No. 16 Women's Soccer Hosts No. 23 Saint Louis

Thursday, September 12

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:00 PM

Xavier University

Saint Louis

No. 16 Women's Soccer Hosts No. 23 Saint Louis

09.11.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Billikens get underway at 7:00 p.m. on FloSports

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 16 Xavier women's soccer (7-0-1) remains at home for its next match-up, hosting No. 23 Saint Louis on Thursday, September 12, at Corcoran Field. The Musketeers and the Billikens are set to get underway at 7:00 p.m., streamed live on FloSports. Admission is free to all regular soccer contests at Corcoran Field.

The Musketeers came in at No. 16 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and moved up to No. 13 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll after taking an 8-0 win at Valpo and 1-0 win over Cincinnati at home last week, remaining unbeaten on the season.

The Musketeers' 7-0-1 record in the best mark to start the season since going 7-0-1 in non-conference play in 2021. Xavier started the 2021 season with a nine-match unbeaten streak, going 8-0-1 before the first setback.

GAME DETAILS

vs. No. 23 Saint Louis
Thursday, Sept. 12 - 7:00 p.m.
Corcoran Field - Cincinnati, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

Saint Louis, which came in at No. 23 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Rankings, are 3-1-2 on the season, with wins over Missouri, Missouri State and SIUE, and draws against Kansas City, a top-10 ranked BYU and Creighton. The lone setback for the Billikens, who were picked to win the Atlantic 10 in the coaches preseason poll, came against a Top-15 ranked Penn State squad.
The Billikens went 19-3-2 overall last season with a 9-0-1 record in Atlantic 10 play, winning the league's regular season and tournament titles, as well as the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Saint Louis advanced to the third round of the 2023 NCAA Championship, for the first time in program history, after taking wins over Indiana and Georgetown in the first two rounds, falling to Penn State in the round of 16.
Xavier is 5-5 all-time against SLU after taking a 1-0 win in St. Louis last season.

OFFENSE Notables

Eight games into the season, 11 Musketeers have recorded points, including nine who have scored goals.
Among Xavier's nine goal scorers, seven have notched multiple tallies this season, led by four each from Olivia Lawson, Emma Flick and Regan Dancer/
Dancer leads the BIG EAST and ranks 18th in the country in shot accuracy at 0.714.
Olivia Baca and Samantha Erbach each have three goals, while Samantha Wiehe has a pair.
Erbach and Lawson lead the BIG EAST and ranks 23rd in the country for game-winning goals with a pair.
Flick has a team-high six assists, most in the BIG EAST and second most total assists in NCAA DI, to lead the Musketeers with 14 points, a number that leads the conference and ranks 18th in the country. Flick's assists per game (0.75) and points per game (1.75) also rank in the top 60 in NCAA DI.
Samantha Wiehe has four assists, 26th most in the country and trailing only Flick among league players.
Elin Hansson also ranks in the top-50 in NCAA DI with three assists.
As a squad, Xavier leads the BIG EAST and ranks fifth in the nation for total goals (25).
Xavier's goal differential on the season of 19 also leads the conference and is eighth-best in NCAA DI.
The Musketeers are also in the top 15 in NCAA DI in total points, ranking 11th with 68, and scoring offense, ranking 14th at 3.13 goals per game. Both marks are also the best in the BIG EAST.
The Musketeers also rank in top 50 of NCAA DI teams for points per game (No. 20 - 8.50), total assists (No. 21 - 18) and assists per game (No. 45 - 2.25).

RECORD WATCH

Maria Galley tied the school's record for career shutouts in the 1-0 win over Cincinnati, her 26th clean sheet as a Musketeer to match Kelcey Ervick (1990-93).
Galley broke the school record for career wins with her 30th earlier this season against Michigan, she now has 35 wins as a Musketeer
A win or a draw with Saint Louis would wrap up the non-conference schedule with a nine-game unbeaten streak, matching the longest unbeaten streak to start the season in program history, set in 2021 when the Musketeers opened the season at 8-0-1.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Following the match with SLU, Xavier has a 10 day break before opening up BIG EAST play at home, hosting DePaul on Sunday, September 22 at 1:00 PM.
The Blue Demons, who were picked 11th in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll, are 1-4-1 on the season, coming off a 1-0 win at UIC. DePaul also earned a draw against UIC, and has loss to Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Purdue and Florida Gulf Coast. The Blue Demons will face Lindenwood and Western Michigan ahead of the game at Xavier.
DePaul went 6-7-4 overall last season, with a 2-5-3 mark in BIG EAST play, finishing eighth in the league standings.
Xavier is 6-4-2 all time against the Blue Demons, currently on a five-match winning streak and an eight-match unbeaten streak.
The Musketeers took a 3-0 win over DePaul in Chicago last season.

WEEKLY AWARDS

A pair of Musketeers earned BIG EAST Weekly awards after helping the Musketeers to a 2-0 week to remain undefeated on the the season. Natalie Bain was named the Defensive Player of the Week, while Samantha Erbach earned Freshman of the Week honors. Emma Flick was also named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Bain, a junior from Alexandria, Ky., helped the Xavier defense to a pair of shutouts, and scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner at Valpo. Bain played 71 minutes in Xavier's 8-0 win over Valpo, for the Xavier defense that limited the Beacons to just one shot, a season low for a Musketeer opponent and the lowest shot total for an opponent since 2019, and did not allow an attempt in the second half. Bain made an impact on offense, scoring a pair of goals for the Musketeers against the Beacons, with her fifth minute goal, her first of the season, going down as the game-winner. She finished with four points on two goals after scoring again in the first half, marking her first multi-goal game as a Musketeer.
In Xavier's 1-0 win over Cincinnati, Bain played the full 90 minutes, helping limit UC to just one shot overall, a second-straight game that the Musketeer defense held the opponent to one shot, on the way to the shutout.
Erbach, a freshman from Lebanon, Ohio, finished the week with five points on two goals and an assist, including the game-winner against Cincinnati. She scored her second goal of the season, and picked up an assist on Regan Dancer's goal as Xavier took the 8-0 win over Valpo.
In Xavier's 1-0 win over Cincinnati, Erbach's notched the game-winner in the 23rd minute, marking her third goal of the season and her second game-winner as a Musketeer. Combined with the assist against Valpo, Erbach has seven points for the season.
Flick, a junior from Streetsboro, Ohio, finished the week with five points on a goal and three assists. In Xavier's win over Valpo, Flick scored her fourth goal of the season and dished out a pair of assists, to finish the game with four points.
Against UC, Flick picked up the assist on Samantha Erbach's game-winning goal, her team-leading sixth helper of the season. Combined with her four goals she leads the Musketeers with 14 points.

LAST TIME OUT

A first-half goal from Samantha Erbach, and another shutout for the Musketeer defense helped No. 15 Xavier women's soccer to a 1-0 win over crosstown rival Cincinnati on Sunday evening at Corcoran Field. Xavier remains unbeaten on the season at 7-0-1.
The Musketeers out-shot the Bearcats 9-0 in the first half, with four of those looks going on-frame. A look from Samantha Erbach found the back of the net, off a cross from Emma Flick, in the 23rd minute to give the Musketeers the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
Xavier held Cincinnati to just one shot, finishing with a 16-1 advantage, marking the second-straight game the Musketeers have limited their opponent to a single shot. The Xavier defense didn't allow a Bearcat look on-frame on the way to the 1-0 win, marking a second-straight, and fourth overall, shutout. Maria Galley picked up the complete shutout in-goal, tying the school record for career clean sheets at 26.
The Musketeers continue the longest unbeaten streak to start the season since 2021 when Xavier went 7-0-1 in non-conference play.
Samantha Erbach's first half goal was her third of the season and her second game-winner as a Musketeer. Combined with an assist, Erbach has seven points for the season.
Emma Flick picked up the assist on Erbach's goal, her team-leading sixth of the season. Combined with four goals she leads the Musketeers with 14 points.
Xavier finished with a 16-1 advantage on shots, led by four for McKinley Berry and two each for Elin Hansson, Olivia Lawson, Samantha Erbach and Olivia Baca.
Maria Galley played the full 90 minutes in goal, picking up her third complete shutout of the season and her 26th as a Musketeer, tying the school record for career clean sheets.
Natalie Bain, Maddie Reed, Samantha Wiehe and Olivia Lawson played the full 90 minutes, helping limit the Bearcats to just one shot. McKinley Berry and Zoé Van de Cloot each played over 78 minutes for the Xavier defense as well.

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 returned 15 letterwinners in all from last season, and added six transfers in addition to an eight-person freshman class for Dean Ward's first year leading Xavier.
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

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