No. 21 Women's Soccer Heads to Villanova for Sunday Afternoon Match

Sunday, September 29

Villanova, Pa.

1:00 PM

Xavier University

Villanova

No. 21 Women's Soccer Heads to Villanova for Sunday Afternoon Match

09.27.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers take on Wildcats at 1:00 p.m. on FloSports

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 21 Xavier women's soccer (8-1-2; 1-0-1 BIG EAST) heads to Villanova for the first road trip of BIG EAST play on Sunday, September 29. The Musketeers and the Wildcats are set to get underway at 1:00 p.m., streamed live on FloSports.

The Musketeers came in at No. 21 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and moved to No. 15 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll after opening up BIG EAST play with a win over DePaul last week. Xavier extended its unbeaten streak in BIG EAST regular season play to 30 matches with Thursday's 1-1 draw with UConn, a streak that dates back to September 2021.

GAME DETAILS

at Villanova
Sunday, Sept. 29 - 1:00 p.m.
Villanova, Pa. - Higgins Soccer Complex

OPPONENT INFO

Villanova was picked tied for ninth in the BIG EAST Coaches Preseason Poll, and enter the week at 4-4-2 overall and 1-0-1 in BIG EAST play after playing Seton Hall to a scoreless draw in the conference opener and taking a 2-0 win at Creighton on Thursday.
Villanova went 4-7-7 overall and 1-7-2 in the BIG EAST last season, finishing 11th in the league standings.
The Musketeers are 7-4 all-time against Villanova, with a four-match win streak entering this season's match.
Xavier took a 1-0 win in the last match-up in Cincinnati.

OFFENSE Notables

Nine games into the season, 12 Musketeers have recorded points, including nine who have scored goals.
Among Xavier's nine goal scorers, eight have notched multiple tallies this season, led by five each from Emma Flick and Olivia Lawson.
Regan Dancer, who has four goals on the season, leads the BIG EAST and ranks 12th in the country in shot accuracy at 0.667.
Samantha Wiehe has four total goals on the season and remains perfect on penalty kicks at 3-for-3.
Samantha Erbach added her fourth goal of the season on Thursday against UConn. Olivia Baca has three goals on the season
Flick, Erbach and Lawson lead the BIG EAST in game-winning goals with a pair each.
Flick has a team-high six assists, most in the BIG EAST and the 11th most total assists in NCAA DI, to lead the Musketeers with 16 points, ranking 40th in the country. Flick's assists per game (0.55 - 30th) and points per game (1.60 - 60th) also rank in the top 60 in NCAA DI.
As a squad, Xavier leads the BIG EAST and are No. 6 in NCAA DI with 31 total goals on the season.
The Musketeers lead the BIG EAST and rank 10th in the country in scoring offense (2.82 goals per game) and leads the conference and ranks 9th in the nation goal differential (21).
The Musketeers are also in the top 25 in NCAA DI in total points, ranking 17th with 85 points for the season, and points per game, ranking 18th with 7.73 points per game. Both marks are the best in the BIG EAST.
Xavier ranks in the top 50 of NCAA DI teams for total assists (No. 37 - 23) and assists per game (No. 45 - 2.30).

WEEKLY AWARDS

Junior goalkeeper Maria Galley picked up her second BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honor of the season after helping the No. 23 Musketeers to a 3-0 win over DePaul in the BIG EAST opener, the league announced on Monday.
In Xavier's lone match last week, Galley collected three saves in-goal on the way to a 3-0 win over DePaul on Sunday. The complete shutout, her fourth of the season, is tied for the most in the BIG EAST this season
After tying the school record for career complete shutouts set by Kelcey Ervick (1990-93) in the match against Cincinnati, Galley now holds the program record at 27. Galley also broke the school record for career wins with her 30th earlier this season against Michigan.
Galley also earned the first Goalkeeper of the Week of the season, announced on August 19, 2024.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier returns home to host Creighton on Thursday, Oct. 3, set for a 7:00 p.m. start on FloSports.
Creighton was picked seventh in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll, and enter the weekend at 3-4-1 overall with an 0-2 record in BIG EAST play, falling to Georgetown and Villanova. The Bluejays face Marquette on Sunday.
The Bluejays went 4-9-5 overall and 2-7-1 in BIG EAST play, finishing 10th in the conference standings.
Xavier is 10-5 all-time against Creighton and have won the last three match-ups.
Xavier took a 1-0 win in Omaha in 2023.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier remained unbeaten in BIG EAST action, playing UConn to a 1-1 draw at Corcoran Field on Thursday evening.
The two teams were scoreless in the first half, with the Huskies taking a 7-4 advantage on shots overall and 2-1 advantage on shots on-frame into the locker room at halftime.
After the break, both teams came out looking for the go-ahead goal, with each team taking four shots in the first 20 minutes of the half. The Musketeers broke through in the 66th minute, after Samantha Erbach scored on an empty net to give Xavier the 1-0 lead.
The Musketeers held the lead into the final 10 minutes but in the 83rd minute a foul on the edge of the box gave the Huskies a PK, tying the match at 1-1.
Following UConn's equalizer, Xavier created five more opportunities looking for the game-winner but were unable to find the back of the net, setting the final score at 1-1.
Maria Galley set a new career-high for saves with nine overall and seven coming after halftime.
Samantha Erbach's goal was her fourth of the season, combining with a pair of assists to give her 10 points.
UConn finished with a 18-15 advantage on shots overall, with both team taking 11 shots in the second half.
Regan Dancer led the Musketeers with four shots and Samantha Wiehe and Emma Flick each had three.
Maria Galley played the full time in goal, collecting nine saves, a new career high. Her previous career high was eight, set during a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on 9/7/2023.
Wiehe, Flick, McKinley Berry, Natalie Bain and Maddie Reed played the full 90 minutes as well.
Xavier's unbeaten streak in BIG EAST regular season play now stands at 30 matches, stretching back over three years to September 2021.

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

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.

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