Women's Soccer Opens the Season with Milwaukee at Cocoran Field

Thursday, August 15

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:00 PM

Xavier University

Milwaukee

Women's Soccer Opens the Season with Milwaukee at Cocoran Field

08.14.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Panthers set to get underway at 7 PM on Thursday

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer is set to officially open up the the 2024-25 season for Xavier Athletics on Thursday, August 15, hosting Milwaukee at Corcoran Field. The match with the Panthers gets underway at 7:00 p.m. on FloSports.

Admission is free to all regular soccer contests at Corcoran Field.

GAME DETAILS

vs Milwaukee
Thursday, Aug. 15 - 7:00 p.m.
Corcocran Field - Cincinnati, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

The match with the Musketeers is the season opener for Milwaukee, which was picked to repeat as Horizon Leauge champions in the league's preseason poll.
The Panthers went 12-3-5 overall last season, with a 7-0-3 mark in Horizon League play, earning the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.
Milwaukee took a 5-0 win over Robert Morris and a 1-0 win over Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League Tournament to win the championship and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers fell to No. 12 Wisconsin in the NCAA First Round.
Xavier is 6-2 all-time against the Panthers. The last match-up occurred during the 2021 NCAA Tournament First Round, a 1-0 loss for the Musketeers in Cincinnati.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier remains at home to host Michigan on Sunday, August 18, set for a 5:00 PM start at Corcoran Field.
UM opens the season on Thursday against Utah Valley in Ann Arbor.
Michigan went 7-7-4 overall last season with a 3-5-2 record in Big 10 play.
The Wolverines earned an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, falling to Princeton in the first round.
Xavier is 0-1 in the lone match-up between the two program's, a 4-2 win for the Wolverines in the 1998 NCAA Tournament First Round in Ann Arbor.

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 return 15 letterwinners in all from last season, and added a six transfers in addition to an eight-person freshman class for Dean Ward's first year leading the Musketeers.
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, totaling 20 with team high matching totals for 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 oppnents 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.

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