Nationally-Ranked Bluejays Play Pair of Neutral Site Games This Weekend

Matches 5-6 at The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic • Sept. 17 & 19
#16 Creighton Bluejays vs. #18 SMU Mustangs
Friday, Sept. 17, 5 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Shea Stadium
#16 Creighton Bluejays vs. Dartmouth Big Green
Sunday, Sept. 19, Noon • Peoria, Ill. • Shea Stadium

Following the Jays: Live stats and live video will be provided by Bradley for both Creighton matches at the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic this weekend. Fans can access both features by following the links provided at Creighton athletic's homepage – www.gocreighton.com.

This Week: The 16th-ranked Bluejays will play in The Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic, hosted by MVC foe Bradley in Peoria, Ill. On Friday, the Bluejays will play longtime Midwest Region rival and 18th-ranked SMU at 5 p.m., and then face the Ivy League's Dartmouth on Sunday at noon.

Last Week: Creighton continued its shutout streak with a 1-0 victory at No. 21 UC Santa Barbara and a 2-0 home win over DePaul. Newcomer Jose Gomez assisted all three scores – all headers on set pieces – during the week to be named MVC Offensive Player of the Week. Senior Andrew Duran scored his first career goal, the game-winner at UCSB, and redshirt sophomore Greg Jordan scored both goals against DePaul. Brian Holt stopped a penalty kick against DePaul and earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Scouting #16 Creighton (4-0-0): Creighton is off to its best start since 2000, posting four consecutive shutout victories to start the season. The Bluejays have out-scored their first four opponents 9-0, after scoring just 20 goals in 16 matches all of last season. The Bluejays return 12 players and six starters from last year's team which finished 7-4-5 and had a streak of 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped. CU, which ranked 18th in the NCAA in goals against average last year, is again poised to rank among national leaders by starting the season with 360 consecutive scoreless minutes. Junior goalkeeper Brian Holt, who owns the CU and MVC career record with a 0.57 goals against average, is back for his third season starting in net. Holt has posted 23 solo shutouts in 39 career starts and played all but nine minutes in goal this season. Senior Kyle Deremer, a preseason all-MVC honoree, is the only returning starter for the CU defense, which has been boosted with the addition of U.S U-20 National Team member, freshman Tyler Polak. Preseason All-American Ethan Finlay began the season on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Finlay is tied with Kris Clark and Greg Jordan for the team lead with two goals each. Sophomore transfer Jose Gomez has assisted each of Creighton's previous five goals before this weekend, as he tops the MVC and ranks second in the NCAA with five assists and leads the team with seven points. The Bluejay attack also returns 2009 MVC Freshman of the Year Dion Acoff.

Head Coach: Jamie Clark (Stanford, 1999) is in his first season at Creighton after spending two successful seasons at Harvard in his first head coaching assignment. A former MLS player and collegiate All-American, Clark is 30-10-1 (.744) in his third season as a head coach, guiding Harvard to the NCAA Tournament in his first two years as a head coach. He was named the NSCAA Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 2009 while leading Harvard to a top-10 ranking, Ivy League championship and third round of the NCAA Tournament. Prior to becoming a head coach he served as an assistant at New Mexico and Notre Dame.

Scouting #18 SMU (5-0-0): The Mustangs appear to have rebounded from a rare losing season in 2009 (6-8-2) by winning their first five games this season. Freshman Juan Castillo leads the team with four goals and eight points. SMU has out-scored opponents 12-4 thus far, posting wins over MVC foes Missouri State and SIU Edwardsville. Craig Hill has played every minute in goal for SMU, stopping 12 shots while logging a 0.78 goals against average.

CU-SMU Series: No program has handed Creighton more losses in men's soccer than SMU, as CU trails the all-time series with its Midwest Region and former MVC rival, 6-16-1. The Bluejays are 2-1-1 in their last four meetings with the Mustangs, including a 3-0 win in the NCAA Tournament in Omaha in 2007. CU and SMU have not met in the regular-season since a neutral site contest, a 1-1 tie in Tulsa, in 2005. Sergio Castillo is the only current Bluejay that played in the previous meeting with SMU – starting and playing all 90 minutes. This meeting will mark the 16th time in 24 meetings with SMU that the Mustangs have been ranked. The Jays have been ranked in 11 of the previous 23 meetings with SMU.

Scouting Dartmouth (2-1-0): The Big Green opened the season with two wins, before falling 1-0 to Stony Brook last weekend. All three of Dartmouth's matches have been at home. Teo Larsson-Sax leads the team with two goals and four points, one of five goal-scorers for the Big Green. Sean Donovan has played every minute in goal this season, making five saves and allowing three goals for a 0.95 GAA.

CU-Dartmouth Series: Creighton and Dartmouth have never played in men's soccer. Head coach Jamie Clark was 1-1-0 against Dartmouth in Ivy League matches while he was head coach at Harvard in 2008-09. Clark and Harvard topped Dartmouth 2-1 last year.

Best Start Since 2000: With four straight shutout victories to open the season, Creighton is off to its best start since the 2000 season. The Bluejays are 4-0-0 for the first time since the 2000 team – which advanced to the College Cup championship match – started the season with six straight wins. Creighton has logged four straight shutouts to open the year for just the second time in school history, equalling the feat first accomplished by the 1999 team. Both the 2005 (4-0-1) and 2007 (3-0-2) teams went undefeated through five matches.

Sharing is Caring: Sophomore Jose Gomez leads the MVC with five assists through four matches this season. The transfer from Cal State Fullerton assisted all three goals for the Bluejays last week and has assisted each of Creighton's last five goals. With five assists on the season, Gomez has already equalled the total of Creighton's assists leader had the entire 2009 season (Josh Moran – 5). Gomez has recorded at least one point in each of his first four matches as a Bluejay, as he tops the team with seven points.

Creighton in the Polls: After receiving no votes in any preseason national polls, the Bluejays jumped into the top 25 in a few polls after the first week of play. This week they are ranked in every major poll, including a No. 16 ranking in the NSCAA poll. The Jays' highest ranking comes from Soccer America at No. 14, while College Soccer News has the Jays at 18 and Soccer Times has CU at No. 20.

Pulling Rank: The Bluejays topped No. 21 UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 7, their third 1-0 win over a ranked opponent in their last four tries. Creighton went 2-1-0 against top-25 opponents last year, defeating No. 23 Cal Poly and No. 7 UCLA by 1-0 scores. The Bluejays are 54-39-9 (.574) all-time against the coaches top 25, including 22-16-7 (.567) in true road games and 8-14-0 (.364) in neutral site games against ranked opponents.

Two Weeks of Sweeps: Through two weeks of the season, Creighton has accounted for all four weekly honors awarded by the Missouri Valley Conference. In week one, Kris Clark and Kyle Deremer were named Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively. In week two, Jose Gomez and Brian Holt notched the same honors.

Statistically Speaking: Creighton is one of four teams in the country to have not surrendered a goal through the first two weeks of the regular-season. The Bluejays are joined by top-ranked Akron, Brown and UC Irvine with a perfect goals against average. Junior goalkeeper Brian Holt is of course tied for the NCAA lead in GAA and save percentage. Sophomore Jose Gomez ranks second in the NCAA with five assists, trailing the leader by one.

Gomez Point Streak: Jose Gomez has not only assisted Creighton's last five goals, he has scored at least one point in all four of his matches this year. No Bluejay recorded a point in four straight matches last year. The last Bluejay to notch a point in four straight matches was Ethan Finlay (Nov. 1-16) in 2008. Byron Dacy was the last Jay to record a point in five straight matches (Oct. 5-19) in 2005.

Holt's Heroics: Junior goalkeeper Brian Holt stopped a penalty kick in CU's 2-0 win over DePaul (Sept. 11). He has now played 351 scoreless minutes this year to lower his career goals against average to 0.57 - the CU and MVC record. The Omaha native has logged 23 shutouts in 39 career starts.

Land of Lincoln: After their 2-0 win over DePaul last Saturday, the Jays have now played two of their five schedule matches against Illinois teams this season (2-0 win over Loyola to open the season). In addition to matches with Loyola, DePaul, Eastern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville and Bradley, the Bluejays also play two matches in a tournament hosted by Bradley in Peoria, Ill., this weekend – and hope to play in two more matches (potentially three) in the MVC Tournament, also hosted by Bradley this season. Creighton's two Illinois natives – Andrew Duran (Mokena) and Greg Jordan (Naperville) – accounted for all three of Creighton's goals last week. Duran, a senior, scored his first career goal at No. 21 UC Santa Barbara, and Jordan scored two goals against DePaul.

Clean Sheets: Creighton has opened the season with four consecutive shutouts for just the second time in school history – the 1999 squad posted four straight clean sheets to open the season. In 2009 the Bluejays allowed just one goal through four matches and the 2008 team allowed only two goals through 10 matches.

Getting Offensive: Creighton has scored nine goals through its first four matches this season, after scoring just two through four matches last year. The Bluejays needed nine matches to get to nine goals scored in 2009. The Jays scored three goals in the first half of their home opener against UNC Greensboro last Saturday. In 2009, the Bluejays did not score three total goals at home until their fifth home contest of the season. The Bluejays have scored at least two goals in three of their first four games this year, one year after they did not score two goals in a match until their seventh contest and scored two or more goals in a match just four times in 16 contests.

Double the Output: Junior Kris Clark had scored two career goals in 32 career matches entering the season. Last week he scored a goal in each of CU's victories – including the game-winner at Loyola Chicago (Sept. 1) – doubling his career total in just two matches. Senior Kyle Deremer had two assists in 34 career matches at Creighton before this year, but doubled his career assist total with a pair of helpers against UNC Greensboro (Sept. 4). For their efforts, the duo was named MVC Offensive (Clark) and Defensive (Deremer) Players of the Week.

Duran Duran: Senior Andrew Duran has been slowed by injuries throughout his career, limiting him to just 30 matches through his first three seasons. Duran, the 2006 NSCAA National High School Player of the Year, scored his first collegiate goal, providing all the offense in a 1-0 win at No. 21 UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 7).

Road Warriors: With a pair of road wins this year, the Bluejays are now undefeated in their last 19 regular-season road matches dating back to a 2006 loss. At 2-0-0 on the road this year, the Jays are now 12-0-7 in regular-season road games over the last four seasons (4-0-1 in 2007, 4-0-2 in 2008, 2-0-4 in 2009). CU last lost a regular-season road match on Oct. 28, 2006, a 2-1 defeat at Bradley. Since the start of the 2007 season, the Bluejays are now 16-3-7 overall in matches away from Omaha, including 12-2-7 in true road matches and 4-1-0 in neutral contests.

Finlay's a Winner: Junior Ethan Finlay scored two goals against UNC Greensboro (Sept. 4), his second career multiple goal match. Included in the match, was his first career penalty kick attempt (and make) and his 10th career game-winning goal. Finlay, who has led the MVC in game-winning goals in each of his first two collegiate seasons, now has 10 game-winning goals of his 16 career scores.

A Hoie There!: Redshirt junior goalkeeper Bryan Hoie made his regular-season collegiate debut for the Bluejays in their shutout of UNC Greensboro (Sept. 4). Hoie, in his fourth year with the program, faced no shots while playing just over nine minutes in his first action as a Bluejay.

Bluejays Hit Blackjack: Creighton has its smallest roster since 1996, with just 21 student-athletes listed on the squad this year. The entire roster of 21 played in CU's 4-0 win over UNC Greensboro on Sept. 4. The small roster is in sharp contrast to the last decade at Creighton, where the average roster size was 30.2 between 2000-09. That 1996 team had 22 players on the squad, but capped the season by appearing in the first College Cup Final Four in school history.

Home Sweet Morrison: Including a 2-0-0 start this season, Creighton is now 54-11-11 (.783) all-time at Morrison Stadium. Creighton has lost just one home match in four of its last six seasons. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 156-27-15 (.826) at home.

Clark Wins Debut: Head coach Jamie Clark won 2-0 over Loyola Chicago on Sept. 1 in his first match as CU's leader. The win puts the six all-time Bluejay coaches at 5-1-0 in their debut match. (The only head coach to lose in his debut was Bret Simon, falling to No. 20 Duke in 1995.) Clark is now 2-1-0 in season-openers in his head coaching career.

Scoring in Debut: Sophomore transfer Jose Gomez scored at Loyola Chicago on Sept. 1 to become the first Bluejay to score in his Creighton debut since another transfer did so in 2005. Brian Kallman (older brother of current sophomore Brent Kallman) scored in his first game of his only season at Creighton, helping the Bluejays tie Portland 1-1 on Sept. 2, 2005. Gomez, who now leads the team with three assists and five points, hopes to avoid Kallman's fate, as that proved to be the only goal of his season.

Don't Shoot: The Bluejays did not allow a shot on goal in their season-opening win at Loyola Chicago (Sept. 1). It marked the first time since Oct. 18, 2008 that the Bluejays held an opponent without a shot on goal. CU allowed only two shots total to the Ramblers, the fewest shots by a Bluejay foe since Memphis attempted only three shots on Oct. 8, 2008. Since 2000, the Jays have posted six matches in which they allowed three shots, but none with two or fewer before their 2010 opener.

California Dreaming: With its 1-0 win at No. 21 UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 7, Creighton is now 10-0-3 in its last 13 meetings with California-based schools. The Bluejays have posted three straight on 1-0 wins over ranked California teams. In fact, Creighton has not allowed a goal to a California school in its last nine meetings, out-scoring Golden State squads 10-0 in that span. CU last allowed a goal to a California school in a 2-2 tie with San Diego State on Aug. 31, 2007 and last lost to a team from California on Sept. 7, 2003 (2-1, 2OT, at Loyola Marymount).

Ethan Finlay Nets Preseason Honors: Junior forward Ethan Finlay has joined a long list of former Bluejays that have been candidates for college soccer's top individual honor, as he has been named to the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Finlay, who has also been tabbed to Soccer America's Preseason All-America Team, led the team with eight goals and 19 points as a sophomore and is CU's active career leader with 14 goals, seven assists and 35 points. He has led the team and MVC in game-winning goals in each of his first two seasons, as nine of his 14 career goals have been game-winners. Finlay is now on the long list of National Player of the Year candidates from Creighton, including the 1997 winner and current assistant coach, Johnny Torres.

CU National Player of the Year Candidates
Year    Player
2010    Ethan Finlay
2009    Byron Dacy, Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic
2008    Byron Dacy, Andrei Gotsmanov
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

That's Offensive: Creighton started the season with a combined 20 career goals (scored at CU) from its 19 field players. Of those 20 goals, 14 came from Ethan Finlay. Beyond Finlay's 14 goals, the remainder of the Bluejay roster had a combined six career goals – Kris Clark (2), Josh Moran (1), Dion Acoff (1), Greg Jordan (1) and Sergio Castillo (1). Finlay (9) and Clark (1) were the only two players with any game-winning goals prior to this season.

Strong Schedule: Jamie Clark inherited one of the toughest schedules in the nation this year, one that features seven teams which advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2009. Akron, the 2009 NCAA runner-up, begins the season ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA, Soccer America and College Soccer News preseason polls. The Jays also play preseason No. 7 Tulsa and No. 8 UC Santa Barbara. The Jays play at UCSB – the site of this season's NCAA College Cup – on Sept. 7. MVC foe Drake, which advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals last year, is ranked 14th in the preseason NSCAA poll. CU also hosts preseason No. 20 Indiana. In addition to those five squads, the Jays also take on 2009 NCAA teams Dartmouth and Missouri State this fall.

Senior Citizens: Creighton has four seniors on the roster this year, all starters. Defender Kyle Deremer, a second-team all-MVC honoree in 2009, has started 34 of the 35 matches he has played in during his three seasons at CU. Sergio Castillo, a two-time MVC All-Tournament Team selection, has started 42 of his 53 career games. Andrew Duran has been slowed by injuries throughout his career, limiting him to 20 starts in 31 matches. Josh Moran started 13 of 15 matches and led the team with five assists in his first year with the Jays last year, earning second-team all-MVC notice for his play.

Nine Newbies: Creighton welcomes nine newcomers to Omaha this fall, including a pair of transfers and seven freshmen. Both transfers – junior Jace Peters and sophomore Jose Gomez started in the season-opener, along with freshman Tyler Polak. Polak, a Lincoln native, is a U-17 and U-20 U.S. National Team member.    Polak has been named one of the College Soccer News “100 Freshmen to Keep an Eye On”. Another freshman who debuted in the opener, Liam Kelly, is a member of the U-20 Canadian National Team.

MVC Preseason Poll: For the first time since 2004, the Bluejays are not favored to win the Missouri Valley Conference as voted on by league coaches. MVC coaches have tabbed Creighton for a third-place finish, behind Evansville and defending regular-season champion Missouri State. This marks just the second time in 20 years of MVC soccer that the Jays have not been picked to finish in the top-two, as CU was tabbed third in the initial MVC preseason poll in 1991. The Bluejays, who have been picked to win The Valley 12 times, own a league record nine regular-season titles.

Welcome and Goodbye: The MVC welcomes two new affiliate men's soccer members this fall, as Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Central Arkansas join the league for the sport. This season also marks the final season that Eastern Illinois will be an affiliate of the MVC in men's soccer. The Panthers, who have been an MVC soccer affiliate since 1996, will become an affiliate member of the Summit League in 2011.

Format Switch: The MVC will return to its typical regular-season schedule this fall, which sees teams meet just once during the season. Last year, the MVC played a double round-robing, with teams meeting twice (home and road). The Valley tournament will return to a six-team field after including just four last year. The top two seeds will earn a bye into the semifinals on Nov. 12, while the 3-6 seeds will face off in opening round play on Nov. 10. The championship will be played on Nov. 14, as all matches will be played at Bradley's Shea Stadium in Peoria, Ill.

Familiar Faces Return: Jamie Clark retained assistant coach Johnny Torres on his staff, while two other former Bluejay standouts have returned to the bench this fall. Matt Wieland, the 2003 MVC Defensive Player of the Year and 2005 NSCAA Third-Team All-American, is serving as CU's graduate manager this season. Michael Kraus, 2006 MVC Player of the Year, has returned to campus to complete his undergraduate work this semester and will be a student assistant coach for the Bluejays while finishing up his school work.

Exhibition Summary: Creighton won both of its exhibition matches by 2-1 scores, defeating Denver (Aug. 21) on the road and winning a home contest against nationally-ranked NAIA foe Hastings (Neb.) College last Friday. Illinois natives Andrew Duran and Greg Jordan scored for the Bluejays in Denver, while Kyle Deremer and Ethan Finlay notched the tallies at home. Sophomore transfer Jose Gomez assisted three of CU's four goals in exhibition play. Junior goalkeeper Brian Holt logged seven saves and a 0.62 goals against average.

Updated & Extended Coverage: Fans will notice Creighton home matches not only have a new live stats platform, but will also benefit from Creighton's change to BCS Stats. The new live stats provider allows fans to follow the live action on their mobile device at www.gocreightonstats.com. Fans can also find more info on Bluejay athletics on Facebook at the “Official Creighton Athletics Page” and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gocreighton.

Nationally-Ranked Bluejays Play Pair of Neutral Site Games This Weekend

Players Mentioned

Dion Acoff

Sergio Castillo

Kris Clark

Byron Dacy

Kyle Deremer

Andrew Duran

Ethan Finlay

Jose Gomez

Bryan Hoie

Brian Holt

Greg Jordan

Brent Kallman

Liam Kelly

Josh Moran

Jace Peters

Tyler Polak

Chris Schuler

Seth Sinovic

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