WEBVTT - Lance with John Higgins 10/14/26

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<v Speaker 1>Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet. I'm Lance McAllister. It'll

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<v Speaker 1>be a men's college soccer showdown tomorrow night. Xavier's Corcoran

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<v Speaker 1>Field at 630. Xavier and Creighton, two of only four

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<v Speaker 1>remaining unbeaten teams in Division I. The Musketeers rank 21st.

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<v Speaker 1>The Blue Jays rank number five. For more on that,

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<v Speaker 1>let's talk showdown. Welcome in the head coach of the

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<v Speaker 1>Xavier men's soccer team. That would be John Higgins. Coach

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<v Speaker 1>Lance McAllister, how we doing?

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<v Speaker 2>Good, good, Lance. Thanks very much for having us on.

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<v Speaker 2>I appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 1>I certainly appreciate your time. Big week. Give me a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of how practice has gone leading up to it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we've had a good week. There's a ton of

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<v Speaker 2>excitement around this one. You can feel it. There's a

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<v Speaker 2>little buzz around the locker room. When you look at

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<v Speaker 2>the schedule at the start of the season, this was

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<v Speaker 2>one the boys probably had circled, and as it's played out,

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<v Speaker 2>you've got two of only four undefeated teams left playing

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<v Speaker 2>you know we're at home and you've got for them

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<v Speaker 2>one of the best attacking teams in the in the

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<v Speaker 2>country and for us one of the best defensive teams

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<v Speaker 2>in the country um there's a lot to look forward

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<v Speaker 2>to for this one.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah let's go to that point because you've only allowed

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<v Speaker 1>four goals in 11 matches the second fewest in the

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<v Speaker 1>entire country tell everybody about your your goalkeeper the big

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<v Speaker 1>east goalkeeper of the week johnny mental and that back

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<v Speaker 1>line you have.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he's been brilliant for us. He won us the

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<v Speaker 2>Big East in 2023. He's been around for a long time.

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<v Speaker 2>He had the opportunity to go pro at the end

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<v Speaker 2>of last season. He decided to come back to us

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<v Speaker 2>and do his grad school at Xavier. And across that

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<v Speaker 2>back line, we've got another grad school player like Johnny

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<v Speaker 2>in that back line. We've got a junior and a

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<v Speaker 2>senior player. in that line there. So we've got a

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<v Speaker 2>ton of experience, a ton of guys that have played

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<v Speaker 2>loads of minutes for Xavier. And that's been the real reason.

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<v Speaker 2>We've got experience in the right areas this year. And,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, Johnny's not had loads to do early in

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<v Speaker 2>the season, but in the last couple of games here,

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<v Speaker 2>he's made some fantastic saves and he's helped the defenders out.

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<v Speaker 1>Boy, and you touched briefly on Creighton. That is a

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<v Speaker 1>potent attack. That's an offensive machine, it looks like.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it is.

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<v Speaker 1>It is.

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<v Speaker 2>They've scored loads of goals. They've got, you know, they've

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<v Speaker 2>got attacking threats in the starters there, but then also

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<v Speaker 2>guys that come off the bench, they've got a load

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<v Speaker 2>of depth and, um, in 2022, they went to the

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<v Speaker 2>college cup and this group that they've got this year,

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<v Speaker 2>it looks a lot like that group, tons of attacking talent. And, um,

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<v Speaker 2>Something's going to give tomorrow night. Somebody's going to come

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<v Speaker 2>out on top, either their attack or our defense.

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<v Speaker 1>Coach, one thing that jumped out to me in looking

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<v Speaker 1>at your attack, I see three guys with three goals each.

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<v Speaker 1>I see six with two goals each. Seems like you

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<v Speaker 1>have a pretty balanced attack.

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<v Speaker 2>It has been, yes. It's really been by committee for us. Um,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, you look at the end of the season

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<v Speaker 2>here and we hope that we hope that somebody takes

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<v Speaker 2>off here towards the end of the season. When you

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<v Speaker 2>think about knockout competition, you'd like to have somebody up

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<v Speaker 2>there who goes and gets close to tangles. Um, so

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<v Speaker 2>for us, it's been, it's been very good. We've had

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<v Speaker 2>great individual performances, but we've not had that one person

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<v Speaker 2>that that's really gone and taken it over for us.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think there's, There's a few candidates on our

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<v Speaker 2>team for sure, but as we get into the postseason here,

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<v Speaker 2>we're hoping that somebody really goes and is able to

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<v Speaker 2>get close to double digits. I think if that's the case,

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<v Speaker 2>we can have a nice run in the Big East

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<v Speaker 2>tournament and hopefully make a run in the national tournament.

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<v Speaker 1>I look at your roster and I see a Moeller product.

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<v Speaker 1>I see Dayton represented. I see Indiana represented. I also

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<v Speaker 1>see Norway and Portugal and South Korea. You are scouring

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<v Speaker 1>the world for talent, coach.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, we've got 12 internationals on the roster.

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<v Speaker 2>It's very conservative when you look at the top end

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<v Speaker 2>of college soccer and even the top end of the

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<v Speaker 2>Big East. I think we do a really good job

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<v Speaker 2>of blending local talent, like you mentioned there, and then

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<v Speaker 2>going overseas and picking up two or three internationals as well.

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<v Speaker 2>So we've got a good balance. It's always a worry

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<v Speaker 2>when you're putting that roster together, how it's going to mix.

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<v Speaker 2>how guys are going to come together, but I've been

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<v Speaker 2>really happy with the culture that we've got this season.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think a lot of that goes back to

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<v Speaker 2>our goalkeeper as well. Not only is he, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we think the best goalkeeper in college soccer, he's also

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<v Speaker 2>a fantastic leader for us. And I think he's done

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<v Speaker 2>a great job of kind of blending all those different

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<v Speaker 2>cultures together.

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<v Speaker 1>Coach, let's make a final pitch for any listener who

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<v Speaker 1>might be interested in coming out tomorrow night. I know

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<v Speaker 1>that venue is a fantastic venue. My daughter years ago

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<v Speaker 1>played soccer. She played for Kings Hammer, and they played

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<v Speaker 1>some games there. Corcoran Field is a wonderful viewing experience.

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<v Speaker 1>That should be a heck of a night tomorrow night.

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<v Speaker 2>It should be, and we've had a good look at

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<v Speaker 2>the weather, and we think we're going to dodge. The weather,

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<v Speaker 2>I don't think it's going to come in until after

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<v Speaker 2>the game's done tomorrow night, so it should be a

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<v Speaker 2>great night. It should be really high-end soccer, and like

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<v Speaker 2>you said, it's a great venue, and we're expecting a

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<v Speaker 2>really big crowd from on campus. Certainly, you can feel

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<v Speaker 2>the excitement around campus today for such a big matchup,

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<v Speaker 2>but if we can get some of the local community

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<v Speaker 2>out there as well, then it'll make for an even

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<v Speaker 2>better night for us in hopefully a home field advantage

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<v Speaker 2>for us as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Absolutely. Hey, I know you're busy. Congrats on all you

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<v Speaker 1>guys have done to this point. Best of luck going forward,

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<v Speaker 1>and thanks for making time tonight.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 1>You got it.

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<v Speaker 2>Take care.

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<v Speaker 1>There you go. John Higgins, head coach of the Xavier men. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>number 21 in the country. Blue Jays number five in

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<v Speaker 1>the country. How about this? The Big East has three

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<v Speaker 1>teams in the top 10 in the country out of

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<v Speaker 1>the Big East. Now, I will admit I learned something today.

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<v Speaker 1>And I will also admit there are many times I

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<v Speaker 1>have to stop and think, wait a minute, that team

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<v Speaker 1>is in which conference? Still today, there are just some

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<v Speaker 1>that don't like, even like UCLA, like, oh yeah, UCLA

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<v Speaker 1>is in the Big Ten. Akron is in the Big

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<v Speaker 1>East for soccer. And I was looking at the national

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<v Speaker 1>rankings today and I said, wait a minute, Akron is

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<v Speaker 1>in the Big East? They're an affiliate program in the

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<v Speaker 1>Big East because the MAAC dropped men's soccer three years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>So Akron plays men's soccer as part of the Big East.

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<v Speaker 1>I learned something new today. And three from the top ten. And, yeah, man,

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<v Speaker 1>they've played 11 matches, Xavier, and they've allowed four goals.

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<v Speaker 1>This Johnny Mantle, my goodness. And at the same time,

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<v Speaker 1>Creighton has scored 41 this year. I think Xavier has

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<v Speaker 1>scored 24 goals. and certainly locked it down defensively. Creighton

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<v Speaker 1>has scored 41, which I think is second most in

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<v Speaker 1>the country. Tomorrow night, 6.30, Corcoran Field, two of the

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<v Speaker 1>remaining four unbeatens in all of college soccer. All right,

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<v Speaker 1>that was great. I'm glad we could catch up with Coach.