The Xavier Musketeers men's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Xavier University. The team is a member of the Big East Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
History Xavier University is a Jesuit university established in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1831. In March 1974, it was announced that a varsity soccer program would be formed at Xavier, and tryouts were held. Coached by Bob McKinney, the team played their first ever regular season match on September 21, 1974, at Corcoran Field, defeating the visiting Thomas More Rebels 3–2. They finished their inaugural fall season with a 5–7–0 record.
In 1975, the team brought in its first ever class of recruits, with McKinney scouting several players from nearby high school teams. They finished the 1975 season with an 8–5–0 record. However, after finishing 1976 with a 3–4–3 record, Bob McKinney resigned as head coach.
In March 1977, Xavier hired John Capurro as their new head coach. John Capurro had previously assisted his brother, Nick Capurro, in coaching the Cincinnati Comets, a short-lived professional team which had folded in 1975.
Vince Pecoraro took Capurro's place as head coach ahead of the 1986 season.
Until 1987, the Xavier men's soccer team had not been a part of any athletic conference. Xavier University had been a founding member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) since 1979, but the conference did not originally sponsor men's soccer. Xavier was one of six universities to play in the MCC's inaugural men's soccer season in 1987.
In 1991, Jack Hermans replaced Pecoraro as Xavier's new head coach.
In 1995, Xavier left the MCC and joined the Atlantic 10 Conference.
In 2005, Dave Schureck replaced Hermans as Xavier's head coach.
In 2010, Andy Fleming replaced Schureck as head coach. That year, Xavier finished with a 10–6–4 record and went on to win the Atlantic 10 Championship playoffs. This earned them an automatic bid in the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, the first NCAA tournament appearance in the team's history. They lost to West Virginia with a score of 4–2 in the first round.
In 2013, Xavier left the Atlantic 10 to join the Big East Conference.
John Higgins followed Andy Fleming as the head coach of the Musketeers in March 2022. Shaun Mahoney and Ian Vickers joined Coach Higgins as associate head coach and assistant coach, respectively, in May 2022.
Coaching staff Position Name Head coach John Higgins Associate head coach Shaun Mahoney Assistant coach Ian Vicars Director of operations Noel Orozco Director of goalkeeping Alex Kamphaus
Record by year
YearCoachConferenceWLD 1974 Bob McKinney None 5 7 0 1975 8 5 0 1976 3 4 3 1977 John Capurro 4 8 1 1978 7 7 3 1979 11 4 0 1980 9 6 5 1981 5 9 2 1982 8 8 2 1983 7 5 2 1984 4 8 2 1985 4 9 0 1986 Vince Pecoraro 8 7 2 1987 Midwestern Collegiate 8 12 2 1988 11 6 2 1989 6 13 4 1990 5 15 1 1991 Jack Hermans 6 11 4 1992 8 8 4 1993 5 14 1 1994 12 8 0 1995 Atlantic 10 8 10 2 1996 7 11 0 1997 10 10 1 1998 11 9 0 1999 5 13 1 2000 4 14 0 2001 7 11 1 2002 10 7 2 2003 4 16 0 2004 5 12 2 2005 Dave Schureck 4 10 5 2006 7 10 2 2007 8 10 1 2008 3 12 4 2009 2 13 1 2010 Andy Fleming 10 7 4 2011 12 5 4 2012 14 3 5 2013 Big East 10 7 2 2014 15 6 2 2015 12 6 1 2016 8 8 3 2017 11 6 3 2018 6 7 6 2019 8 8 1 2020 3 7 1 2021 9 7 1 2022 9 2 7 2023 9 4 6 2024 4 8 5
Notable alumni
Name Position Years at Xavier Craig Blazer GK 1987–1991 Cory Brown DF 2014–2017 Jalen Brown FW/MF 2013–2016 Nick Hagglund DF 2010–2013 Garrett Halfhill DF 2011–2014 Dallas Jaye GK 2015Cole JensenGK2018–2022 Chris Korb DF 2006 Matt Nance DF 2014–2018 Eric Osswald GK 2013–2014 Todd Pratzner DF 2013–2016 Sammy Sergi FW 2015–2019 Luke Spencer FW 2009–2012 Matt Walker MF 2010–2013
See also Xavier Musketeers
References
External links