No. 19 Women's Soccer Starts Five-Match Road Trip at Murray State

Thursday, August 22

Murray, Ky.

5:00 PM ET

Xavier University

Murray State

No. 19 Women's Soccer Starts Five-Match Road Trip at Murray State

08.21.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Racers get underway at 5 PM on ESPN+

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier women's soccer (2-0) opens up a five-match road swing at Murray State on Thursday, August 22. The match with the Racers is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ through the WatchESPN platform.

The Musketeers moved back into the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 following the first week of the season, coming in at No. 19 after opening the season with wins over Milwaukee and Michigan. Xavier was last ranked in the USC Top 25 in the poll released October 31, 2023, coming in at No. 17. The Musketeers also received votes in the final poll of the 2023 season.

GAME DETAILS

at Murray State
Thursday, Aug. 22 - 5:00 p.m. ET
Cutchin Field - Murray, Ky.

OPPONENT INFO

MSU is 1-1 on the season after the Racers fell 2-1 at Cincinnati in the season opener, and took the 2-1 win over Southeast Missouri on Sunday.
Murray State was picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference after going 6-8-6 overall last season, with a 3-2-5 record in MVC play. The Racers advanced to the quarterfinals of the league tournament.
Xavier is 2-0 all-time against Murray State, with the first match-up occurring in 2019.
The two programs last faced off in 2021, a 2-1 win for the Musketeers in Cincinnati.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier continues its five-match road trip at Dayton on Sunday, August 25, set for a 7 PM start.
Dayton, which was picked to finish second in the A-10 Preseason Poll, is 1-0 on the season after taking a 2-1 win over Loyola Maryland. UD faces Cleveland State on Wednesday.
The Flyers went 13-2-5 overall and 7-0-3 in Atlantic 10 play last season. Dayton advanced to the Semifinals of the A10 Championships, falling to La Salle.
Xavier is 11-26-3 overall against the Flyers in a series dating back to 1984.
The Musketeers enter this season's match on a two-match unbeaten streak, playing the Flyers to a 0-0 draw through double overtime in 2019 in Cincinnati, and taking a 2-0 win in Dayton in 2018.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After helping Xavier women's soccer to a 2-0 opening weekend, a pair of Musketeers, Olivia Lawson and Maria Galley, picked up BIG EAST Weekly Awards from the league office. Lawson earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors, while Galley was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week after the Musketeers picked up wins over Milwaukee and Michigan.
Lawson, a graduate student from Louisville, Ky., collected three goals in Xavier's 2-0 opening weekend, including both game-winners. In Xavier's 4-2 win over Milwaukee in the season opener, Lawson scored in the 44th minute to put Xavier up 3-1 just before halftime, the second goal of her collegiate career. In Sunday's match against Michigan, Lawson scored the eventual game-winner in the seventh minute, then added another tally less than 20 minutes later to give Xavier the 2-0 lead in the eventual 3-0 win. The graduate student now has a career-high six points for the season, just two game into the campaign.
Galley, a junior from South Windsor, Conn., played the full 90 minutes in both matches as Xavier went 2-0 to open the season. She finished the week with four saves total, and in Sunday's win, she collected all three Michigan shots on-goal for the Musketeers' first shutout of the season. The win over the Wolverines marked her 30th career win in-frame as a Musketeer, a new program record.

LAST TIME OUT

The Musketeers moved to 2-0 on the season after taking a 3-0 win over Michigan on Sunday evening at Corcoran Field.
Xavier took the lead early, with Olivia Lawson scoring her second game-winning goal of the season, set up by Samantha Wiehe to take the 1-0 lead in the first 10 minutes.
Lawson found the back of the net again, off a pass from Emma Flick, to give the Musketeers a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.
The game entered a weather delay with 12:48 to play in the first half. After a delay of about an hour, the Musketeers added another goal shortly after resuming with Regan Dancer scoring from Elin Hansson to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.
The Musketeers held the Wolverines off the board for the remainder of the game, limiting Michigan to just three shots on goal for the match, on the way to the first shutout of the season. Maria Galley collected three saves on the way to the clean sheet, picking up her 30th win in-frame as a Musketeer, a Xavier school record.
Olivia Lawson finished with four points on two goals, giving her a team-high, and new career high, six points for the season on three goals, also a team-high. Lawson also tallied her second game-winner of the season.
Regan Dancer scored her second goal of the season late in the first half, giving her four points so far in 2024.
Samantha Wiehe assisted on Lawson's game-winner, her second helper of the season. Combined with a goal, she has four points for the season.
Emma Flick picked up an assist on Lawson's second goal, her first of the season.
Elin Hansson assisted on Dancer's goal, her second of the season.
Goalkeeper Maria Galley picked up her second win, and first shutout, of the season after collecting all three Wolverine shots on-goal in 90 minutes of action. The win is her 30th of her Xavier career, a new program record for goalkeeper career wins.
Natalie Bain and Samantha Wiehe both also played the full 90 minutes for the Musketeers.

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 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 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

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