WSOC heads to face Xavier on Sunday

MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women's soccer team resumes BIG EAST Conference action with a road match at Xavier on Sunday, Oct. 14 in Cincinnati.

The match, which will be played at the XU Soccer Complex, is set for a noon Central time kickoff and will air live at GoXavier.com/watch.

The Golden Eagles (3-9-2, 1-3-1 BIG EAST) are coming off an 0-1-1 week with a scoreless draw against DePaul and a 1-0 loss at Providence on Sunday afternoon. Junior goalkeeper Maddy Henry made 11 saves over the last week for Marquette, which following the contest against Xavier will close out the regular season with two of its final three matches at Valley Fields.

A pair of freshmen lead Marquette in scoring with Alyssa Bombacino pacing the squad with three goals, while Katrina Wetherell has posted a goal and a team-high three assists. Bombacino has started each of the last three matches as head coach Markus Roeders has searched for goal scoring on a squad that has scored nine this season.

Xavier (8-6-1, 2-2-1) owns BIG EAST double overtime wins over Providence and DePaul and played the full 110 minutes in a scoreless draw against Butler on Oct. 4. Samantha Dewey has posted a team-high 16 points on six goals and four assists, while Toni Bizzarro has been Xavier's goalkeeper of record in all but two matches, while recording a record of 7-5-1 with an .811 save percentage.

Marquette owns a perfect 7-0 record all-time against the Musketeers with all but one of those meetings coming since Xavier joined the BIG EAST for the 2013 campaign. The Golden Eagles have outscored Xavier, 12-1, over the course of the series, including a 10-0 mark since 2013. Three of the meetings in the series have gone to overtime with Marquette winning in extra time in 2005, 2015 and during the 2017 regular season.

Sixth-year senior Darian Powell scored the overtime match winner in the 93rd minute of last year's regular season meeting at Valley Fields on Senior Day before MU downed Xavier, 3-0, during the BIG EAST Tournament. Then-senior Eli Beard scored twice during that BIG EAST quarterfinal matchup.

Following Sunday's match, Marquette returns to Valley Fields to host No. 4 Georgetown on Thursday, Oct. 18.

MARQUETTE FIGHTING FOR BIG EAST TOURNAMENT SPOT
• The Golden Eagles will need to make some noise in their final four regular season matches to work their way into the BIG EAST Women's Soccer Championship. Marquette currently sits ninth in the league with four points, which includes a win over St. John's and a draw against DePaul but will need to make it into the top six of the conference to make the annual postseason tournament. MU has advanced to the league tournament each of its previous 13 years in the BIG EAST and owns a pair of championships in 2012 and 2013. The Golden Eagles have never finished below 15 points in BIG EAST action.

Current Standings:
Georgetown (5-0-0) 15 points
Butler (3-1-1) 10 points
Villanova (3-2-0) 9 points
Providence (2-2-1) 7 points
Xavier (2-2-1) 7 points
DePaul (2-2-1) 7 points
St. John's (2-2-1) 7 points
Creighton (2-3-0) 6 points
Marquette (1-3-1) 4 points
Seton Hall (0-5-0) 0 points

GOLDEN EAGLES EARN UNITED SOCCER COACHES TEAM AWARD
• Marquette was recognized by the United Soccer Coaches, formerly NSCAA, with the Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom for the 2017-18 academic year. The recognition marks the 21st time on the list for the Golden Eagles, who boasted a 3.61 cumulative grade point average last school year. The squad's success also earned 22 of its members BIG EAST All-Academic accolades for 2017-18.