• Creighton opened its BIG EAST slate with a 1-0 loss at Georgetown this past Sunday. Spanning last season, it has not seen a conference win since Oct. 12 when the group defeated Seton Hall, 2-0. Since then, Creighton has gone 0-3-1 in league contests.
• The Bluejays have matched their opponents 9-9 in scoring this season. They have landed 32 of their 67 shot attempts on frame for a .478 shot on goal average and a .134 shot percentage. Opponents are shooting at a .115 clip against them this season, putting 39 of their 78 attempts on goal for a .500 SOG percentage.
• Home contests have been kind for the Bluejays this season, going 2-0-1 at Morrison Stadium. They have not allowed a goal on the home pitch since Oct. 22, 2023 when Xavier’s Sonia Vargas scored the game-winner in the 85th minute. This year alone, the Bluejays are 
• Senior midfielder Azumi Manriki leads the team with three goals this season, landing six of her 12 shot attempts on frame. She was on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team ahead of this year after earning Second Team All-BIG EAST status last season.
• In goal, Alyssa Zalac has played in all 630 minutes with three shutouts, placing her third in the BIG EAST. She has saved 28 of the 74 shots she has faced, owning a 1.29 GAA and .757 save percentage. Her 4.00 saves per game also place her at third in the league.

• First-year head coach Dean Ward’s Xavier squad has been ranked as high as No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll this season, currently sitting at No. 21. Their first loss of the season came to then-No. 23 Saint Louis on Sept. 12, 2-3, before grabbing a bounce-back win over DePaul, 3-0, to open BIG EAST action. That win moved the team back up two spots in this week’s ranking after sitting at No. 23 last week.
• Xavier has been clinical on both sides of the pitch this season, outscoring its opponents 30-9 through the first 10 games while averaging 18.9 shots per game. As of Sept. 23, the team leads the BIG EAST in total goals, assists and points, sitting at fourth, 30th and 12th in the nation, respectively, for each category. The Musketeers own the best scoring offense in the BIG EAST with 3.00 goals per game, good enough for eighth in the nation, as well.
• Emma Flick and Olivia Lawson lead the Musketeers with five goals each this season. Flick has talled a BIG EAST-high 16 points and six assists, a mark that lands her 10th in the nation. Eight Musketeers have found the back of the net at least two times this season with four of them scoring at least four times to combine for 18 of the team’s 30 goals.
• Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Maria Galley has been the primary netminder for Xavier this season, starting in all 10 contests with 847 minutes between the pipes. She has recorded four solo shutouts while saving 21 of the 56 shots that have come her way. She has a 0.85 GAA and a .724 save percentage.
• Xavier was picked third in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ poll after winning a share of the regular season title last season and finishing runners-up in the conference tournament. They also received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship as a No. 4 seed.
• Defender Natalie Bain is back on the team this season was tabbed as the preseason pick for Defender of the Year in the league after being a Second Team All-American and First Team All-BIG EAST pick a year ago.

Against the Ranks: Sunday’s meeting with Xavier will be the second time this season Villanova has faced a nationally-ranked opponent. The ‘Cats are 0-4 in such matches under head coach Samar Azem, falling to No. 1 Florida State on Sept. 1, 2-0. Prior to that, the group fell to No. 24 Xavier, 1-0, and No. 22 Georgetown, 2-0, last season and No. 16 Georgetown, 1-0, in 2022. 

Keepin’ It Clean: Villanova has shutout opponents four times through the first nine games of the season, tying the season totals for each of the last two campaigns and marking the most since the 2019 squad had eight shutouts. The most clean sheets in a single season for the ‘Cats came in 2003 when they recorded 16.

BIG EAST Battles: Villanova is 101-135-33 against the BIG EAST since 1995. Through the first weekend of league action, Villanova currently sits middle of the pack in the BIG EAST standings coming into the first full week of league action, tied for fourth with UConn, St. John’s and Seton Hall who all drew in Sunday contests. Xavier is in a three-way tie for first while Creighton is tied for eighth.

‘Cats, Seton Hall Battle to Scoreless Draw in BIG EAST Opener

Villanova outshot Seton Hall 8-1 in the scoreless stalemate

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Villanova could not connect one of its eight attempts with the back of the net, playing Seton Hall to a 0-0 draw to open BIG EAST play on Sunday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field.
 
This is the second draw for Villanova (3-4-2, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) in back-to-back games. The result marks three consecutive unbeaten contests with Seton Hall (3-5-2, 0-0-1 BIG EAST) and just the third time that the two sides have drawn.
 
The Wildcats outshot the Pirates by a large 8-1 margin with a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal. All three of those on frame came from Susanna Soderman, marking a new career high. Both Soderman and Gabby Koluch led all players with three shot attempts on the day.
 
"If I reflect back to my first year here at Nova, playing Seton Hall as our conference opener each year and I look at the team we were two years ago, the team that we were last year, the team we are right now, this team by far is the best team," head coach Samar Azem said. "I mean, the way we played, the way the players defended, the way they moved the ball, the way they solved problems, it's extremely exciting. It's heartbreaking not to walk away with the three points and you've got to score to do that. You have to score to do that. When you have defensive units that are so strong, going on the road and getting three points is hard, but this team loves hard. This team makes hard normal, so the goal is just to learn from this."
 

Villanova had a pair of strong attempts to get an early lead in the first 20 minutes of action. Soderman and Alex Little had a sequence deep in the penalty box in the fourth minute for the first real shot of the day. The senior sent a chance by the right post but it was saved by Seton Hall's Anna Prawer before Little tried to work a rebound look that was grabbed by Prawer to stop the threat. Morgan Kotch followed that play with a rocket from the top of the 18-yard box in the 20th minute that went wide right.
 
The Wildcats held a 4-0 shot advantage in the opening 45 minutes with Soderman accounting for both of the ones that landed on target. This was the fourth time this season that the 'Cats faced a scoreless stalemate at the break.
 
Seton Hall's first shot attempt didn't come until the 47th minute when Natalie Tavana took an attempt that was saved by Hannah Dickinson. Soderman struck again in the 64th with a look on the left of the goal box, but her chance was once again collected, this time by Avery Strohecker who moved into net to start the second half.
 
Villanova finishes its three-game road stretch with a trip to Creighton on Thursday. First kick from Omaha, Nebraska is set for 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT.