No. 23 Women's Soccer Opens BIG EAST Play with DePaul

Sunday, September 22

Cincinnati, Ohio

1:00 PM

Xavier University

DePaul

No. 23 Women's Soccer Opens BIG EAST Play with DePaul

09.19.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Blue Demons get underway at 1:00 p.m. on FloSports

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 23 Xavier women's soccer (7-1-1) remains at home for its next match-up, hosting DePaul at Corcoran Field on Sunday, September 22, to open up BIG EAST play. The Musketeers and the Blue Demons are set to get underway at 1:00 p.m., streamed live on FloSports. Admission is free to all regular soccer contests at Corcoran Field.

The Musketeers came in at No. 23 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and moved to No. 18 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll after falling to a top-25 Saint Louis squad in the last outing. Xavier wrapped up non-conference play at 7-1-1 after going 7-0-1 in the first eight matches, the best mark to start the season since going 7-0-1 in non-conference play in 2021.

GAME DETAILS

vs. DePaul
Sunday, Sept. 22 - 1:00 p.m.
Corcoran Field - Cincinnati, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

The Blue Demons, who were picked 11th in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll, are 2-4-2 on the season, coming off a 1-1 draw against Western Michigan and a 1-0 win at Lindenwood. DePaul also earned a win over UIC and a draw against Northern Illinois, and has losses to Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Purdue and Florida Gulf Coast.
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.

OFFENSE Notables

Nine 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 13th in the country in shot accuracy at 0.696.
Samatha Wiehe, Olivia Baca and Samantha Erbach each have three goals.
Erbach and Lawson lead the BIG EAST and rank 44th in the country for game-winning goals with a pair.
Flick has a team-high six assists, most in the BIG EAST and the 5th most total assists in NCAA DI, to lead the Musketeers with 14 points, a number that leads the conference and ranks 44th in the country. Flick's assists per game (0.67 - 14th) and points per game (1.65 - 60th) also rank in the top 60 in NCAA DI.
Samantha Wiehe has four assists, 49th most in the country and trailing only Flick among league players.
As a squad, Xavier leads the BIG EAST and ranks 9th in the country in scoring offense (3.00 goals per game) and leads the conference and ranks 10th in the nation for total goals (27).
The Musketeers are also in the top 25 in NCAA DI in total points, ranking 17th with 74 points for the season, goal differential, ranking 17th at 18 more goals than their opponents, and points per game, ranking 21st with 8.22 points per game. All three marks are the best in the BIG EAST.
The Musketeers also rank in top 50 of NCAA DI teams for total assists (No. 38 - 20) and assists per game (No. 42 - 2.22).

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). She currently leads the BIG EAST with three complete shutouts on the season.
Galley broke the school record for career wins with her 30th earlier this season against Michigan, she now has 35 wins as a Musketeer

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier hosts UConn for the the final of four-straight home matches, with the Musketeers facing the Huskies on Thursday, September 26, set for a 7:00 p.m. start at Corcoran Field.
Connecticut, which was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST in the preseason coaches poll, is 6-1-1 on the season with wins over New Hampshire, Boston, Cal State Fullerton, Rhode Island, Yale and Texas A&M, entering BIG EAST play on a six match win streak. The Huskies also have a draw against Vermont, with the only set back on the season coming against Wisconsin. UConn will face St. John's on Sunday to open league play.
The Huskies went 10-4-5 overall and 6-1-3 in the BIG EAST standings, earning the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.
UConn topped Butler in the BIG EAST First Round before falling to Georgetown in the Semifinals.
Xavier is 3-0 against the Huskies all-time after taking a 1-0 win in Storrs last season.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier suffered its first setback of the season on Thursday, Sept 12., falling 3-2 to No. 23 Saint Louis at Corcoran Field. The loss ended an eight-match unbeaten streak to start the campaign, moving the Musketeers to 7-1-1 to wrap up non-conference play.
Elin Hansson gave the Musketeers the lead in the first minute, scoring on a header off the pass from Samantha Erbach 21 seconds into the match.
Saint Louis equalized about 15 minutes later, and then used a tally in the 31st minute to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Xavier responded midway through the second half, with Regan Dancer finding Samantha Wiehe for the equalizer in the 68th minute. The 2-2 draw held into the final 10 minutes when Saint Louis found the back of the net again, setting the final score at 3-2.
Elin Hansson's goal in the first minute, the fastest goal scored by a Musketeer this season, was her second of the season. Combined with three assists, she now has seven points.
Samantha Wiehe's second half goal was her third of the season, combining with four assists for 10 points.
Samantha Erbach picked up the assist on Hansson's first half goal, her second helper of the season. Combined with three goals, she has eight points on the season.
Regan Dancer picked up her first assist of the season on Wiehe's goal, giving her nine points when combined with her four goals scored.
Xavier finished with a 20-8 advantage on shots overall and a 12-5 advantage on shots on-goal.
Maria Galley played the full time in goal, collecting a pair of saves.
Natalie Bain, Maddie Reed, McKinley Berry and Samantha Wiehe all played the full 90 minutes, helping Xavier's defense limit SLU to five shots on-goal.

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

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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