Sports

Xavier blanks St. John’s in 3-0 shutout in Queens

Dewey nets league-leading 13th goal of season, Schembri tallies two assists

By Joe Clark | Staff Writer

Junior forward Sydney Schembri played a major role offensively in the Musketeers’ 3-0 win on the road against St. John’s. She collected two assists (one in each half) to improve Xavier’s Big East record to 4-2-0

A 3-0 road win over St. John’s saw impressive moves by veteran players and gave Xavier women’s soccer its highest number of victories in 17 years.

Redshirt senior Samantha Dewey led the Musketeers’ offensive efforts, picking up her team-leading 13th goal of the season. Junior Sydney Schembri tallied two assists in the win last Sunday.

Dewey’s goal came early into the match in the eighth minute.

She got a feed from Schembri and put the ball in the back of the net. It was Xavier’s only goal of the first half and was all the Musketeers needed offensively while blanking the Red Storm on the defensive end.

The goal added to the preseason Big East Midfielder of the Year’s league-leading goal total, and she is now one goal away from the third-most goals in a single season in team history.

Three minutes into the second half, sophomore forward Brooke Sroka put the Musketeers up 2-0 on an assist from Schembri after redshirt junior Carrie Lewis forced a turnover on a St. John’s goal kick. It was Sroka’s fourth goal of the season — all of which have come in conference play.

In the 88th minute, freshman midfielder Maddie Thiss provided the finishing touch and extra insurance by picking up her first goal as a Musketeer.

She scored by corralling a rebound on a shot by redshirt senior midfielder Jessica Miller. This gave Xavier a comfortable three-goal advantage.

Xavier outshot St. John’s 20-3 and outnumbered the Red Storm 12-1 in shots on goal.

The three total shots tied St. John’s season low in the category.

The win improved Xavier’s overall record to 11-3-2 — the best for the program since the Musketeers won 12 games in the 2003 season.

The Musketeers currently stand at 4-2 in the Big East, and with 12 points, they are two points behind the conference leader, Georgetown.

In addition, sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Jenkins’ shutout marked the ninth match the Musketeers did not allow a single goal.

This ties them for the second-most shutouts in program history along with the 1985, 1991 and 2018 squads.

With only three games remaining in the regular season, the women’s team continues its road stretch tomorrow as it takes on Marquette.

The Musketeers have a favorable schedule coming up with two of their last three games against  Big East teams that are not in a position to be in playoff contention if the season ended now.