No. 15 Women's Soccer Continues Road Trip at Chattanooga

Thursday, August 29

Chattanooga, Tenn.

5:00 PM

Xavier University

Chattanooga

No. 15 Women's Soccer Continues Road Trip at Chattanooga

08.27.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Mocs get underway at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN+

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 15 Xavier women's soccer (4-0) continues its five-match road swing at Chattanooga on Thursday, Aug 29. The match with the Mocs is set to get underway at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN+ through the WatchESPN platform.

The Musketeers moved up to No. 15 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Top 25, up from No. 19 last week, after picking up wins over Murray State and Dayton to move to 4-0 on the season.

GAME DETAILS

at Chattanooga
Thursday, Aug. 29 - 5:00 p.m.
Finley Stadium - Chattanooga, Tenn.

OPPONENT INFO

The Mocs, who were picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference preseason poll, are 0-3-1 on the season after playing Georgia State to a 2-2 draw and falling at Tennessee, at Austin Peay and at home to Alabama.
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.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier travels to East Lansing, Michigan on Sunday, September 1, to take on No. 4 Michigan State, set for a 1 PM start on the Big Ten Network +.
The Spartans, who were picked third in the Big Ten preseason poll, are 2-0-1 on the season, picking up a 2-1 win at No. 15 Notre Dame, and playing No. 9 Arkansas to a 2-2 draw. MSU also took a 3-0 won over Ohio last weekend, and will face Ole Miss on Thursday evening.
Michigan State went 14-5-3 overall and 7-1-2 in Big 10 play, winning the league's regular season title. The top-seeded Spartans fell to Iowa in the Big 10 Tournament Quarterfinals.
The Spartans earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, taking wins over Ohio and Harvard to advance to the NCAA Third Round for the first time in program history before falling to No. 6 BYU.
Xavier is 4-3-1 all-time against the Spartans, with the last match-up occurring in 1992, a 2-1 win for MSU.

WEEKLY AWARDS

After leading Xavier with three goals through a 2-0 week, Emma Flick was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.
In Thursday's come-back 2-1 win at Murray State, Flick scored the equalizer early in the second half, her first goal of the season, and the go-ahead goal late, her first game-winner of 2024. The match marked her first multi-goal game as a Musketeer and she finished with six shots, matching her career high.
Flick, a junior from Streetsboro, Ohio, also added an insurance goal in the second half of Xavier's 3-0 win at Dayton, her third of the season. Combined with an assist, she has seven points to match Olivia Lawson for team high.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier used goals from three different players to take a 3-0 win over Dayton on Sunday evening at Baujan Field, moving to 4-0 on the season.
Regan Dancer gave Xavier the 1-0 lead midway through the first half after Emma Flick found her around midfield, she drove to the edge of the box and knocked in the eventual game-winner.
Xavier made a 2-0 lead less than two minute before the half, after Peyton Kohls brought the ball up the right side, passing the ball to Olivia Baca in the box. Baca tapped it in to give the Musketeers the two-goal lead at the break.
Shortly after halftime, Xavier added another goal to the lead, with Samantha Wiehe setting up Emma Flick who drove into the box and shot low to make it a 3-0 Musketeer advantage
Xavier's defense limited the Flyers to just four shots on-goal, with each collected by Maria Galley to pick up the second shutout of the season.
Regan Dancer's goal midway through the first half, her first game winner of the season, marked her third of the season to give her six points.
Olivia Baca's tally just before the half was her second of the season to give her four points.
Emma Flick's second-half goal was her third of the season, all scored in the last two matches. Combined with an assist, she has seven points to match Olivia Lawson for team-high. Flick played a season-high minutes.
Peyton Kohls picked up her second assist of the season on Baca's goal, also assisting on Baca's goal against Milwaukee, to give her two points.
Samantha Wiehe picked up her team-high third assist of the season on Flick's goal. Combined with a goal, she has five points.
Maria Galley played the full 90 minutes in goal, collecting four saves for her second shutout of the season.
Natalie Bain played 78 minutes on the Xavier backline, helping Xavier limit Dayton to just four shots on-frame.
The three-goal win marks the largest margin of victory over Dayton since topping the Flyers 4-1 in 1994.

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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