Women's Soccer to Play for Fifth Valley Title on Sunday Against Illinois State
11/7/2009 3:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Sunday's Opponent
Creighton will look to earn its fifth NCAA Tournament berth under Bruce Erickson when they take on Illinois State on Sunday afternoon in the State Farm MVC Tournament championship match.
Illinois State Series
Only Evansville has more wins (14) over Creighton then Illinois State does. Creighton is 5-10-3 all-time against the Redbirds, and are looking to avenge a 2-1 loss to the Redbirds in Normal earlier this season.
Follow the Jays Live
Live stats of Sunday's match can be accessed by going to the women's soccer page at www.gocreighton.com. Click the link on the women's soccer schedule to access the feature. The game will also be televised live in the Omaha area on Cox Media channel
122 through Fox Sports Net.
Recent Results
The Jays earned their spot in Sunday's championship match with a thrilling, overtime victory over Missouri State on Friday. Laura Nasseri scored the game winning goal in the 99th minute of action to give the Jays their second win over Missouri State this season. It was the first time the Jays had ever beat the Bears twice in one season.
Earlier This Year
ILS won its fifth straight match with a 2-1 win over Creighton on Oct. 10. Heather Sterling and Rachel Bostick scored to put the Redbirds up 2-0 before Brittney Neumann scored in the 73rd minute for CU.
We Meet Again...
The Redbirds and Jays will meet for the fifth time in the Valley Tournament on Sunday. The last three meetings have come in the championship match, with Creighton winning the title on PK's (5-4) in 2007, and with a 1-0, overtime win in 2002. Illinois State won its only MVC title in 2003 with a penalty kick victory. 5-4. The only non-title, tournament match came in 1997, when the Jays won in the quarterfinals, 2-0.
Tough to Top
Creighton's current record in MVC Tournament matches is 18-7-3. Evansville is the only team to beat the Jays in the tournament, with all the other CU setbacks coming on penalty kicks. The Jays are 2-0-2 against Illinois State in the tournament compared to a 3-10-1 mark in the regular season.
Win Mark
Creighton's 13 wins puts the squad one win away from tying the school record. The Jays had 14 wins in back-to-back seasons in 1993 and 1994 and haven't won 13 since 1998.
BRUUUUUUUUCE!
Head coach Bruce Erickson won his 13th game of the year Friday, marking the best total of his Creighton tenure. Erickson had won 12 matches four times, before finally earning the elusive 13th on Friday. Erickson is the CU's all-time wins leader with a record of 117-87-21.
Line-Em' Up, Shut Em' Out
Even though the Creighton offense leads the MVC in goals, the defense has been the true headliner. The squad currently has 11 shutouts on the season, good for the CU school record. If the Jays can post one more, they will tie the 2000 Evansville and 2003 Illinois State squads for MVC record for shutouts in a season.
Mont-Gamer-ey
Alicia Montgomery is having one of the finest seasons as goaltender not only in Creighton history, but in MVC history as well. If the season ended today, Montgomery would be tied with Andrea Shaw of Illinois State (2006) for the single season MVC record for goals against average with a 0.56 mark.
Tag Team, Back Again
While Alicia Montgomery has logged a bulk of the minutes in net, Kaitie Jo Swanson has chipped in to produce a stellar season between the pipes for the CU goaltender corps. The two have combined for a 0.58 GAA and should set the Creighton single season record. The old mark was 0.81, set in 2003.
With One Comes the Other...
With the goals against mark set to fall, the Creighton goals allowed mark is ready to fall as well. The Jays have allowed just 12 goals this season, and will try to top the 1998 team's mark of 16 goals allowed.
Two-fer
Another first for Creighton is still in the works. The Jays have yet to allow more than two goals in a match this year, and if they can continue that trend it will be the first time in school history the feat will be accomplished.
Regional Rankings
The Bluejays started out the 2009 season 7-1-1, marking one of the team's best starts ever. That record had Creighton ranked in the adidas/NSCAA Great Lakes Regional rankings for seven straight weeks to start the season.
Freshman Feat
Laura Nasseri's game-winning goal on Sunday was one of very few like it. Nasseri was just the third Creighton freshman, and first since 2000, to score a game-winning goal in the Valley Tournament. Kori Dahlkoetter was the first to accomplish that feat in a 2-0 win over Illinois State in 1997, and Krystle Campa was the other, posting the game-winner in a 5-1 win over Drury.
Picking up Their Game
After slow starts, Beth Fyles and Mary Zapapas have picked up their performance. Fyles has scored three goals in her last three matches, and Zapapas has tallied four assists in her last four matches.
Short Lived Lead
Mary Zapapas took the league assist lead outright on Friday with her sixth of the season on Creighton's first goal. Brittney Neumann quickly came back to tie her in the helper column, as she posted the first assist on the game winning goal to knot up Zapapas.
Getting One for the Pinky?
Of the Creighton staff members, only Bruce Erickson and Ivonne Valentin are the only two to have a hand in all four of the Jays MVC postseason titles. Erickson has been the head coach for all four, but Valentin won three as a player and served as a volunteer assistant under Erickson for 2007's championship.
Scorers Touch
Coming into the tournament, only two players on the roster had scored a point in the postseason. Kyla Hoskins had a game-winning goal in the 2007 MVC title match and Emily Orbell had an assist in that season's semifinals. So far this postseason, six different players have recorded at least one point.
Play-In Pressure
Since 1996, Creighton had only won one title when having to play a quarterfinal match. That came in 2007 when the Jays won their first two matches and advanced after defeating Illinois State on penalty kicks, 4-3.
Final Round Record
Creighton has played in six Valley championship matches since 1996. The Jays are 4-1-1 in those games, with the lone loss coming to Evansville in 1996. The tie came to Illinois State in 2003, as the Redbirds won the shootout 5-4 after a 0-0, double-overtime tie.
ILS, CU Championship Matches
Creighton's last match with Illinois State in the tourney came in 2007. After the Redbirds used a penalty kick goal in the 66th minute to take a 1-0 lead, Kyla Hoskins scored in the 87th minute to send the match to overtime, and eventually the shootout where the Jays won 4-3.
The two team's traded first-ever titles in 2003 when the Redbirds won on penalty kicks. Creighton's Jamie Thompson and Illinois State's Allison Farrington both made five saves, but it was Farrington making the only save of the shootout for a 5-4 win.
The Jays dealt ILS a tough loss in 2002 when they won the school's first league title. Kelan Brill scored with 19 seconds left in the first overtime to give CU a 1-0 victory.
Free Soccer!
Creighton has now played in eight overtime matches in MVC Tourney play, putting up a 4-1-3 mark. The Jays haven't had the greatest luck in the shootout, losing two of the three shootouts they have done.
Smarty Pants
Three Jays earned a nod to the 2009 CoSIDA District 7 All-Academic Team. Kyla Hoskins, Eden Hingwing and Claire Zach were the three named to the squad. Zach was honored last year by the MVC, earning a spot on the scholar-athlete team.
More Freshman Feats
Brittney Neumann's great season earned her the Valley's Freshman of the Year award. Creighton has now had two of the last three Freshman of the Year honorees, as Emily Orbell won the award in 2007. Regina Moench also won in 2001.
First Team Streak
Creighton kept an impressive streak alive this year when they placed three players, Kelly Connolly, Emily Orbell and Brittney Neumann, on the conference's first team. The Jays have had at least one player on the first team every year since they joined the league in 2006. All-in-all, 21 Bluejays have accounted for 32 first team selections in the last 14 seasons.
All-Tournament Watch
28 Bluejays have earned 35 spots on the MVC All-Tournament Team. Current Jays Kyla Hoskins and Eden Hingwing both received all-tourney nods in 2007, and can join a group of five former Jays, including current coach Ivonne Valentin, that have multiple all-tournament awards. Marcy Gans and Kristina Schoeck are the only two players with three such awards.
Neumann Notes
Being a freshman hasn't stopped Brittney Neumann from making her mark on the Jays. Neumann is just the third CU freshman to earn first team all-MVC honors and if she holds her team point lead, she will be the sixth CU frosh to lead the scoring. Jessica Powers and Regina Moench were the only other CU freshman to earn first team selections in 1997 and 2001 respectively.
National Notice
Creighton has seen its name near the top of Division I in a few team and individual statistical categories. Here is a list of the latest Jays to crack the lists (stats as of 11/1 report):
Alicia Montgomery
14th - Goals against average - 0.53
T14th - Save percentage - 0.88
Brittney Neumann
T12th - Single game points - 8 - Aug. 28 vs. South Dakota
T16th - Single game goals - 3 - Aug. 28 vs. South Dakota
Mary Zapapas
T5th - Single game assists - 3 - Oct. 18 vs. Southern Utah
As a team CU was 21st in scoring offense (2.21 goals per game), 16th in GAA (0.56) and 8th in save percentage (0.88).
