Senior Goalkeeper Natalie Dybas in game at Deaton Field SXU Athletics
After a 2-0 win to open up the season the Saint Xavier University (SXU) women’s soccer team have now dropped five straight games for a 1-5 start which has them in 10th place only ahead of Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) standings.
During the five-game losing streak, the Cougars have been shutout three times, while only scoring three goals and conceding sixteen in that stretch.
SXU has been battletested early as they have already faced three ranked opponents to begin the year, including against No. 4 Marian University (Ind.) a game in which the Cougars lost 5-1.
Their schedule however doesn’t lighten up as they begin conference play from Sept 23 until the end of the season on Oct 27.
Heading into this next stretch of games, the Cougars will play five home games and five road games. They currently have an 0-2 record at home and a 1-3 record on the road.
Although conference play can be very competitive, the Cougars will need this stretch to be different then their current start to the year.
Last season the Cougars found themselves in a similar situation when they started 1-3-1 before they went on a 8-1-3 run in conference play to finish in 3rd place in the CCAC during the regular season.
One of the biggest issues is not being able to cash in the goals, they currently have shot on goal percentage of 79% through five games and 29 attempted shots they’ve just struggled to convert those opportunities into goals resulting in an average of 0.83 goal per game–compared to their opponents, who are averaging 2.67 goals per game.
As of now, the Cougars find themselves in the bottom half of pretty much every offensive and defensive team stat in the CCAC.
Senior forward Alex Jonaitis currently leads the team with three assists while there is a five-way tie for top goal scorer with just one goal each.
Despite having given up a total of sixteen goals, senior goalkeeper Natalie Dybas leads the CCAC in saves with 76, which also has her in second place for the entire National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). She is also in fourth place in the CCAC when it comes to save percentage with .826.
After conference play is over the CCAC tournament will begin on Nov. 4 through the 11. A year ago SXU saw their season end in the conference semifinals at the hands of St.Ambrose University who went on to win the entire tournament for the third straight year.
On Sept. 23, SXU will host St.Francis University who currently sit in 2nd place in the conference, from here on out the Cougars are in must win mode to avoid creating an even bigger battle back from their 1-5 start.
With the halfway mark approaching, the Cougars will have to hope for another season turnaround as they did last year to create momentum for a deep playoff run.
About Post Author
