Men's Soccer at WKU and UNCG This Week

#10 Creighton at Western Kentucky
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 7:00 p.m. ? Bowling Green, Ky.
#10 Creighton at UNC Greensboro
Saturday, Oct. 20, 6:00 p.m. (CST) ? Greensboro, N.C.

This Week: The Bluejays play a pair of road games, starting with a Missouri Valley Conference match at Western Kentucky on Wednesday and then the final regular-season non-conference match of the season at UNC Greensboro on Saturday. Live stats are not available for the WKU contest, but will live stats and live video will be available for the UNCG match via links on the Creighton athletics website front page.

Last Week: Creighton opened MVC play 1-0-1. The Jays overcame a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw against Bradley last Wednesday, with Jeremy Witting providing his first career goal and assist in the tie. CU then scored with 0.4 seconds on the clock in double overtime for a 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois. Tony Schmitz scored the game-winner after scoring the equalizer against BU, and he was named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week for his play. Matt Allen was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

Scouting Creighton (6-1-4, 1-0-1 MVC): Creighton has played overtime in seven of its 11 matches this season, while already equalling the school record for draws in a season with four. The Bluejays are a perfect 3-0-0 away from Omaha this season, including a 3-1 win at Memphis in their only true road match of the season. Senior captain Tony Schmitz leads the team with four goals and 11 points, while junior Andrei Gotsmanov tops the team with four assists and 43 shots. CU leads the league in shots per game with 17.6, while Gotsmanov tops the MVC with 3.9 per contest. Freshman Tucker Sindlinger returned to play last week, after a bout with mono, which fellow rookie Andrew Duran is still recovering from, while preseason MAC Hermann Trophy candidate Byron Dacy is out for the year with a torn ACL. The CU defense is anchored by sophomores Chris Schuler and Jeff Thayer, along with junior Seth Sinovic. Senior Matt Allen, the only goalkeeper on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, has played every minute in net, stopping 35 shots with a 0.98 goals against average.

Scouting Western Kentucky (1-8-4, 0-1-1 MVC): The preseason pick to finish last in the MVC has just one win through 13 matches, a 2-0 victory over Centenary on Sept. 14. Since that win, the Hilltoppers are 0-6-2 in their last eight matches, including a scoreless draw with Missouri State last Saturday. WKU has been out-scored 20-9 this year, with Ben Backstrom scoring three of WKU's goals to lead the team. Pat Rickman (757 mins, 1.31 GAA) and Kyle Schroeder (535 mins, 1.51 GAA) split time in net for the Hilltoppers.

Scouting UNC Greensboro (6-6-2): The Spartans are coming off an 8-0 loss to No. 2 Wake Forest on Tuesday night, and have lost five of their last seven games. UNCG owns a 2-3-0 mark in the Southern Conference, after winning the league last year. Thomas Campbell leads the team with eight goals and 18 points, while Jokull Elisabetarson adds five goals for UNCG. Nate Berry (864 mins, 1.98 GAA) and Chad Janda (370 mins, 1.70 GAA) have split time in goal for the Spartans, as the team has a combined 2.01 goals against average. UNCG has now been out-scored 29-24 on the season, and allowed 4-of-5 penalty kicks.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Bluejays' head coach with a 161-53-26 (.725) record in his 12th season at CU. His overall record is 354-172-56 (.656) in his 30th year of coaching. Warming, the MVC All-Centennial Coach and the all-time winningest soccer coach at CU, has guided teams to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, is a five-time finalist for National Coach of the Year and is a two-time MVC Coach of the Year. He was named the NSCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2005 and ranked eighth among active Division I coaches in career victories to open the year.

CU-WKU Series: The Bluejays are 10-1-0 all-time against the Hilltoppers, with the lone loss, 1-0, coming at WKU in 2005. The Jays bounced back from that defeat to post a 4-0 win over WKU last year in Omaha. CU returners Mo Travis and Jeff Thayer each scored a goal in that win. CU is 3-1-0 all-time at WKU, and the Jays have out-scored the Hilltoppers 24-6 all-time.

CU-UNCG Series: The Bluejays and Spartans have each won one match in the series history, playing in two neutral site contests. UNCG won 4-0 in the last meeting between the teams in 1997, while the Jays topped the Spartans 2-0 in the first meeting in 1993.

Allen, Schmitz Honored: Senior Matt Allen and Tony Schmitz were honored by the MVC as the Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week, respectively, for their play last week. Allen made a season-high seven saves in CU's 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois and earned Defensive POW honors for the fourth time in his career. The honor was a first for Schmitz, who scored the equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Bradley and the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left in double overtime against Eastern Illinois.

We're Even: Seven of Creighton's 11 matches this season have gone into overtime, with the Jays owning a 3-0-4 mark in extra time. Last year's squad played seven overtime matches in its first 12 contests en route to setting a school record with eight overtime matches played. This year, the Bluejays have already tied the school record for draws in a season with four, established by the 2003 team. All four of CU's draws have come at home, as the Bluejays have now recorded 10 ties at Morrison Stadium since the venue opened in 2003. Prior to 2003, the Bluejays had just five home draws combined between 1990 and 2002. The Jays are now 17-10-26 all-time under Bob Warming in overtime games.

Hawaii Two-O: Hawaii native Jeremy Wittig (jersey No. 20) scored his first career goal and added his first career assist in Creighton's 2-2 draw with Bradley last Wednesday night. The redshirt freshman headed in CU's first goal in the 29th minute and then assisted on Tony Schmitz's goal in the 57th minute. Making the night all the more special for Wittig, his family had traveled from Hawaii to watch the match.

Oh Shoot: Andrei Gotsmanov led a record-setting night against Bradley (Oct. 10). The junior unleashed 10 shots to set the CU record for shots at Morrison Stadium and tie the venue record set by Alejandro Bedoya of Fairleigh Dickinson (vs. Missouri State on Sept. 1, 2006). CU's 28 shots against BU also established a school record for shots at Morrison Stadium and fell one shy FDU's record set against MSU that same day. Gotsmanov has established a Morrison Stadium record for shots in a season, with 35 shots attempted at home this year.

Home Sweet Morrison: The Bluejays played their 50th match at Morrison Stadium last Saturday, where they are now 34-6-10 (.780) all-time, including 3-1-4 this year. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 136-22-15 at home. The Bluejays are 50-4-3 at home all-time in Missouri Valley Conference play, including 15-1-2 at Morrison Stadium. CU's lone Valley loss at Morrison Stadium was a 1-0 defeat to No. 17 SMU on Oct. 1, 2004. Since then, the Bluejays have gone unbeaten in their last 12 MVC regular-season home matches. The Jays have ranked in the top-10 in the nation in attendance in all four years that Morrison Stadium has been open.

Valley Leaders: Creighton tops the MVC with 17.6 shots per game, despite only being credited with five shots in its win at Memphis. The Jays' 7.8 corner kicks per game are also tops in the MVC, far more than Eastern Illinois' 6.0 per game. Andrei Gotsmanov's 3.9 shots per game also top the league.

Poll Position: Creighton has been ranked in the NSCAA/adidas top 25 poll every week this season and is ranked 10th by the coaches this week. CU is ranked 12th in the Soccer Times poll, No. 15 in the College Soccer News poll (for the fourth straight week) and No. 19 by Soccer America.

October Success: Since 2002, Creighton is now 31-7-6 (.773) in the month of October, including back-to-back undefeated Octobers in 2002 and 2003. The Bluejays are 2-0-2 this month, after a 5-1-1 2006 October.

Time to Turn it Up: Since 2002, the Bluejays' pre-October winning percentage is .677, while their October-on winning percentage since 2002 is now .747, including a 2-0-2 mark this year. See the below chart:

Year Pre-Oct. Oct.-On NCAA
2002 5-2-1 13-2-1 College Cup
2003 3-3-2 9-3-2 Quarterfinals
2004 6-1-0 8-3-2 Third Round
2005 4-1-2 11-4-1 Quarterfinals
2006 6-3-2 7-2-1 First Round
2007 4-1-2 2-0-2 ???
?02-07 28-11-9 50-14-9

Attendance Figures: Creighton is on pace to shatter its average home attendance record of 2,015 set in 2004. The Jays are averaging 3,222 fans through eight home matches this season. While the NCAA does not release attendance figures until the end of the season, an unofficial look around the country shows Creighton trailing Saint Louis by 59 fans for the average attendance lead.

NCAA Attendance Leaders (as of 10/15)
1. Saint Louis - 3,281
2. Creighton - 3,222
3. Virginia - 3,116
4. Duke - 2,984
5. Indiana - 2,946

Fantastic Fanatics: Bluejay soccer fans continue to turn out in record numbers, as CU's match with Tulsa on Sept. 22 drew 4,023. The 4,023 fans ranked as the sixth-highest game attendance in school history and it follows up CU's last home match which drew a record 5,812 to see UCLA on Sept. 8.

Top Six Creighton Home Crowds
1 ? 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007
2 ? 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
3 ? 4,407 vs. Saint Louis, Aug. 31, 1997
4 ? 4,345 vs. Virginia (Exh.), Aug. 28, 1993
5 ? 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
6 ? 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007

Top Five Morrison Stadium Crowds
1 ? 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007
2 ? 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
3 ? 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
4 ? 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007
5 ? 3,746 vs. Georgetown, Sept. 1, 2006

Winning is Contagious: Six Bluejay wins have produced six different game-winning goal scorers this season ? Andrei Gotsmanov vs. Green Bay (Sept. 2), Tim Walters vs. Indiana (Sept. 13), Byron Dacy vs. LMU (Sept. 15), Thomas Gjoesund vs. Washington (Sept. 29), Mo Travis at Memphis (Oct. 7) and Tony Schmitz vs. Eastern Illinois (Oct. 13).

Matt's Minutes: Should senior goalkeeper Matt Allen play all 180 minutes (or more) on this week's road trip, he will move in to second place on the CU career minutes played list. He enters the week with 5,701 minutes played, 146 behind Jay Fitzgerald for second place and 273 behind the record held by Jim Dalla Riva. Allen's career win total is 37, which ranks third, while his 220 career saves rank fourth on the CU charts. His 22 shutouts are just two shy of the school record, while his 0.87 career goals against average ranks second.

Conference Openers: The Bluejays moved to 11-2-4 all-time in MVC openers. Prior to last Wednesday's 2-2 tie with Bradley, the Bluejays had out-scored their opponents 9-0 in their previous two Valley openers, topping Western Kentucky 4-0 in Omaha last year and crushing Eastern Illinois 5-0 in 2005. The Jays are 7-1-3 in MVC openers under Bob Warming.

Sinovic Honored Again: For the second time this season, junior Seth Sinovic has been named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for his play against Western Illinois and Memphis last week. The defender moved forward to help the CU attack against WIU, launching four shots, while also holding the Leathernecks without a second-half shot until the 87th minute. He then scored his first goal of the season and added an assist in CU's 3-1 at Memphis, while helping hold off a hard-charging Tiger attack.

Battling the Best: Creighton's win over second-ranked Indiana (Sept. 13) was the Bluejays' best win against a top 25 team since topping No. 2 SMU in 2000. The win improved the Bluejays to 5-5-1 all-time against teams ranked in the top-five of the coaches poll. CU is 2-0-1 against NSCAA top 25 teams this year, while also playing to a scoreless draw with No. 11 UCLA (Sept. 8) and defeating No. 24 Washington 2-1 on Sept. 29. The Bluejays are now 8-1-1 against NSCAA top 25 teams at Morrison Stadium and 18-8-2 against top 25 teams at home all-time. CU owns a 46-37-9 mark all-time against the coaches top 25.

Cornered In: Creighton has twice tied the Morrison Stadium record with 13 corner kicks this season, doing so against Western Illinois (Oct. 5) and against San Diego State (Aug. 31). The Jays tied the record which was established against Illinois-Chicago on Oct. 5, 2005. CU has out-worked its opponents 86-46 on corner kicks this season.

Dacy Has Surgery: Junior forward Byron Dacy will undergo surgery to repair his torn left ACL. Dacy suffered the injury in the 13th minutes of CU's exhibition match with Ohio State on Aug. 18. He attempted to rehabilitate the knee and played in two regular-season matches - two minutes against UCLA (Sept. 8) and 19 minutes against Loyola Marymount (Sept. 15). He scored the game-winning goal in overtime against LMU. His surgery took place Oct. 10.

Go Gjoesund: Thomas Gjoesund's first career goal was a memorable one against No. 24 Washington (Sept. 29). The defender-turned-attacker scored the game-winning goal in overtime, as his direct free kick was blasted past the UW keeper to give CU a 2-1 win in the 98th minute. The sophomore had played just 18 minutes off the bench in the match, while playing out of position due to several Bluejay injuries. It was just his 10th career shot in his 22nd career game. The Norway native scored again at Memphis (Oct. 7) for his second goal of the year.

Write the Script: Junior forward Tim Walters enjoyed an outstanding homecoming at the Saint Louis Nike Classic (Sept. 13-15). The St. Louis native scored the game-winning goal against second-ranked Indiana in a 2-1 win (Sept. 13). Making the homecoming all the more special, Tim's father played soccer at IU from 1976-79. Walters was rewarded with his first start as a Bluejay on Sept. 15 and he assisted the game-winning goal in overtime of CU's 1-0 victory over Loyola Marymount. For his efforts in leading CU to the co-championship of the tournament, he was named co-MVP, MVC Offensive Player of the Week and to three national teams of the week.

Three of a Kind: CU's backline of Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic and Jeff Thayer were each named to the Saint Louis Nike Classic All-Tournament Team (Sept. 13-15) for their efforts in shutting down No. 2 Indiana, 2-1, and shutting out Loyola Marymount. 1-0. Sinovic also earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors, one week after Schuler earned the award.

First Comes Last: Tim Bohnenkamp waited until his last year as a Bluejay to record a first. The senior scored the first goal away from Omaha in his career against No. 2 Indiana (Sept. 13). His previous six career goals had all come at Morrison Stadium. The Omaha native has enjoyed playing in his hometown throughout his career, as 26 of his 32 career points have come at Morrison Stadium.

Third Time's a Charm: Sophomore Chris Schuler was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in his career when he earned the honor after anchoring the Bluejays' shutout of 11th-ranked UCLA (Sept. 8). He used his 6-foot-4 frame to clear balls in the air and also had outstanding challenges on the ground to limit the Bruins to just three shots on goal in CU's second straight shutout.

Andrei the Giant: Junior Andrei Gotsmanov paid immediate dividends in his first weekend at Creighton, scoring CU's first game-winning goal of the year and notching a multiple goal match in the Jays' 3-0 win over Green Bay. The multiple goal match was the fourth of Gotsmanov's career, after recording two hat tricks and a two-goal match at St. John's as a freshman in 2004 (his only other year of collegiate competition).

Preseason Favorites: The Bluejays are the Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorites for the third straight year, according to a vote of league coaches. The Jays received five of the seven first-place votes and 47 of the possible 49 points in the poll. CU will be aiming for back-to-back regular-season titles for the first time since winning five straight from 1992-96.

Rookie Watch: Freshmen Andrew Duran and Tucker Sindlinger have been named among the Top 100 Freshmen to Watch by CollegeSoccerNews.com. Duran, a two-time prep All-American, was named the NSCAA National Player of the Year last season as a midfielder at Lincoln-Way (Ill.) East High. Sindlinger, a forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has extensive international playing experience as part of the Region II Olympic Development Program.

National Player of the Year Candidates: Senior goalkeeper Matt Allen and junior forward Byron Dacy have been named to the preseason watch list for the MAC Hermann Trophy, annually given to the top soccer player in Division I. Allen enters this season on pace to set CU career records for shutouts and minutes played. Dacy has led the team in scoring in each of his first two seasons, but will miss the remainder of this year due to a torn ACL suffered in the preseason. Allen joins Dacy on the long list of National Player of the Year candidates from Creighton, including the 1997 winner and current manager, Johnny Torres.

CU National Player of the Year Candidates
Year Player
2007 Byron Dacy & Matt Allen
2006 Byron Dacy
2004 Julian Nash
2003 David Wagenfuhr
2002 Mike Tranchilla
2001 Mike Tranchilla
1997 Johnny Torres (Won)
1996 Ross Paule
1993 Keith DeFini & Brian Kamler

Homecoming: Two former Bluejay standouts have returned to the Bluejay bench this season. Mike Gabb, a two-time College Cup participant and CU goalkeeper from 1998-2002, has returned as an assistant coach working with the keepers. Two-time National Player of the Year and CU Athletics Hall of Famer Johnny Torres is back as an undergraduate manager as he finishes his degree. Torres, arguably the greatest player in school and league history, played at CU from 1994-97 and played professionally for the past 10 years.

Exhibition Recap: Creighton, ranked in the top 25 of three national preseason polls, played just one exhibition match, tying Ohio State 2-2 at home on Aug. 18. CU twice trailed and twice scored the equalizer, with senior Sam Eid providing the first goal and redshirt freshman Jeremy Wittig scoring the second goal in the 88th minute to even the match up. No overtime was played. Preseason National Player of the Year Candidate Matt Allen made five saves in goal for CU, while the Bluejays' other representative on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, Byron Dacy, did not fare as well. Dacy was injured in the 13th minute, suffering a torn left ACL, forcing him to take a medical redshirt this season.

Last Season in Short: Creighton finished the 2006 season with a 13-5-3 record, after losing a first-round NCAA Tournament match at Washington, 3-0. The tournament appearance was Creighton's 15th straight, as they are one of just five teams in Division I to have appeared in each of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments. The Bluejays won both the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles last year, while they also had the MVC Player of the Year (Michael Kraus) and MVC Defensive Player of the Year (Matt Allen). Allen returns this year, as does the MVC Tournament MVP Byron Dacy and Freshman All-American Chris Schuler. Dacy topped the team with six assists and 16 points last year, while Kraus, who now plays in the MLS with the Kansas City Wizards, led the team with six goals, including five game-winners.

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