 points per game, and total assists, ranking 25th with 31 assists on the season.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After helping Xavier to a 3-0 win over Seton Hall, Xavier women's soccer's Samantha Erbach was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for a third-straight week. Brooklynn Miltenberger also earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Erbach, a forward from Lebanon, Ohio, collected three points in Xavier's win on Sunday, helping keep the Musketeers undefeated in conference play. She notched her team-high matching seventh goal of the season in the 36th minute to give the Musketeers a 2-0 lead. She also picked up her fourth assist of the season, on Elin Hansson's 42nd minute goal, giving her 18 points for her freshman season.
This marks the third-straight week Erbach was named Freshman of the Week, and the fourth time she's earned the honor this season.
Miltenberger, a defender from Middletown, Ohio, earned a spot on the Weekly Honor Roll after playing 76 minutes in Xavier's 3-0 win over Seton Hall, helping limit the Pirates to just four shots on-goal on the way to the Musketeers' eighth shutout of the season. Miltenberger also scored the first goal of her collegiate career, knocking in the game-winner off the assist from Samantha Wiehe in the 28th minute.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier wraps up the home portion of the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 20, hosting Providence at Corcoran Field at 1:00 p.m. The Musketeers will celebrate Senior Day prior to the match.
PC, which was picked fifth in the league's preseason poll, is 5-7-1 overall and 2-3 in BIG EAST play, currently tied for fifth place.
The Friars went 10-5-5 overall and 4-1-5 in league play to earn the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Providence took a 3-1 win over St. John's in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament before falling to Xavier, 2-0, in the Semifinals.
PC earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, falling to Mississippi State, 1-0, in overtime in the first round.
Xavier is 6-4-2 all-time against the Friars and enter the season with a seven-match unbeaten streak in the series after taking the BIG EAST Semifinal win, and playing to a 0-0 draw in the regular season last year.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier remained unbeaten in BIG EAST play, taking a 3-0 win over Seton Hall at Corcoran Field on Sunday afternoon.
The match was scoreless into the 27th minute, when a shot from Samantha Wiehe deflected off of Brooklynn Miltenberger and into the net for the 1-0 lead. The Musketeers made it a 2-0 advantage less than 10 minutes later, when Samantha Erbach scored from Peyton Kohls in the 36th minute. Xavier added a third goal with less than five minutes remaining in the first half, when Elin Hansson scored off a pass from Erbach, taking the 3-0 lead into the halftime.
The Musketeers had a 12-4 advantage on shots in the first half, and a 7-2 advantage on shots on-goal.
In the second half, the Pirates had a 5-4 advantage on shots, creating two looks on frame, but Maria Galley collected both, finishing the game with four saves to keep the shutout intact.
Brooklynn Miltenberger scored the first goal of her collegiate career, the game-winner. She's the 10th Musketeer to score a goal on the season.
Samantha Erbach finished the day with three points, on a goal and an assist. The goal was her team-high matching seventh of the season, and the assist was her fourth, giving her 18 points for her freshman season.
Elin Hansson scored her third goal of the season, combining with three assists to give her nine points.
Samantha Wiehe picked up her sixth assist of the season on Miltenberger's goal. Combined with a team-high matching seven goals, she leads the Musketeers with 20 points.
Peyton Kohls picked up her third assist of the season on Samantha Erbach's goal.
Olivia Lawson, Brooklynn Miltenberger and Natalie Bain each played over 75 minutes for the Musketeer defense, limiting Seton Hall to four shots on-goal on the way to Xavier's eighth shutout.
Maria Galley finished with four saves, picking up here seventh complete shutout of the season.

TOP DRAWER SOCCER TOP 100

Four Musketeers earned spots on Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 lists, released in early October.
Two Musketeers were ranked in the top 50 of TDS' Midseason Top 100 players list, with defender Natalie Bain coming in at No. 21, the highest ranked player among BIG EAST squads. Midfielder Samantha Wiehe came in at No. 44. Xavier was the only BIG EAST school to have two players on the list.
Forward Samantha Erbach came in at No. 40 on TDS's Midseason Top 100 Freshman list. Defender McKinley Berry also earned a spot in the Top 50 of the Top 100 Freshman list, coming in at No. 44. Xavier was also the only team in the conference with two players in the Top 100 Freshmen.

BAIN NAMED TO HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST

Defender Natalie Bain was named one of the 44 NCAA Division Women's Division I college soccer players named to the 2024 Hermann Trophy Watch List, announced by the United Soccer Coaches on Thursday, August 15.
Bain, a junior from Alexandria, Ky., was a United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American and First Team All-BIG EAST selection in 2023 and was selected as the BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year ahead of the 2024 season.
The defender made 20 starts for the Musketeers in 2023, playing 1,770 minutes for a Xavier defense that allowed only 11 goals for the season, winning a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Bain played the full time in 17 matches on the Xavier backline in 2023, helping the Xavier defense finished the season with 13 shutouts, matching the school record set in 2019. Offensively, Bain finished with two points on a goal, scored in Xavier's 3-0 win at DePaul. She had 14 shots on the season, with eight on-frame.
The Hermann Trophy is presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club and is the nation's highest individual honor recognizing the National Player of the Year as determined by voting of Division I head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches.

2023 season

Xavier is coming off a 2023 season where the Musketeers went 14-4-4 overall and went 6-0-4 in conference play to win a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament, where XU finished runners-up.
The 2023 Musketeers picked up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the third at-large bid in program history and the sixth trip overall to the national tournament.
Xavier earned a No. 4 seed, the best seeding in program history, and hosted the opening round of the of the tournament, the second NCAA home match in program history.

THE 2024 MUSKETEERS

The Musketeers returned 15 letterwinners in all from last season, and added six transfers in addition to an eight-person freshman class for Dean Ward's first year leading Xavier.
Ward took over the program in December 2023, coming to Xavier from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., where he led the Bears to 29 wins, two league titles, one conference tournament title and a pair of NCAA DII Women's Soccer Championship appearances in two seasons as head coach.
Xavier returns four of all-conference honorees from last season, led by USC Second Team All-American Natalie Bain, who was selected as the league's Preseason Defender of the Year after earning a spot on the All-BIG EAST First Team last season.
Goalkeeper Maria Galley, an All-BIG EAST Second Team honoree in 2023, was also selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
Xavier also returns Maddie Reed and Samantha Wiehe were selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2023.
Wiehe led the Musketeers in points last season, finishing with 20 after matching for team high in goals (7) and assists (6).
Reed anchored Xavier's backline last year, starting all 22 matches and playing 1,950 minutes for a Xavier defense that limited opponents to just 11 goals for the season.

BIG EAST COACHES POLL

BIG EAST Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches' Poll
(first-place votes)
1. Georgetown – 100 (10)
2. UConn – 91 (1)
3. Xavier – 72
4. Butler – 70
5. Providence – 66
6. St. John's – 57
7. Creighton – 44
8. Seton Hall – 43
T9. Marquette – 22
T9. Villanova – 22
11. DePaul – 19

Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Natalie Tavana, Seton Hall, Sr., F

Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Natalie Bain, Xavier, Jr., D

Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Kaitlyn Mahoney, UConn, Gr., GK

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Abigail Isger, Butler, Gr., F
Caitlin O'Malley, Butler, Gr., D
Talia Sommer, Butler, Jr., M/F
Azumi Manriki, Creighton, Sr., M
Natalie Means, Georgetown, Jr., F
Eliza Turner, Georgetown, Sr., MF
Kayla Briggs, Providence, So., F
Natalie Tavana, Seton Hall, Sr., F
Lucy Cappadona, UConn, Gr., D
Kaitlyn Mahoney, UConn, Gr., GK
Chioma Okafor, UConn, Jr., F
Natalie Bain, Xavier, Jr., D
Maria Galley, Xavier, Jr., GK

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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