CHICAGO – Senior midfielder Fernando Barragan (Burbank, Ill./Moraine Valley/Reavis) found the back of the net in the 62^nd minute to even the match at 1-1for the Saint Xavier University men's soccer team (0-0-1, 0-0 CCAC) in their season opening draw with No. 3 University of Rio Grande (Ohio) Friday evening at Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field in Chicago, Ill. The RedStorm broke a scoreless tie in the 58^th minute off a rebounded save before Barragan tied the match just over four minutes later. Overall, URG outshot the host Cougars, 17-12, with SXU making nine saves on the evening.

• Graduate Student goalkeeper Andres Zamora (Cicero, Ill./Morton East) stopped all eight shots he faced, with five saves coming in the first half.
• Junior midfielder Jaedan Aguilera (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere North) led the offensive attack for Saint Xavier with seven shot attempts and four shots on goal in 77 minutes of action.
• Barragan tallied three shot attempts with one on goal in 81 minutes.
• The first 45 minutes saw both teams figuring out their attack as defense on both sides controlled the pace. Rio Grande recorded its first shot attempt in the 8^th minute and Aguilera broke through with a shot on the Cougars in the 25^th minute.
• Zamora made a pair of saves just over a minute apart in the 27^th and 28^th minutes respectively, as the RedStorm held a 7-1 shot advantage going into halftime.
• Aguilera had his header attempt saved right on the door stop in the 48^th minute. He would have two more shot attempts in the next five minutes.
• A team save by SXU in the 57^th minute kept the match scoreless, however URG midfielder Altan Sayer had a shot that was saved by Zamora that redirected of the post and he would gather the rebound for his first goal of season.
• Barragan knotted the score at 1-1 when he broke from the pack and laced a shot into the lower left corner from about 15 yards outs for his first goal on the year.
• Saint Xavier kept up the attack over the next 10 minutes with four shot attempts and three corner kicks.
• Rio Grande had chances in the 83^rd minute but the SXU defense and a Zamora save were able to hold on down the stretch and earned a point to start the 2023 campaign.

Saint Xavier (0-0-1/0-0 CCAC) heads to Huntington, Ind. to face Huntington University (Ind.) on Wednesday, August 23. The match is scheduled for a 6:00 pm central start.