Women's soccer looks to improve

As the Xavier women's soccer team enters October, they reach the midpoint of their season. After 10 games, the team's record now stands at 5-4-1. Thus far, the team has not
played any conference games, but the majority of their final nine games will be against Atlantic 10 opponents. This year the team has seen more success at home than at away games. In their four games at the XU Soccer Complex they are 3-1, beating teams such as Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky. Away games have proven to be more difficult for the team as they are 2-2-1 away from home. However, the team's biggest victory came at an away game when they defeated IUPUI 3-0 and outshot them 15-9 in the pouring rain.
A bright spot has been the defense, which has held teams to one goal or less in five different games, three of them shutouts. Despite having games where they held teams to few goals, giving up shot attempts has actually been a weakness for the team. The Musketeers have scored 12 goals on 112 shot attempts this season while their opponents have scored 16 goals on 156 shot attempts. The goal for the second
half of the season is to prevent their opponents from having so many shot opportunities as they go up against familiar conference opponents. Junior forward Mariah Whitaker has been very effective for the Musketeers as their leading shooter. She leads the team in goals (three), assists (three) and
shots (18). Freshman forward Erin McGauley has been a great upand- coming player for the team, as she has put in 585 minutes of play and is the second leading shooter
on the team with two goals and 15 shots on goal.
The team's next five games will be away and will test their skills on the road. They travel to Rhode Island this Friday and play Massachusetts on Sunday.