No. 15 Women's Soccer Returns to Corcoran Field to Host Cincinnati

Sunday, September 8

Cincinnati, Ohio

7:00 PM

Xavier University

Cincinnati

No. 15 Women's Soccer Returns to Corcoran Field to Host Cincinnati

09.06.24 | Women's Soccer

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

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - No. 15 Xavier women's soccer (6-0-1) returns to Corcoran Field to host Cincinnati on Sunday, September 8, in the first of four-straight home matches. The Musketeers and the Bearcats are set to get underway at 7:00 p.m., streamed live on FloSports.

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. The Musketeers continued its unbeaten streak on Thursday evening, taking an 8-0 win at Valpo, the Musketeers' highest-scoring game and largest margin of victory in over 30 years.

GAME DETAILS

vs. Cincinnati
Sunday, Sept. 8 - 7:00 p.m.
Corcoran Field - Cincinnati, Ohio

OPPONENT INFO

The Bearcats are 4-1-1 on the season, with wins over Murray State, Toledo, Eastern Michigan and Butler, as well as a draw against Louisville. UC's lone setback came on the 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.

OFFENSE Notables

Seven 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, who all lead the conference and rank T-45 in NCAA DI for total goals.
Lawson leads the BIG EAST ranks 16th in the country for game-winning goals with a pair
Dancer leads the BIG EAST and ranks 21st in the country in shot accuracy at 0.714.
Olivia Baca has three goals, while Samantha Erbach and Samantha Wiehe each have a pair.
Flick has a team-high matching five assists, most in the BIG EAST and eighth most total assists in NCAA DI, to lead the Musketeers with 13 points. Her point total also leads the conference and ranks 16th in the country. Flick's assists per game (0.71) and points per game (1.86) also rank in the top 50 in NCAA DI.
Samantha Wiehe also has four assists, 16th 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 fourth in the nation for total goals (24).
Xavier's goal differential on the season of 18 also leads the conference and is fifth-best in NCAA DI.
The Musketeers are also in the top 10 in NCAA DI in total points, ranking sixth at 65, and scoring offense, ranking 10th at 3.43 goals per game. Both marks are also the best in the BIG EAST.
The Musketeers also rank in top 35 of NCAA DI teams for points per game (No. 11 - 9.29), total assists (No. 19 - 17) and assists per game (No. 35 - 2.43).

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Xavier remains home for its next match-up, hosting No. 19 Saint Louis on Thursday, September 12, set for a 7:00 p.m. start at Corcoran Field.
The Billikens, who were picked to win the Atlantic 10 in the coaches preseason poll, are 2-1-2 overall, with wins over Missouri and Missouri state, and draws against Kansas City, top-10 ranked BYU and Creighton. The lone setback for Saint Louis came against a Top-15 ranked Penn State squad. SLU will face SIUE this weekend.
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.

LAST TIME OUT

Xavier used a historic night on offense and lock-down defense to take an 8-0 win over Valparaiso to move to 6-0-1 on Thursday evening.
The Musketeers struck early, with Natalie Bain scoring her first goal of the season, the eventual game winner, on a header off a corner kick from Samantha Wiehe less than five minutes into the game.
Xavier made it a 2-0 lead on another set piece, with McKinley Berry scoring off the corner kick from Emma Flick in the 16th minute. Another goal from Bain, again off a corner kick from Flick, less than five minutes later made it a 3-0 Xavier lead midway through the first half.
The Musketeers continued to stretch the lead in the first half, with Samantha Erbach scoring in the 23rd minute, Olivia Baca adding a goal in the 30th minute and Olivia Lawson scoring in the 38th minute to make it a 6-0 Xavier lead at the half. The six first half goals were the most goals scored in a game since the Musketeers took a 6-2 win over Temple on September 30, 2005.
The Musketeers continued to add to its goal total in the second half, with Regan Dancer scoring from Erbach for the 7-0 lead, the first time Xavier scored seven goals in a game since taking a 7-2 win over Rhode Island on Oct. 17, 1997.
Emma Flick made it an 8-0 advantage less than five minutes later, off a pass from Elin Hansson, the first time Xavier's has scored eight or more goals in a game since Oct. 16 1992, when Xavier took a 10-0 win over Loyola Chicago.
The Xavier defense 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. Maria Galley collected the one Valpo look for a save and Xavier picked up its third shutout of the season.
Natalie Bain's fifth minute goal was her first of the season, and her first game-winner of 2024. She finished with four points on two goals after scoring again in the first half, her first multi-goal game as a Musketeer.
Emma Flick added her fourth goal of the season, as well as a pair of assists, to finish the game with four points. She now leads the Musketeers with 13 points for the season on a team-high matching four goals and a team-leading five assists.
Samantha Erbach scored her second goal of the season, and picked up an assist on Regan Dancer's goal to give her five points for her freshman campaign.
McKinley Berry scored her first collegiate goal in the first half.
Olivia Baca scored her third goal of the season to give her six points.
Olivia Lawson's first half tally was her team-high matching fourth of the season. Combined with an assist, she has nine points.
Regan Dancer scored her team-high matching fourth goal of the season, giving her eight points for 2024.
Samantha Wiehe picked up an assist on Bain's game-winner, off a corner kick, her fourth of the season. She has two goals as well to give her eight points.
Elin Hansson dished out her third assist of the season, on Flick's goal. Combined with a goal she has five points for 2024.
Xavier's eight goals are the most since 1992, when Xavier took a 10-0 win over Loyola Chicago. The eight-goal margin of victory is also the largest since that match.
The Musketeers finished with 35 shots, the third most in a single game in program history, with 19 of those coming on frame.
Xavier defense held Valpo to just one shot, collected for a save by Maria Galley at the 5:48 mark in the first half, holding the Beacons without a look for over 80 minutes on the way to the shutout.
Galley and Taylor Thomas each played 45 minutes in-frame, picking up Xavier's third shutout of the season.
The one shot for the Beacons is the fewest by an opponent since the 2019 season, when the Musketeers defense held three opponents to just one shot.

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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