October 15, 2026 • 6 mins
There are four remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division One Men's Soccer. Xavier has one of them. Creighton has another. Those teams ranked teams play each other at Corcoran Field on Thursday night.
XU Head Coach John Higgins joined us on ESPN1530.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's going to be a pretty massive Big East soccer
match happening tomorrow night at Corcoran Field at Xavier University.
We have the unbeaten Xavier Musketeers, 21st in the country,
taking on fellow unbeaten Creighton. The Blue Jays are fifth
in the country. There are only four unbeaten teams in
NCAA Division I men's soccer. Two of them on the
(00:22):
field tomorrow night at 6.30. Should be a great match.
If you're looking for something to do, go watch some
great college soccer. The head coach of the Save Your
Men soccer program is John Higgins. Coach, it's awesome to
have you in the regular season. And I'm not talking
about postseason. In the regular season, is this the biggest
match your program has hosted?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, for sure. For sure. At least in the last
couple of years. We hosted Kentucky in the postseason a
couple of years ago, and that was big just because
of the vicinity of that one. But in terms of
two undefeated teams in the regular season, you said it's massive,
and we're hoping for a really big crowd out there
tomorrow night. I think the weather's going to hold off.
(01:04):
for us, so hopefully we can get as many out
there as possible.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, and it's a program, third longest active unbeaten streak
in the country. What has made this particular team unique?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
We've got the right balance of experience, and I think
that's difficult to come by in this transfer portal age.
We won the Big East in 23, and we had
a couple of years there where we've had to kind
of rebuild things, And now you're looking at a bunch
(01:36):
of players that are juniors, seniors, been around Xavier for
a while. And this year we've actually got the balance right,
which is really nice. If you're in a good program
like Xavier, we can keep a hold of those players,
even though it's a crazy world that we live in.
And we're now benefiting from having all those players. experienced
(01:59):
juniors and seniors on that field for us.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
When you look at the roster, you see players from
all over the place. And I mean all over the world.
So kind of walk me through roster construction, especially as
you mentioned in the transfer portal era.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, we always want to bring in the best local
talent that we can. It's important to us that we're
doing that and we're graduating great Xavier grads. So that's
an important part of it. I think we're a big pool.
within the region, within the Midwest. And then from there
for us, just lately, we've tried to go down the
(02:36):
junior college route and we've picked up a few junior
college transfers that have been national champs. So not only
have we got some older players in there, but we've
got guys that have won at a really high level.
And I think that's really helped out, really helped out
the locker room because we, you know, we graduated a
lot of guys that had won that big East with us.
(02:57):
And it was important that we brought that winning mentality
back into the locker room. And, and again, I think
we've got the, we've got the balance right there between
those two, those two groups.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
When folks follow the MLS Super Draft, they'll see the
names of Xavier players called. I have to imagine that's
a great benefit when it comes to moving forward, building
a roster.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
It is, and we've done a nice job of it.
Been here for five years, and we've had five drafted
in that time, which is as good as anybody. I
think part of it is Xavier is obviously a great school.
to go to and get a degree from. But I
think one of the biggest pools is the league that
(03:41):
we play in. The Big East is one of those
conferences where if you can get it done in the
Big East, there's no question marks beyond that for some
of these MLS scouts. So if our guys come in
here and they have one great season in the Big East,
they can get drafted, and that's obviously a big advantage
for us when it comes to recruiting.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
You addressed where I was going to go next, John Higgins,
men's soccer coach at Xavier University, a big one tomorrow
night at Corcoran Field, 6.30, unbeaten Creighton, unbeaten Xavier, two
teams nationally ranked. For folks who know the Big East
as a basketball conference first, walk me through Big East soccer.
How good is it?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
It is, it's right there. I think for us, we
always talk about you know, a big three of the ACC,
the big 10, the big East. We feel like that's the,
that's the top three conferences. That's where most of the
draft picks are coming from. There's some great other programs
out there. Um, but in terms of like conference strength,
(04:44):
top to bottom, it is, it is right up there
to give you an, give you an example. We had,
two teams last year that did not make the big
East tournament for soccer, but made the NCAA tournament. So
last year it was easier to make the NCAA tournament
than it was to make our own conference tournament and, uh,
shaping up that way again for us. So that's, uh,
(05:05):
that's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
You mentioned, you mentioned, you know, you, you want kids if,
if they're good enough to, to get them to stay
here in this area, how good is, is prep soccer
in this part of the country?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
It's very good. It's very good. The Midwest is a
great level. We've got great high schools around that really
feed into our school, being a Jesuit Catholic school. So
that's a great draw from us all the way from
(05:38):
in town up to Cleveland. And then the other one
that's really big for us is having FC Cincinnati in
our backyards. with their MLS next program. They do a
great job of recruiting, you know, local talent and, and
also pulling them in from, from further afield. So that
helps us that they've got such a good program in town.
(06:02):
We always want to make sure we've got a good
relationship with, with those guys. Cause they, they develop players and,
you know, they can't sign everybody to a pro contract
and we're hopefully waiting in the wings when that, when
that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
8-0-3, Xavier hosting 10-0-4, Creighton, two of the only four
unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I soccer, the only ones
from the same conference. Tomorrow night at 6.30, Coach mentioned
the weather I think is going to hold out, so
if you're looking for something to do, go watch some
great college soccer. Tomorrow night at Corcoran Field, kickoff is
at 6.30. Coach, congratulations on the success so far this season.
(06:38):
We'll be rooting for you tomorrow night, the rest of
the way, and we'll do it again, man. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Thanks very much.
It's going to be a pretty massive Big East soccer
match happening tomorrow night at Corcoran Field at Xavier University.
We have the unbeaten Xavier Musketeers, 21st in the country,
taking on fellow unbeaten Creighton. The Blue Jays are fifth
in the country. There are only four unbeaten teams in
NCAA Division I men's soccer. Two of them on the
(00:22):
field tomorrow night at 6.30. Should be a great match.
If you're looking for something to do, go watch some
great college soccer. The head coach of the Save Your
Men soccer program is John Higgins. Coach, it's awesome to
have you in the regular season. And I'm not talking
about postseason. In the regular season, is this the biggest
match your program has hosted?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, for sure. For sure. At least in the last
couple of years. We hosted Kentucky in the postseason a
couple of years ago, and that was big just because
of the vicinity of that one. But in terms of
two undefeated teams in the regular season, you said it's massive,
and we're hoping for a really big crowd out there
tomorrow night. I think the weather's going to hold off.
(01:04):
for us, so hopefully we can get as many out
there as possible.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, and it's a program, third longest active unbeaten streak
in the country. What has made this particular team unique?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
We've got the right balance of experience, and I think
that's difficult to come by in this transfer portal age.
We won the Big East in 23, and we had
a couple of years there where we've had to kind
of rebuild things, And now you're looking at a bunch
(01:36):
of players that are juniors, seniors, been around Xavier for
a while. And this year we've actually got the balance right,
which is really nice. If you're in a good program
like Xavier, we can keep a hold of those players,
even though it's a crazy world that we live in.
And we're now benefiting from having all those players. experienced
(01:59):
juniors and seniors on that field for us.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
When you look at the roster, you see players from
all over the place. And I mean all over the world.
So kind of walk me through roster construction, especially as
you mentioned in the transfer portal era.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, we always want to bring in the best local
talent that we can. It's important to us that we're
doing that and we're graduating great Xavier grads. So that's
an important part of it. I think we're a big pool.
within the region, within the Midwest. And then from there
for us, just lately, we've tried to go down the
(02:36):
junior college route and we've picked up a few junior
college transfers that have been national champs. So not only
have we got some older players in there, but we've
got guys that have won at a really high level.
And I think that's really helped out, really helped out
the locker room because we, you know, we graduated a
lot of guys that had won that big East with us.
(02:57):
And it was important that we brought that winning mentality
back into the locker room. And, and again, I think
we've got the, we've got the balance right there between
those two, those two groups.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
When folks follow the MLS Super Draft, they'll see the
names of Xavier players called. I have to imagine that's
a great benefit when it comes to moving forward, building
a roster.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
It is, and we've done a nice job of it.
Been here for five years, and we've had five drafted
in that time, which is as good as anybody. I
think part of it is Xavier is obviously a great school.
to go to and get a degree from. But I
think one of the biggest pools is the league that
(03:41):
we play in. The Big East is one of those
conferences where if you can get it done in the
Big East, there's no question marks beyond that for some
of these MLS scouts. So if our guys come in
here and they have one great season in the Big East,
they can get drafted, and that's obviously a big advantage
for us when it comes to recruiting.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
You addressed where I was going to go next, John Higgins,
men's soccer coach at Xavier University, a big one tomorrow
night at Corcoran Field, 6.30, unbeaten Creighton, unbeaten Xavier, two
teams nationally ranked. For folks who know the Big East
as a basketball conference first, walk me through Big East soccer.
How good is it?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
It is, it's right there. I think for us, we
always talk about you know, a big three of the ACC,
the big 10, the big East. We feel like that's the,
that's the top three conferences. That's where most of the
draft picks are coming from. There's some great other programs
out there. Um, but in terms of like conference strength,
(04:44):
top to bottom, it is, it is right up there
to give you an, give you an example. We had,
two teams last year that did not make the big
East tournament for soccer, but made the NCAA tournament. So
last year it was easier to make the NCAA tournament
than it was to make our own conference tournament and, uh,
shaping up that way again for us. So that's, uh,
(05:05):
that's pretty remarkable.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
You mentioned, you mentioned, you know, you, you want kids if,
if they're good enough to, to get them to stay
here in this area, how good is, is prep soccer
in this part of the country?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
It's very good. It's very good. The Midwest is a
great level. We've got great high schools around that really
feed into our school, being a Jesuit Catholic school. So
that's a great draw from us all the way from
(05:38):
in town up to Cleveland. And then the other one
that's really big for us is having FC Cincinnati in
our backyards. with their MLS next program. They do a
great job of recruiting, you know, local talent and, and
also pulling them in from, from further afield. So that
helps us that they've got such a good program in town.
(06:02):
We always want to make sure we've got a good
relationship with, with those guys. Cause they, they develop players and,
you know, they can't sign everybody to a pro contract
and we're hopefully waiting in the wings when that, when
that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
8-0-3, Xavier hosting 10-0-4, Creighton, two of the only four
unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I soccer, the only ones
from the same conference. Tomorrow night at 6.30, Coach mentioned
the weather I think is going to hold out, so
if you're looking for something to do, go watch some
great college soccer. Tomorrow night at Corcoran Field, kickoff is
at 6.30. Coach, congratulations on the success so far this season.
(06:38):
We'll be rooting for you tomorrow night, the rest of
the way, and we'll do it again, man. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Thanks very much.
Mo Egger News
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