No. 15 Women's Soccer Wraps Up Five-Game Road Trip at Valpo

Thursday, September 5

Valparaiso, Ind.

8:00 PM

Xavier University

Valparaiso

No. 15 Women's Soccer Wraps Up Five-Game Road Trip at Valpo

09.04.24 | Women's Soccer

Live Stream Live Stats

Musketeers and Beacons get underway at 8 PM ET on ESPN+

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 15 Xavier women's soccer (5-0-1) plays the final match of a five-game road swing on Thursday, September 5, traveling to Valparaiso. The Musketeers and the Beacons get underway at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

The Musketeers remained at No. 15 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and entered the Top Drawer Soccer poll at No. 15 after taking a 2-1 win at Chattanooga and playing No. 4 Michigan State to a 2-2 draw last week, remaining unbeaten on the season.

GAME DETAILS

at Valparaiso
Thursday, Sept. 5 - 8:00 p.m. ET
Brown Field - Valparaiso, Ind.

OPPONENT INFO

The Beacons, who were picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason poll, are 2-2 on the season, picking up wins over Chicago State and Milwaukee, while falling to Eastern Illinois and Ohio.
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.

OFFENSE Notables

Six games into the season, nine Musketeers have recorded points, including seven who have scored goals.
Among Xavier's seven goal scorers, five have notched multiple tallies this season, led by three each from Olivia Lawson, Emma Flick and Regan Dancer. Lawson ranks 10th in the country for game-winning goals with a pair. Olivia Baca and Samantha Wiehe each also have a pair of goals.
Flick has a team-high matching three assists to lead the Musketeers with nine points, which ranks second in the BIG EAST and 47th in the country for total points. Samantha Wiehe also has three assists on the season, both she and Flick rank T-35 in NCAA DI for total assists.
As a squad, Xavier leads the BIG EAST and ranks 18th in the nation for total goals (16). The Musketeers also rank in top 35 of NCAA DI teams for total points (No. 21 - 44), goal differential (No. 29 - 10) and scoring offense (No. 35 - 2.67) and points per game.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

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.
The Bearcats are 3-1-1 on the season, with wins over Murray State, Toledo and Eastern Michigan, as wella s a draw against Louisville. UC's lone setback came ont he road at Central Michigan.
Cincinnati went 4-8-7 overall last season, with a 2-3-5 record in Big 12 play. The Bearcats fell to No. 5 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Quarterfinals.
The Musketeers are 7-23-2 all-time against UC, and enter this season's match-up on with a three-match unbeaten streak.
Xavier took a 1-0 win over the Bearcats in the last meeting in 2021, at Corcoran Field.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier used a last-minute penalty kick from Samantha Wiehe to remain unbeaten on Sunday, playing No. 4 Michigan State to a 2-2 draw to move to 5-0-1 on the season.
The match was scoreless through the first 45 minutes, with Michigan State holding a 5-4 advantage on shots overall, but Xavier holding a 3-1 advantage on shots on-goal, with Samantha Erbach getting a pair of looks on frame in the first half. Maria Galley finished the first half with a save after making a sliding stop to poke the ball away on the Spartan's only shot on-goal.
Xavier came out of the locker room looking for the go-ahead goal, out-shooting Michigan State 6-1 in the first 20 minutes of the half, with four of those looks on frame. In the 64th minute, Samantha Wiehe served the ball into the box from the left side, looking for Elin Hansson in front of the goal, but the ball bounced off a Spartan defender into the net to give Xavier the 1-0 advantage.
The Musketeers took the lead into the final 15 minutes of the match, when Michigan State scored following a corner kick to tie the match at 1-1. Less than five minutes later, Michigan State scored off another corner kick to take the 2-1 lead.
MSU held the lead into the final minute when a Spartan handball in the 18-yard box set the Musketeers up for a penalty kick. Samantha Wiehe took the PK, shooting to the left of the MSU goalkeeper to tie the match at 2-2 with 55 seconds remaining and setting the final result as a draw.
Samantha Wiehe's goal was her second of the season, combined with three assists she now has seven points. She moved to 2-for-2 on PKs this season and 4-for-4 during her time as a Musketeer.
The Musketeers finished with a 12-11 advantage on shots overall, led by three for Elin Hansson, and a 9-5 advantage on shots on-goal.
Samantha Erbach and Emma Flick each had two looks on-frame to lead the Musketeers.
Maria Galley played the full 90 minutes in-goal, collecting three saves to remain unbeaten on the season.
Maddie Reed, Olivia Lawson and Natalie Bain all played the full 90 minutes to help limit the Spartans to five looks on-frame. Samantha Wiehe and Emma Flick both played over 80 minutes as well.
The result against the No. 4 Spartans marks the second time in program history that Xavier played a top-5 team to a draw, and the first time the Musketeers picked up a result against a top-5 team on the road. Xavier played No. 4 Georgetown to a 0-0 draw through double overtime on 10/25/2018 at Corcoran Field.
Xavier remains unbeaten with the draw, continuing the program's best start since 2021, when Xavier went 8-0-1 to start the season.

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

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