Bluejays Play Host to Aces, Bears in Men's Soccer
10/8/2003 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Evansville at Creighton
Friday, Oct. 10 ? Creighton Soccer Field ? Omaha, Neb. ? 7 p.m.
Southwest Missouri State at Creighton
Sunday, Oct. 12 ? Creighton Soccer Field ? Omaha, Neb. ? 1 p.m.
This Week: Creighton plays host to two more Missouri Valley Conference contests, battling the upstart Evansville Purple Aces and Southwest Missouri State Bears. Both teams defeated MVC preseason favorite SMU last weekend in home contests. The Jays and Aces will play on Friday at 7 p.m., while the CU-SMS contest will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Last Week: The Bluejays' offensive struggles continued as they were shut out for the fifth time in nine games this season. The Jays played to a 0-0 tie with Drake in CU's homecoming match at the Creighton Soccer Field last Friday, CU's third scoreless tie of the season.
Scouting the Opponents:
Evansville (6-3-2, 1-1-0): The Purple Aces, under first-year UE head coach Dave Golan, are just one win from equalling last season's total. The Aces have lost just once in their last six contests, a 4-2 loss to Tulsa last Sunday at home. Dan Broxup leads the team with eight goals, four assists and 20 points, while three other UE players have scored at least two goals. Troy Perkins has played every minute in net for UE, logging 48 saves and a 0.96 GAA.
SMS (6-3-1, 1-1-0): The Bears are 4-1-1 in their last six matches, after two losses at the Creighton Soccer Field during the Ameritas Classic in mid-September. Ryan Crawford and Doug Lascody both have five goals on the season while Jamal Sutton has scored twice and assisted three tallies. All-MVC goalkeeper Matt Pickens has stopped 43 shots and owns a 1.23 goals against average. SMS knocked off SMU, 2-1, last Sunday in Springfield.
Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea College, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 104-35-13 (.727) record in his eighth season at CU. His overall mark is 298-151-43 (.649) in his 26th year of coaching. Warming, the all-time winningest head coach at CU, has guided his teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, is a four-time finalist for National Coach of the Year and was the MVC Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993.
Creighton-Evansville Series: The Bluejays have lost just twice in 13 meetings with the Purple Aces, owning an 11-2-0 mark against UE. The Jays have won the last four meetings, with a 12-4 goals advantage. CU has lost to UE in Omaha just once, a 3-2 double overtime defeat in the MVC Tournament title game on Nov. 17, 1996.
Creighton-SMS Series: CU owns an all-time mark of 14-4-1 against the Bears, including three consecutive victories over SMS. The Jays have ended SMS' season the past two years at the MVC tournament. The last time these teams played in Omaha, the Bears defeated CU in double overtime, prevailing 2-1 on Oct. 26, 2001.
Attendance Figures: Through pregame barbeques and Creighton's new on-campus soccer facility, the Bluejays are averaging 1,793 fans per home match this fall. That attendance figure is on pace for a school record, surpassing 1994's average crowd of 1,745. The Jays have drawn two crowds of more than 2,000 this season for the first time since 1998.
Fit to be Tied: With their third 0-0 tie in the 2003 season last Friday against Drake, the Bluejays have now tied three matches in a season for the first time since 1990, Bob Warming's first season at Creighton. The Jays are 3-3-3 through nine matches this fall, while the 1990 squad which tied three times, opened the season 9-0-0.
Still Searching: Creighton has yet to find its offense this season, getting shut out five times through nine matches. The Jays have not scored a goal in five Friday matches this season, scoring just nine total goals through nine contests. Since 1990, the longest it took CU to score 10 goals came last season when the Jays netted their 10th goal of the season in the sixth game.
Year Game Scored 10th Goal
2003
2002 6th
2001 5th
2000 4th
1999 3rd
1998 4th
1997 5th
1996 4th
1995 4th
1994 5th
1993 5th
1992 2nd
1991 3rd
1990 4th
Frustrating Fridays: Creighton has yet to score a Friday goal this season, playing to three scoreless ties and shutout losses against UNLV and 17th-ranked Brown. The Jays are 0-2-3 on Fridays despite out-shooting their opposition 91-52, including a 36-23 edge in shots on goal.
Ties, Ties I Tell You: With three ties this year, the Jays are just one deadlock away from establishing a school record. The 1990 and 1981 teams also tied three times. The Jays are now 2-1-2 at home this fall, the 1981 squad is the only other CU team to record two ties in Omaha. From 1996 through 2002, CU only tied twice in Omaha.
Coaches' Countdown: Bob Warming needs two more wins to reach 300 in his coaching career, which has spanned 26 years and six schools.
Dog Catchers: After a 0-0 tie with Drake last Friday night, Creighton has still never lost to Drake in 22 all-time meetings. The Jays have dominated the series to the tune of a 17-0-5 mark against the Bulldogs. CU has now tied the Bulldogs in consecutive meetings for the first time since 1990, also tying the 2002 MVC opener 1-1 in Des Moines.
Strange Happenings: Creighton's tie with Drake last Friday was just the second time in school history the Jays ended a home MVC match even. CU's only other home MVC tie came on Oct. 22, 1995 against Tulsa - also a 0-0 final.
Working Overtime: Of CU's first nine matches this season, the Jays played in four double overtime affairs. With their 0-1-3 overtime record this season, the Bluejays are 7-4-6 in overtime contests since 2000.
Spreading Out: Creighton's scoring has certainly been spread out this fall, with eight Bluejays scoring at least one goal in the first nine matches of the season. Only senior Zach Piercy - with two - has more than one goal on the year. Of the eight players who have scored, four of the goals were the individual's first career tally - Piercy, Matt Wieland, Michael Kraus and Jarod Tarver.
Fresh Faces: Redshirt sophomore forward Brian Biggerstaff made his first career start in CU's win over Yale (Sept. 21). His assist on Zach Piercy's goal was the first point of his career. Freshmen Michael Kraus and Jarod Tarver also helped guide the Jays to victory, netting their first collegiate goals in the match - just 28 seconds apart. For their play at the Yale Classic, Biggerstaff and Tarver were tabbed to the All-Tournament Team.
Out of the Gates: The Jays have been slow out of the gates in recent years, mainly due to a strong non-conference slate. With a 3-3-2 record heading into MVC play this year, the Jays are 11-9-4 in their pre-conference portion of the schedule since 2001. Nine of those 24 matches were against Top 25 opponents and 15-of-24 matches were against teams that were ranked at some point in the season. This fall, five of CU's first eight matches came against one-time nationally-ranked foes.
Well Traveled: CU's non-conference schedule this fall included trips to both coasts . On Sept. 5-7 the Bluejays played in Los Angeles at the Loyola Marymount Fall Classic. The Jays then played at the Yale Classic in New Haven, Conn., on Sept. 19-21.
MAC Hermann Trophy: Senior David Wagenfuhr has been named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy “Watch List”. He is one of 15 candidates for collegiate soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy. The midfielder/defender has earned first-team all-Midwest region honors and first-team all-MVC honors over the past two campaigns. Other Bluejays who have been finalists for the National Player of the Year: Ross Paule (1996), Richard Mulrooney (1998), Mike Tranchilla (2001, 2002), while Johnny Torres won the honor in 1997.
Battling the Best: The Jays have battled two teams while they've been ranked in the top-25 this season. They defeated No. 15 Furman on Aug. 31 and lost to 17th-ranked Brown on Sept. 19, moving their all-time record against Top 25 opponents to 34-31-6, including a 5-3-1 record against ranked opponents in 2002.
Welcome Matts: Matt Jewett and Matt Wieland scored CU's goals in its win over Portland on Sept. 14. Wieland's goal was the first of his career, coming off of a header. Matt Thomas joined the other two Matts in excelling at the Ameritas Classic, being named to the all-tournament team, along with Jewett and David Wagenfuhr.
Milestone Goal: Sophomore Matt Wieland tallied the game-winning goal in Sunday's 2-1 win over Portland, the first goal of his career. Feeding Wieland the assist was senior David Wagenfuhr. The assist for Wagenfuhr was the 23rd of his career. With his next assist, Wagenfuhr will tie current MLS star Brian Kamler (New England Revolution) for seventh place.
Climbing the Charts: David Wagenfuhr's assist in CU's win over Portland on Sept. 14 was the 23rd of his CU career. The assist tied him with Brian Adams (1991-94) and Ray Nikodem (1980-82) for eighth-place on the CU career charts.
Sibling Rivalry: Matt Wieland's first career goal came in his 29th career match, against Portland on Sept. 14. His older brother Joe played at CU from 1999 through 2002 and scored his only career goal in his 84th match. Both Wieland goals served as game-winners, with Joe's coming against UW-Milwaukee in the second round of the NCAA last Nov. 27.
Jays Open New Field: CU's 0-0 tie against Butler on Aug. 31 was witnessed by 3,483 fans at the new Creighton Soccer Field. The attendance was the fourth largest home crowd in CU history and the largest since Sept. 1994.
MVC Predictions: For the fourth consecutive season, the Jays have been tabbed for a second-place finish in the Valley, trailing nationally-ranked SMU, which received eight of nine first-place votes this fall.
Preseason Honors: David Wagenfuhr and Julian Nash have been named to the preseason all-Missouri Valley Conference first-team, while Damien Westfield earned honorable mention preseason notice.
