No. 19 Women's Soccer Continues Road Stretch at Dayton on Sunday

Sunday, August 25

Dayton, Ohio

7:00 PM

Xavier University

Dayton

No. 19 Women's Soccer Continues Road Stretch at Dayton on Sunday

08.23.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Flyers get underway at 7PM on ESPN+

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 19 Xavier women's soccer (3-0) continues its five-match road swing on Sunday, August 25, traveling north to face the Dayton Flyers. The match at UD is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. 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 Dayton
Sunday, Aug. 25 - 7:00 p.m.
Baujan Field - Dayton, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

Dayton, which was picked to finish second in the A-10 Preseason Poll, is 2-0 on the season after taking a 2-1 win over Loyola Maryland in the season opener, and topping Cleveland State, 4-0, 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.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier plays the third of five-straight road matches on Thursday, August 29, facing Chattanooga at 5:00 p.m. at Finley Stadium.
The Mocs, who were picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference preseason poll, are 0-2-1 on the season after playing Georgia State to a 2-2 draw and falling in road matches at Tennessee and Austin Peay.
Chattanooga went 10-7-1 overall last season with a 4-4-1 record in SoCon play in 2023.
The Mocs fell in the Quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament.
This is the first match-up between the two programs.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After helping Xavier women's soccer to a 2-0 opening week, 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.
Lawson added a point to her team-high point total in Thursday match at Murray State, assisting on Emma Flick's equalizer to give her a career-high seven points for the season.
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

A pair of goals from Emma Flick helped the Musketeers come from behind to take a 2-1 win at Murray State on Thursday evening. The Musketeers moved to 3-0 on the season with the win.
Xavier held an 11-2 advantage on shots in the first half, but the match went into halftime scoreless. Shortly after the break, Murray State found the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead.
Less than 10 minutes after the Racers took the lead, the Musketeers responded after Olivia Lawson playing the ball to Emma Flick on the left side. Flick shot from outside the left side of the box, sneaking the ball inside the right post to tie the match at 1-1.
The tie held into the final 10 minutes of the match, when Flick struck again, getting the ball outside the top of the 18-yard box from Toni Fiocco-Mizer, driving in on the left side of the box and shooting over the goalkeeper's head for the 2-1 lead.
Xavier held the Racers off the board the rest of the way, only allowing one shot in the second half, to remain undefeated on the season.
Emma Flick's equalizer early in the second half was her first goal of the season, while her go-ahead goal late goes down as her first game-winner of 2024. Combined with an assist, she has five points for the year. The match marks her first multi-goal game as a Musketeer and she finished with six shots, matching her career high.
Olivia Lawson picked up an assist on Flick's first goal, her first of the season. Combined with three goals, she has a team-high seven points.
Toni Fiocco-Mizer assisted on Flick's game-winner, her first point as a Musketeer.
The Musketeers finished with a 30-3 advantage on shots, led by Flick's six, and six shots from Samantha Erbach who played a season-high 81 minutes.
Xavier had a 14-2 advantage on shots on-goal, with Regan Dancer putting four looks on-frame to lead the way.
Natalie Bain and Samantha Wiehe played the full 90 minutes, while McKinley Berry and Maddie Reed each played over 80 minutes for the Xavier defense that did not allow a Murray State shot after the 50th minute.
Maria Galley played the full 90 minutes in goal, recording a save, to pick up the win and move to 3-0 on the season.

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

XAVIER SOCCER ON FLOSPORTS

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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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