No. 15 Women's Soccer Heads to East Lansing to Face No. 4 Michigan State

Sunday, September 1

East Lansing, Mich.

1:00 PM

Xavier University

Michigan State

No. 15 Women's Soccer Heads to East Lansing to Face No. 4 Michigan State

08.31.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stats Live Stream

Musketeers and Spartans get underway at 1:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network Plus

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 15 Xavier women's soccer (5-0) heads north to continue its five-match road trip, traveling to East Lansing to face No. 4 Michigan State (3-0-1) on Sunday, Sept. 1. The Musketeers and the Spartans are set for a 1:00 p.m. start on the Big Ten Network Plus.

The Musketeers came in at 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 last week. Xavier continued its season-opening win streak on Thursday evening, taking a 2-1 win at Chattanooga to move to 5-0, the best start for the program since beginning the 2021 season at 7-0.

GAME DETAILS

at No. 4 Michigan State
Sunday, Sept. 1 - 1:00 p.m.
DeMartin Stadium - East Lansing, Mich.

OPPONENT INFO

Michigan State, which was picked third in the Big Ten preseason poll, moved up to No. 4 in this weeks USC Top 25, up from No. 8 in the previous week's rankings.
The Spartans are 3-0-1 on the season with a pair of results against Top 15 teams, 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 picked up the 1-0 win over 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, dating back to 1984, and 3-3-1 against MSU while both teams were varsity programs. The last match-up occurred in 1992, a 2-1 win for MSU in Cincinnati.

OFFENSE Notables

Five games into the season, nine Musketeers have recorded points, including seven who have scored goals.
Among Xavier's seven goal scorers, three have notched multiple tallies this season, led by three each from Olivia Lawson, Emma Flick and Regan Dancer, who ranking T-41 in NCAA DI for total goals. Lawson also ranks 3rd in the country for game-winning goals with a pair. Olivia Baca also has a pair of goals.
Flick has a team-high matching three assists to lead he Musketeers with nine points, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks 25th in the country for total points. Samantha Wiehe also has three assists on the season, both she and Flick rank T-21 in NCAA DI for total assists.
As a squad, Xavier leads the BIG EAST and ranks 15th in the nation for both total goals (14) and goal differential (10). The Musketeers also rank in top 35 of NCAA DI teams for total points (No. 19 - 40), total assists (No. 24 - 12), scoring offense (No. 31 - 2.80) and points per game (No. 33 - 8.00)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier wraps up its five-match road trip on Thursday, Sept. 5, at Valparaiso, set for an 8:00 p.m. ET start.
The Beacons, who were picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason poll, are 2-1 on the season, picking up wins over Chicago State and Milwaukee, while falling to Eastern Illinois. Valpo will face Ohio on Sunday afternoon.
Valpo went 11-6-6 overall last season, with a 3-3-4 record in the MVC.
The Beacons took the MVC Tournament Championship to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, falling to No. 9 Notre Dame in the first round.
This is the first match-up between the two programs.
Following the match at Valpo, Xavier is back at Corcoran Field for four-straight matches, starting with Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 8, set for a 7:00 p.m. start.

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 extended its win streak to open the season with a 2-1 victory at Chattanooga. Goals from Elin Hansson and Samantha Erbach powered the Musketeers to the victory and moved Xavier to 5-0 on the season.
Emma Flick found Hansson who shot from the edge of the box in the 11th minute to give the Musketeers the 1-0 lead early, taking the one-goal advantage into the break. Xavier limited the Mocs to just three first half shots, without allowing a look on frame.
Shortly after the half, the Musketeers added another goal to the lead, with Erbach scoring her first goal as a Musketeer, off Flick's second assist of the game, in the box following a corner kick.
Going into the final minutes of the match, Chattanooga found the back of the net to cut the lead to one but were unable to score the equalizer in the final five minutes, setting the final score at 2-1 in favor of the Musketeers.
Elin Hansson scored her first goal as a Musketeer early in the game, combining with a pair of assists to give her four points for the season.
Samantha Erbach notched her first collegiate goal, the game-winner, early in the second half to give her two points for the season. Erbach matched Samantha Wiehe for team-high with two shots, with both of the freshman's looks going on-frame.
Emma Flick assisted on both Musketeer goals, giving her three helpers for the season to match Samantha Wiehe for team high. Combined with three goals, she leads Xavier with nine points.
Maria Galley played 82 minutes in frame, collecting three saves and not allowing a goal. Taylor Thomas played the final eight minutes, collecting a save and allowing a goal.
Natalie Bain played 78 minutes on the Xavier backline, helping hold the Mocs without a shot on goal in the first half.
Xavier's 5-0 start to the season is the best start for the program since beginning 2021 at 7-0.

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, 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.

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