Stadium Dedication, Senior Day Highlight Men's Soccer Weekend

Vanderbilt at #8 Creighton
Friday, Oct. 15 Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium Omaha, Neb. 7:30 p.m.
Western Kentucky at #8 Creighton
Sunday, Oct. 17 Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium Omaha, Neb. Noon

This Week: The eighth-ranked Bluejays return home for their final regular-season weekend in Omaha. Friday night Creighton will dedicate the new soccer facility prior to the Bluejays taking on Vanderbilt at 7:30 p.m. The Bluejays will then celebrate senior day while hosting Western Kentucky at noon on Sunday.

Last Week: Creighton posted two shutouts on the road in conference play last weekend, blanking Bradley, 1-0, and topping Eastern Illinois, 2-0. Freshman goalkeeper Matt Allen was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week after making 14 saves against Bradley for his first career shutout in just his second collegiate start. Redshirt freshman keeper Zac Gibbens then stepped in and recorded his second straight shutout, at EIU on Sunday. Brian Biggerstaff and Jarod Tarver each had a goal and an assist in the 2-0 win at EIU.

Scouting the Opponents
Vanderbilt (6-5-1, 2-2-0 MVC): The Commodores opened MVC play with wins over Evansville and SMS before falling at SMU and Tulsa last weekend. Vandy put together a six-game unbeaten streak earlier this season and has already doubled last year's win total. Junior John Krause leads the team with nine goals and 21 points, ranking third in the MVC in goals and second in points. Rookie Joe Germanese contributes 14 points (4 g, 6 a), while VU is tied for the MVC lead with 26 goals. Kenny Schoeni has made 46 saves in net, while allowing 19 goals for a 1.72 goals against average. Vandy has been out-shot this season (174-162) and holds a narrow scoring edge over its opponents, 26-23.

Western Kentucky (5-7-0, 1-3-0 MVC): The Hilltoppers are coming off a surprise third-place MVC finish last year, guided by 2003 MVC Coach of the Year David Holmes. WKU handed SMS its first loss of the season to open Valley play, but then lost three straight by a combined score of 11-2. Trey Alexander leads the team and ranks second in the MVC with 10 goals on the season, while all-MVC honoree Richard Mupfudze adds 12 points (5 g, 2 a). Outside of a 12-0 romp of Division II Kentucky Wesleyan, WKU has scored just 13 goals in its other 11 games. Matt Latimer (1.70 GAA) and Kyle Schroeder (2.69 GAA) have shared time in net for the MVC's second worst ranked defense, 2.31 team goals against average.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea College, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 122-40-14 (.733) record in his ninth season at CU. His overall mark is 316-156-44 (.655) in 27 years of coaching. His 316 wins rank among the top-15 active men's soccer coaches in the NCAA. Warming, the all-time winningest soccer coach at CU, has guided his teams to 10 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.

Top-10 Again: The Bluejays returned to the NSCAA/adidas top-10 this week after ranking 11th last week. CU is ranked eight in the NSCAA poll this week, while the Bluejays rank as high as seventh in the CollegeSoccerNews.com poll. Soccer Times ranks the Bluejays 10th this week, while Soccer America tabs the Jays 14th.

Stadium Dedication: Friday night the new Creighton soccer facility will receive a name. In between games of the men's and women's doubleheader, Creighton officials will name the stadium in honor of the Rev. Michael G. Morrison, S.J., who served as Creighton's president from 1981 until 2000. Morrison served longer than any other Creighton president. The Bluejays opened play in the $13 million Morrison Stadium in 2003, while further construction has been completed for this season.

Continued Perfection: CU will seek to continue its perfection against this weekend's opponents. The Bluejays have never lost to either Vanderbilt or Western Kentucky. CU is 6-0-1 against Vandy, and the Jays have captured five straight wins in the series. The Jays are 8-0-0 against WKU, having outscored the Hilltoppers 18-4 in eight meetings. CU owns a 24-4 scoring edge over Vanderbilt.

Offensive Rebound: After a sluggish 2003 offense output, the 2004 Bluejays continue to demonstrate a balanced and talented attack this year. With Jarod Tarver scoring a goal and adding an assist last weekend, the Bluejays now have three players with double figure point totals. Last year CU did not have three players with 10 points until the final game (22nd) of the year.

National Rankings: CU's offensive success this year has the Jays ranked 22nd in the NCAA with 2.18 goals per game. With three consecutive shutouts, the CU defense now ranks 28th in the NCAA with a 0.82 goals against average. Julian Nash also ranks in the NCAA top 25 with his six assists in 11 matches.

Sharing the Keeping: Since starting goalkeeper Andrew Brown went down with an injury against SMU on Oct. 1, the Bluejays have not allowed a goal in over 281 minutes since. Redshirt freshman Zac Gibbens finished the SMU contest, then logged a shutout in his first start and followed with a shutout at Eastern Illinois last Sunday. Fellow rookie Matt Allen also stepped in and stopped 14 shots in a 1-0 shutout at Bradley last Friday. The two freshmen have a combined 0.22 goals against average this fall, including a perfect 0.00 GAA by Gibbens in 191:50 minutes played.

October Success: With a 3-1-0 record this October, the Bluejays are now 16-1-2 during October since 2002. CU lost to SMU on Oct. 1 snapping a 15 match unbeaten streak in October. The last CU loss in October before the SMU match came on Oct. 26, 2001, a 2-1 overtime defeat to Southwest Missouri State.

The End ... Sorta: This weekend marks the final home matches of the regular-season for the Bluejays. While no further home games are on the schedule, should CU finish in the top-four during conference play, it will host the first round of the MVC tournament on Nov. 5. Creighton is then hosting the State Farm MVC Tournament semifinals and championship on Nov. 12 and 14. CU has also bid to host the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament, meaning the Jays could potentially play seven more games at Morrison Stadium this fall.

Tournament Tix on Sale: Tickets for the State Farm MVC Soccer Championship will go on sale Friday, Oct. 15, at the Morrison Stadium ticket office or by calling 402-280-JAYS. Prices are $15 for adult all-session tickets and $10 for youth all-session tickets. Ticket windows are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and at least one hour before any home soccer match until halftime of the final match of the day. The tournament semifinals on Nov. 12 will be played at 5 and 7:30 p.m., while the championship will be played at 1 p.m. on Nov. 14. Morrison Stadium is located at 19th and California in downtown Omaha.

Tournament Hosts: Creighton and Morrison Stadium will serve as host to the 2004 State Farm Missouri Valley Soccer Championship on Nov. 12 and 14. Semifinal matches will be played on Friday night and the championship match will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday. It marks the first time in five years the championship will be held on a campus.

Welcome Matt: Freshman Matt Allen's 14-save contest against Bradley last Friday night ranks as the fourth-best single-game save performance in school history. The 14 saves are the most by a Bluejay keeper since Tom Zawislan made 15 stops against Air Force on Nov. 23, 1997. The save total was also the second-best performance ever turned in by a Bradley opponent.

CU Single-Game Saves Records
1. 18, Kevin Doyle at Notre Dame, 10-7-90
2. 16, Jim Dalla Riva vs. Tulsa, 10-31-81
3. 15, Tom Zawislan at Air Force, 11-23-97
4. 14, Matt Allen at Bradley, 10-8-04
   14, Jim Dalla Riva at E. Illinois, 9-17-82

Home Sweet Home: With a 6-1-0 record at home this season, Creighton's home record since 1990 is now an impressive 115-19-6 (.843). Last year the Bluejays were 7-2-2 in their first season at the CU Soccer Field.

Big Wins: Creighton's 4-0 win over No. 23 Tulsa (Oct. 3) matched the Jays' largest margin of victory over a ranked team in school history. CU also won by four, 6-2, over No. 6 Boston College on Dec. 8, 2002 in the NCAA quarterfinals. The 4-0 victory was the largest shutout margin over a ranked team in CU history.

Nash's Trick: Senior Julian Nash logged his first career hat trick against No. 23 Tulsa on Oct. 3. It is the first time in 77 all-time games against the top-25 in Creighton history a Bluejay has scored three goals against a ranked foe. Nash now leads the team with four goals, six assists and 14 points, while moving his career point total to 51.

Fantastic Fanatics: Creighton has already surpassed its total home attendance of last year, bringing in 15,782 fans to its first seven home contests this year. Last year, in eleven home dates, CU welcomed 14,273 fans to Morrison Stadium. CU is averaging 2,255 fans this season, a mark that would shatter the current home attendance record for the Bluejays.

Game-Winners: CU's 6-1-0 start was its best start since the 2000 team, which led the NCAA with 22 wins. CU's first six wins saw six different game-winning goal-scorers. Vince Odorisio became the first Bluejay to log multiple game-winning goals this year when he notched the winning tally against Tulsa (Oct. 3) and then again at Bradley on Oct. 8.

Blue Fan Group: The 4,029 fans that showed up for CU's only exhibition home match of the season (Aug. 27) marked the third largest home crowd in school history and just the third crowd of more than 4,000. Two of CU's three largest all-time crowds have witnessed exhibition matches and four of the five largest crowds have come in August.

Top Three CU Home Crowds
1 4,407 vs. Saint Louis, Aug. 31, 1997
2 4,345 vs. Virginia (Exh.), Aug. 28, 1993
3 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004

Top Three Morrison Stadium Crowds
1 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
2 3,483 vs. Butler, Aug. 29, 2003
3 2,925 vs. Air Force, Sept. 25, 2004

Quick Score: Vince Odorisio raced to the net and scored the second-fastest goal from the start of a game in school history against UCLA (Sept. 10). Odorisio took a pass from Julian Nash and scored just 26 seconds into the game. The fastest CU goal came in 16 seconds, by All-American Brian Kamler on Oct. 9, 1992 against Bradley.

Fastest goal from the start of the game in Creighton History
    1.    0:16, B. Kamler, vs. Bradley, 10-9-92
    2.    0:26, V. Odorisio, vs. UCLA, 9-10-04
    3.    0:30, L. Hill, vs. SMS, 11-5-94

Memphis Blues: Michael Kraus, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., and the Bluejays leading scorer in 2003 will miss the remainder of the 2004 season after undergoing surgery on an injured ankle the second week of September. The forward injured the ankle in CU's final exhibition match, but made a brief appearance in the Jays' 2-1 win over Loyola Marymount during the regular-season.

Watch These Guys: Senior Julian Nash has been named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List. The MAC Hermann Trophy is annually awarded to the top player in collegiate soccer. Nash is the active CU career leader in goals (16), assists (18) and points (50). Rookie Joan Carvajal has been tabbed as one of 100 freshmen in the nation to watch this season by CollegeSoccerNews.com.

Preseason Picks: Matt Wieland and Michael Kraus have been named to the preseason all-MVC Team and Julian Nash earned an honorable mention preseason nod. The Bluejays have been selected to finish second in the Valley, behind perennial national power and 2003 tournament champion, SMU. The Jays have now been the No. 2 preseason pick for five consecutive seasons.

Stadium Dedication, Senior Day Highlight Men's Soccer Weekend

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