Women's Soccer Faces VIllanova in BIG EAST Championship

CHICAGO - In their eighth consecutive berth to the BIG EAST Championship, fifth-seeded DePaul women's soccer will travel to Villanova to take on the fourth-seeded Wildcats in a noon matchup on Sunday. The two teams finished in a tie for fourth place with 16 points but because Villanova won their head-to-head matchup earlier this season, the Wildcats earned the higher seed.

LIVE COVERAGE
The match will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi. Links to follow along live can be found on the women's soccer schedule page.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Villanova has qualified for the conference tournament for the first time in five seasons coming off two back-to-back 1-0 victories over Providence and Creighton. Brice McInroy leads the Wildcats with nine goals and one assists for 19 points. She has also scored the game-winners in those matches against Providence and Creighton. Chloe O'Neill has dished out a team leading six assists while Rebecca Gartner and Hensley Hancuff have shared time in the net. Gartner has started in 12 matches, owns a 1.53 goals against average and a 6-5-2 record including four shutouts. Hancuff has notched three shutouts in her six matches.

SERIES STUFF
Up until this season, DePaul was riding an eight game win streak over Villanova. The all-time series record now sits at 8-8-1.

EARLIER THIS SEASON
DePaul women's soccer concluded a mid-season road swing, falling to Villanova 3-1 in Villanova, Pa. The Wildcats (7-4-3, 3-1-1) defeated DePaul for the first time in nine years after getting the scoring started early on in the match. Chloe O'Neill found the back of the net in the eighth minute before Kristin Barbour doubled the Wildcats' lead in the ninth minute.

After going into halftime up 2-0, Villanova would make it a 3-0 game but senior Bina Saipi got DePaul on the board in the 57th minute off a Jackie Batliner free kick.

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT
Sunday marks the beginning of post-season play when No. 3 Butler hosts No. 6 Providence and DePaul's contest against Villanova kick off - both at noon CT. The winners of the quarterfinal tilts will travel to Creighton in Omaha, Neb. for the semifinals and final that will be hosted at Morrison Stadium.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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Women's Soccer Faces VIllanova in BIG EAST Championship

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Players Mentioned

Jackie Batliner

Bina Saipi

DePaul University Athletics