Xavier men's soccer to face Dayton in the Atlantic 10 tournament

The Xavier men's soccer team closed their regular season with a 5-0 victory over the University of Massachusetts this past Sunday. The victory came on Senior Day for the Musketeers, who now turn their attention to postseason play. Xavier earned the third seed for the Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend. The Musketeers open against
the sixth-ranked University of Dayton tomorrow afternoon in
Charlotte, N.C. Xavier is searching for its third consecutive A-10 Championship title, having won the previous two championships. On Sunday, Xavier sent their six seniors off with a resounding defeat of the Minutemen. Junior Gino De Paoli and senior James Queree both scored twice in the contest while senior Luke Spencer tallied another goal. The Musketeers were quick to get on the scoreboard, netting the first two goals within five minutes. Xavier finished the first half with four goals, effectively ending the match before the second half began. Spencer's second-half score marked the third consecutive game with a goal for the senior. He finished the season tied atop the conference leaderboard in goals and points. The win pushed the Musketeer's record to 13-1-4 on the season with a 6-1-2 mark in conference. This year's team also set a Xavier record for most wins in a single season with games still to be played. The six seniors (Queree, Spencer, Justin Marshall, Sean Ryan, Andre Bezerra and Adar Cohen) have now tallied 37 wins in their Xavier career. "They will leave as the first true builders of this championship program," head coach Andy Fleming said. "I am forever indebted to this senior class." The focus now turns to postseason play, where the Musketeers have performed well during Fleming's tenure as head coach. This is the highest ranking that Xavier has had entering the A-10 Championships under Fleming, but the third-year coach is taking nothing for granted. If the Musketeers can advance, they will play the winner of the Saint Louis- LaSalle game on Friday.