Creighton University
Georgetown
Men's Soccer Hosts #1 Georgetown For Socctoberfest on Saturday Night
9/15/2021 1:20:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays hosting No. 1 ranked team for first time in program history
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Creighton hosts No. 1 Georgetown on Saturday night for the Bluejays' Socctoberfest Match and conference opener for both teams.
Follow the Match
Saturday's match will feature live video and live stats.
Live video for the contest will be available via the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports while live stats will be featured through StatBroadcast. Saturday's broadcast team will feature Donny Baarns and Josh Peterson.
A subscription is required to view the event on FloSports.
UPDATE: Saturday's previously scheduled Spanish broadcast on La Nueva has been cancelled.Â
Links to video and live stats will be provided on the Creighton Men's Soccer schedule page.
Updates will be provided during the match on Twitter (@CreightonMSOC).
Scouting Creighton (1-2-1)
The Bluejays enter Saturday without playing a match since Sept. 6 against Ohio State in Bloomington, Indiana.
Creighton is 1-0-1 in the month of September with a victory at #1 Indiana, 3-0, and a 1-1 tie against Ohio State.
Senior goalkeeper Paul Kruse leads the BIG EAST with 19 saves and owns one shutout.
Kruse made eight saves — one off his career-high — during the season opener (Aug. 26) before needing to make seven stops on Aug. 29 at Saint Louis.
Freshman Manu Toledano leads Creighton with two goals, while Charles Auguste, Dominic Briggs and Diego Gutierrez each have one.
Briggs and Auguste each pace the team with two assists.
Gutierrez led the Bluejays last season with 16 points from five goals and six assists on his way to the BIG EAST Player of the Year award for the 2020 season (completed in spring of 2021). He was also tabbed the preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year for this season.
Head coach Johnny Torres is in his third year at the helm of the Bluejays after spending 12 years as an assistant coach.
Scouting #1 Georgetown (5-0-0)
The Hoyas enter Saturday's contest unblemished.
Georgetown has allowed just one goal during 450 minutes of action.
GU owns four consecutive shutouts and has not allowed a goal since the 82nd minute of its season-opener against UC Irvine. The Hoyas claimed 1-0 wins during each of their last three matches.
All-American Giannis Nikopolidis has not allowed a goal during three starts and owns just four saves, while Ethan Koehler has two starts and allowed just one goal with five saves.
Offensively, three players share the team lead with five points.
John Franks and Kieran Sargeant each boast two goals and one assist, while reigning BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Dante Polvara has one goal and three assists.
Ten different Hoyas have recorded at least one assist and the team owns 14 helpers overall on nine goals this season.
Head coach Brian Wiese is in his 16th season at the helm of Georgetown. He led the Hoyas to the 2019 National Championship.
Series History Against Hoyas
Georgetown leads the all-time series against Creighton, 6-3-2.
Creighton's last win against the Hoyas came on Nov. 3, 2016 (3-0 in Omaha).
Georgetown owns a 6-1-2 record against the Bluejays since Creighton joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season.
The Bluejays and Hoyas met during the final match of the regular season from 2015 to 2019 and Saturday marks the first time the programs will open the league slate against each other.
Socctoberfest Success
Saturday marks Creighton's ninth Socctoberfest event.
The Bluejays are a perfect 8-0 during Socctoberfest matches with wins over Bradley, Columbia, Western Illinois, Cal State Northridge, Penn, South Florida, Memphis and Akron. Creighton has outscored the opposition 16-3 in those matches.
The Bluejays picked up a 2-1 victory against Akron during the 2019 Socctoberfest at Morrison Stadium.
After hosting 1,843 fans for the inaugural Soccotberfest in 2012, Creighton has averaged a crowd of 4,246 during the last seven events, including three of the largest crowds in program history.
Previous Socctoberfest Matches
Date Opponent, Result Attendance
Oct. 20, 2012 Bradley, W, 1-0 1,843
Sept. 6, 2013 Columbia, W, 3-1 5,102+
Sept. 5, 2014 Western Illinois, W, 1-0 3,750
Sept. 4, 2015 CSUN, W, 2-1 4,907^
Sept. 9, 2016 Penn, W, 3-0 2,888
Sept. 8, 2017 South Florida, W, 2-0 3,889
Sept. 7, 2018 Memphis, W, 2-0 4,367
Sept. 6, 2019 #21 Akron, W, 2-1 4,818#
+ - 10th-best single match attendance
^ - 11th-best single match attendance
# - 13th-best single match attendance
Largest Crowds In Bluejay History
Creighton is expecting a large crowd for Saturday's Socctoberfest match against No. 1 Georgetown.
Morrison Stadium has hosted more than 6,000 fans twice, more than 5,000 fans on 10 occasions and more than 4,000 fans a total of 23 times.
Top Home Crowds in Bluejay History
1. 6,848 vs. Old Dominion, Sept. 14, 2012 (L, 1-2)
2. 6,453 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 29, 2015 (W, 1-0)
3. 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007 (T, 0-0, 2OT)
4. 5,743 vs. Stanford (exhibition), Aug. 26, 2005 (L, 0-1)
5. 5,609 vs. Missouri State, Sept. 19, 2009 (L, 0-1)
6. 5,473 vs. Clemson, Aug. 24, 2018 (W, 2-0)
7. 5,425 vs. Drexel, Sept. 4, 2011 (W, 3-0)
8. 5,386 vs. Seton Hall, Sept. 17, 2016 (W, 4-1)
9. 5,282 vs. St. John's, Sept. 21, 2013 (W, 1-0, 2OT)
10. 5,102 vs. Columbia, Sept. 6, 2013 (W, 3-1) #
11. 4,907 vs. CSUN, Sept. 4, 2015 (W, 2-1) #
12. 4,838 vs. Michigan, Aug. 28, 2015 (W, 1-0)
13. 4,818 vs. Akron, Sept. 6, 2019 (W, 2-1) #
14. 4,766 vs. Nebraska-Omaha, Sept. 5, 2016 (T, 1-1, 2OT)
15. 4,711 vs. Butler, Sept. 15, 2018 (W, 3-0)
16. 4,544 vs. Saint Louis, Sept. 20, 2014 (L, 0-1 OT)
17. 4,367 vs. Memphis, Sept. 7, 2018 (W, 2-0)
18. 4,242 vs. Fordham, Sept. 9, 2011 (W, 1-0)
19. 4,223 vs. Villanova, Oct. 24, 2015 (W, 5-1)
20. 4,096 vs. Nebraska-Omaha, Sept. 16, 2019 (W, 2-1)
21. 4,089 vs. Virginia Tech, Aug. 25, 2017 (L, 0-2)
22. 4,071 vs. Gonzaga, Aug. 29, 2008 (W, 4-1)
23. 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007 (L, 1-3)
#-Denotes Socctoberfest match
Creighton In BIG EAST Openers
Since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season, Creighton is 7-1-0 during the first conference match of the season, including a 2-1 win over Marquette last season.
Creighton's 3-2 overtime loss at Butler in 2017 marked the Bluejays' first loss in a conference opener since 2011 when Creighton fell to Missouri State during its Missouri Valley Conference opener.
The Bluejays own a 42-22-7 record during regular-season BIG EAST matchups.
Creighton is 8-0-0 during the first home BIG EAST match of the season.
The Bluejays have captured two BIG EAST regular-season titles (2014, 2018) and finished runner-up at the conference tournament twice (2015, 2016).
Creighton owns a total of 14 regular-season conference titles (most recent in 2018) and 13 conference tournament titles (last in 2012) as the Bluejays were a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1991-2012.
Creighton BIG EAST History
Year     Opener (Result)  Final Record (Place)
2013 #7 St. John's (W) 4-4-1 (5th)
2014 at Villanova (W) 7-1-1 (1st)
2015 at Seton Hall (W) 7-2-0 (2nd)
2016 Seton Hall (W) 5-3-1 (T-3rd)
2017 at Butler (L) 3-4-2 (T-5th)
2018 Butler (W) 7-1-1 (1st)
2019 Marquette (W) 4-4-1 (T-4th)
2020 Marquette (W) 5-3-0 (MW 2nd)
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 147-30-21 overall at Morrison Stadium (opened in 2003), which includes a 0-1-0 record this season and a 4-1-0 mark last season.
The Bluejays are 13-2-4 during home-openers at Morrison Stadium (lone losses in 2017 to Virginia Tech and 2021 to Tulsa).
Additionally, Creighton has never lost consecutive matches at Morrison Stadium during the same season.
The Bluejays are 25-1-3 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison (lone loss came during 2017 opener following final contest of 2016), including a 1-0-0 mark last season.
During the 2017 season, Creighton responded with a 2-0 Socctoberfest victory over South Florida during the second home match of the season following a loss during the home-opener against Virginia Tech.
The Bluejays are 65-15-8 at Morrison Stadium since the start of 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST and 26-7-2 during home league matches.
Bluejays All-Time vs. Top 25 Competition
Creighton is 81-61-17 all-time against United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) Top-25 opponents, including 1-0-0 this season.
The Bluejays are 43-16-4 at home against the top 25, including a 33-9-3 mark at Morrison Stadium.
Creighton's 3-0 win at No. 1 Indiana on Sept. 3 was the Bluejays' first victory against a ranked opponent since a 2-1 victory at home against No. 21 Akron on Sept. 6, 2019 and the first shutout of a ranked opponent since the 2018 season-opener against No. 11 Clemson.
Creighton also recorded its first win on the road against a ranked team since a 1-0 win at No. 24 UNO on Sept. 26, 2017.
With a win on Saturday, the Bluejays would record multiple wins against top 25 competition in the same season for the first time since 2016 and it would be the first time Creighton defeated two teams ranked inside the top 10 in the same season since 2005. The Bluejays earned three wins against teams inside the top 10 and five total against top 25 opponents in 2005.
Creighton vs. No. 1
The Bluejays' match against Georgetown on Saturday marks Creighton's eighth match played in program history (second this season) against a team ranked No. 1 in the ISAA/NSCAA/United Soccer Coaches Poll.
Saturday's contest is the first time Creighton has ever hosted a team ranked No. 1 in the national coaches poll.
The last time any Creighton Athletics team hosted the No. 1 team in the country was on Dec. 1, 2018 when the men's basketball team hosted No. 1 Gonzaga.
Creighton earned its first win against a No. 1 ranked team in program history on Sept. 3 at Indiana, 3-0.
The Bluejays are 1-5-1 in matches against teams ranked No. 1 at the time of the match.
Creighton advanced to the 2010 Elite Eight after knocking off No. 1 Akron 5-4 in PKs following a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes.
Creighton vs. No. 1 Ranked Teams
11/27/94Â at #1 Indiana L, 0-1
10/14/01 at #1 SMU L, 2-4
11/18/01 vs. #1 SMU L, 1-2 (4OT)
10/27/10 at #1 Akron L, 0-1
11/25/12 at #1 Akron T, 1-1 (2OT)*
09/01/17 at #1 Stanford L, 0-3
09/03/21 at #1 Indiana W, 3-0
*Creighton advanced in NCAA Tournament on PKs
Across the Creighton sports landscape, prior to men's soccer's win against Indiana, the last time the Bluejays beat a No. 1-ranked team in any sport was April 24, 2001. On that night, the Creighton baseball team beat No. 1 Nebraska in Lincoln, with an 11-8 win in 10 innings at Buck Beltzer Field.
Match Against Drake Cancelled
Creighton's match against Drake, scheduled for Sept. 10, was cancelled because of COVID-19 issues within the Bulldogs' program.
The match marked the Bluejays' first cancelled contest since Creighton had to cancel its match against Green Bay on Oct. 1, 2019 because of inclement weather.
Long Break
Because of the cancelled match on Sept. 10, the Bluejays will be playing their first match since Sept. 6.
The 12-day break between matches is Creighton's longest stretch without a contest during the regular season since 2009 when the Bluejays had a full two-week break between Sept. 5 and Sept. 19.
Scoring First Yields Success
The team who has scored first during 16 of the last 17 Creighton matches has proceeded to claim the victory (lone exception the 1-1 2OT tie against Ohio State on Sept. 6).
The Bluejays are 1-0 this season when scoring first and 0-2-1 when the opposition finds the back of the net first.
Creighton finished 6-0 in during the 2020 season when scoring first, but 0-6 when its opponent scores first.
Head coach Johnny Torres is 12-1-1 when scoring first during his tenure at Creighton, but just 3-14-2 when the opposition finds the back of the net first.
Additionally, the Bluejays went 3-0 when leading at the half, 0-3 when trailing after 45 minutes and 3-3 when the score is tied at halftime last season.
Creighton's last come-from-behind victory came during the 2019 regular-season finale against Butler (Nov. 2).
The Bluejays' last victory when trailing at the half was on Sept. 24, 2019 against Tulsa as Creighton trailed 1-0 at the half before winning 4-3 in overtime.
Since Torres took over prior to the 2019 season, the Bluejays have just one win after trailing at halftime (1-8-2).
