Women's Soccer Heads to Xavier for BIG EAST Quarterfinals

Sunday, October 28

Cincinnati, Ohio

3:05 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Xavier

Women's Soccer Heads to Xavier for BIG EAST Quarterfinals

10/27/2018 4:51:00 PM | WOMEN'S SOCCER

First touch set for 3:05 p.m. CT

CHICAGO - Following their 1-0 victory over St. John's last Thursday, the DePaul women's soccer program will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio for the first round of the BIG EAST Championship to face the Xavier Musketeers. DePaul sits 8-6-4, 4-3-2 BIG EAST in fifth place tied with Xavier and Providence.

Last Time Out

The women's soccer team clinched their seventh consecutive berth to the BIG EAST Championship after defeating St. John's Thursday night in a 1-0 decision. The Blue Demons improved to 8-6-4, 4-3-2 BIG EAST, placing them as the fifth seed in the Championship bracket. They will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to challenge #4 Xavier on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 3:05 p.m. CT.
Jade Eriksen-Russo has made a key difference for the Blue Demons in the last two games. Behind a well-balanced offensive attack from the Blue Demons that saw six shots in the first half, both teams couldn't find a way to score in the first 45 minutes. Coming off the bench for the second time of the match in the 61st minute, Eriksen-Russo streamlined diagonally across the box before striking a dagger right across to the opposite post, giving DePaul the go-ahead goal.
This was the Naperville, Ill. native's second goal of the season in back-to-back game style, her third career goal. This was also her second career game-winning goal that highlights her sophomore campaign.
Freshman goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson made three saves in the second half to record her eighth shutout of her career to push her total to 62 saves. She is maintaining a 0.86 goals against average to go a long with a 0.795 save percentage.

About Those Blue Demons (8-6-4, 4-3-2 BIG EAST)
DePaul is on a two game winning streak following 1-0 victories over both Villanova and St. John's. Franny Cerny has eight goals on the season that place her tied for fourth in the BIG EAST. Morgan Turner is tied for tenth with five goals. Cerny and defender Avery Hay are tied for the top number in assists at three amongst the squad. Sophomore Jade Eriksen-Russo has scored both the game-winning goals to propel the Blue Demons to post-season play. Mollie Eriksson has posted 62 saves with a goals against average of 0.86 with her save percentage of 0.795.

Scouting the Xavier (9-7-1, 5-2-1 BIG EAST)
Xavier most recently played Georgetown to a draw, ending the Hoyas 14-game unbeaten streak. Goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro 74 saves on the season and a goals against average of 0.83 to go along with a save percentage of 0.831. Samantha Dewey – who scored the golden goal for the Musketeers against DePaul in the regular season – leads her team with eight goals.

Matchup earlier this season…

After falling behind 2-0 against Xavier, DePaul managed a comeback scoring two goals within just four minutes of each other to force double overtime. A contentious call led to a penalty kick for the Musketeers in the 104^th minute, giving them the win, 3-2. Xavier started off the scoring for the game, finding the back of the net first, scoring in the 48^th minute and then in the 64^th minute.
The DePaul offense picked up in the second half with Madeline Frick scoring in the 71^st minute to cut Xavier's lead in half for her fourth goal of the season off a ball from Jackie Batliner. Four minutes later, Franny Cerny netted her seventh goal of the season in the 75^th minute with an assist from Jessica Lazo. After playing to a scoreless first OT period, a handball in the box led to a penalty kick for the Musketeers by Samantha Dewey for the win.
DePaul goalkeeper Mollie Eriksson tallied seven saves against the Musketeers. DePaul fired off a total 11 shots on frame while Xavier doubled that number and some to record 23.

Series Stuff
DePaul owns the all-time series against Xavier, 4-1-1.

Live Coverage
Fans can visit the DePaul women's soccer schedule page for all live coverage, links and more. To watch DePaul take on Butler, click here for the BIG EAST Digital Network. To follow along with live stats, click this link. Full recaps and statistics after each match this weekend will be posted to the Women's Soccer page.

Social Media
For everything DePaul Women's Soccer, follow the Blue Demons across multiple social media platforms: Twitter or Instagram. Join in the conversation using #AllIn and #DPUWSoc.
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