CINCINNATI – The No. 19/15 Xavier men’s soccer team finished off its non-conference schedule with an unbeaten record after defeating Thomas More, 5-0, on Thursday night at the Xavier University Soccer Complex.

Sophomore Andrew Jordan and senior Luke Spencer tallied two-goal games for the Musketeers (7-0-2) who were playing the Saints for the first time in nearly 23 years. Junior Matt Walker scored his fourth goal of the season as well.

“I’d like to thank the Xavier administration and Thomas Moore for making this game possible,” head coach Andy Fleming said. “At the end of May we realigned the Atlantic 10 schedule and added Butler, who was already on our schedule, as a league game. This left us with an opening late in the process and we wanted to get an 18^th game. 

“Our bench kick started what was a sluggish start by our first team and I thought the second half was very sharp and tight,” Fleming said. “Tonight was a solid finish to the first half of our season. We move onto a daunting opening three games with Saint Louis, Butler and Dayton awaiting us.”

Spencer put Xavier on the board just four minutes into the match as he settled a cross from junior Adar Cohen off his chest and laced it in. In the 51^st minute Spencer collected a cutback pass from Jordan that was tucked inside of the near post for his third two-goal game of the season. The forward now has nine goals on the season.

Jordan had a career-night for the Musketeers scoring his first two-career goals and first-career assist. The first came in the 37^th minute as crossing passes gave Jordan the chance to rip a shot off the inside of the far post. He added his second goal in the 79^th minute with a leaping header from 15 yards out that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the goal line.

Walker’s goal was the third of the night for the Musketeers and was a result of a perfectly timed through ball from junior Gino De Paoli in the 56^th minute. Walker slipped past the defense to collect the pass and rifled it past Thomas More goalkeeper Matt Kees for his fourth goal of the season.

The Musketeers, who were ranked 18^th in the nation in total assist entering the week, posted seven total on the night. Walker recorded two assists and five other players had one helper.

It is the third-consecutive shutout for the Musketeers that limited the Saints to just six total shots. Xavier recorded 23 shots in the match.

Justin Marshall (7-0-2) started play for the Musketeers and earned the victory. He lasted 44 minutes and made one save. Redshirt freshman Matt Paprocki and senior Andre Bezerra split time in goal during the remainder of the match.

The Musketeers remain at home as they open up Atlantic 10 Conference play next weekend against Saint Louis and Butler. Both matches will be played at the Xavier University Soccer Complex. 

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