11th-Ranked Men's Soccer Travels to Bradley, Eastern Illinois
10/6/2004 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
#11 Creighton at Bradley
Friday, Oct. 8 Shea Stadium Peoria, Ill. 7:00 p.m.
#11 Creighton at Eastern Illinois
Sunday, Oct. 10 Lakeside Field Charleston, Ill. 1:00 p.m.
This Week: The 11th-ranked Bluejays play their first true road games of the season when they travel to Bradley and Eastern Illinois for a Missouri Valley Conference weekend. CU has played just two games away from Omaha this season, two neutral contests in Las Vegas the second weekend of September. The Jays will play the Braves on Friday at 7 p.m. in Peoria and conclude the trip with a 1 p.m. game in Charleston against the Panthers on Sunday.
Last Week: Creighton split a pair of home conference games against ranked opponents last week. No. 17 SMU handed the Jays their first home loss and shutout of the year in a 1-0 defeat last Friday. The Bluejays rebounded nicely with a 4-0 blowout of No. 23 Tulsa on Sunday. Julian Nash netted his first career hat trick in the win, while Vince Odorisio scored a goal and assisted on two tallies. Redshirt freshman Zac Gibbens made his first career start in goal, making five saves to record his first shutout and victory.
Scouting the Opponents
Bradley (5-4-1, 1-0-0 MVC): The Braves opened MVC play last weekend with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Eastern Illinois. BU also played to a 1-1 tie against Wisconsin-Milwaukee at home in non-conference action last weekend. Four of BU's five wins have been shut outs this season, with all-MVC goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath playing every minute in net for the Braves. Dunsheath owns a 1.17 goals against average, allowing 12 goals in the first 10 games. All of BU's losses have been by one goal. All-MVC player Luke Kreamalmeyer leads the team with five goals, three assists and 13 points, while Chris Brown has added four goals this year. BU narrowly owns a scoring edge over its opponents this year, 15-12.
Eastern Illinois (4-6-0, 0-1-0 MVC): The Panthers, picked to finish last in the MVC this year, are looking for their first MVC victory since 2002 heading into the weekend. After a 2-0 start this year, EIU lost five straight before defeating IPFW on Sept. 26. The Panthers lost to Bradley last weekend to open the Valley schedule, then topped Drury 2-1 in overtime in a non-conference affair on Sunday. Jimmy Klatter leads the team and ranks third in the MVC with seven goals and 17 points. Freshman Mike Sims has claimed the starting goalkeeper spot, carrying a 1.59 goals against average, while ranking second in the MVC with 42 saves.
Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea College, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 120-40-14 (.730) record in his ninth season at CU. His overall mark is 314-156-44 (.654) in 27 years of coaching. His 314 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.
Pulling Rank: The Bluejays remain in the top-15 in all four national polls this week. The Jays are ranked 11th in the NSCAA/adidas and Soccer Times polls. CollegeSoccerNews.com ranks the Bluejays ninth this week, while Soccer America tabs the Jays 15th.
On the Road, Again: This weekend's road trip for the Bluejays will mark the first time CU plays an official ?away? contest this year. CU played two neutral site games in Las Vegas on Sept. 10 and 12, but has played seven of its first nine games in Omaha.
Beating the Braves: Despite Bradley's recent success, the Bluejays have managed to win five consecutive contests against the Braves. The last time BU defeated CU was a 4-1 Brave victory on Oct. 20, 2000 in Peoria.
Taming the Panthers: Since Eastern Illinois joined the MVC in soccer, the Bluejays have not lost to the Panthers. CU is 9-0-1 against EIU since 1996, out-scoring the Panthers 32-5 in those ten meetings. EIU has not scored more than one goal against CU in that span, while CU has combined to win the last two meetings with EIU by a 10-0 score.
Shock-tober: SMU's 1-0 win over Creighton last Friday in Omaha was the Bluejays' first loss in October in three years. CU had gone unbeaten (13-0-2) during the 2002 and 2003 October slates. The last CU loss in October before last week came on Oct. 26, 2001, a 2-1 overtime defeat to Southwest Missouri State.
Big Wins: Creighton's 4-0 win over No. 23 Tulsa last Sunday 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 Sunday. 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, five assists and 13 points, while moving his career point total to 50. For his efforts Nash was named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time in his career.
Fresh Face: When Andrew Brown went down with an injury against SMU last Friday, redshirt freshman Zac Gibbens was called on to make his collegiate debut. The Loveland, Colo., native played the final 12 minutes against SMU and then earned a start against Tulsa on Sunday. Proving he was worth the wait, Gibbens recorded five saves and a shutout win in his first career start against the high-powered Tulsa offense.
Kicking Cousins: Cousins, Vince and Tony Odorisio, worked their family connection for CU's first goal against Tulsa last Sunday. Tony set up Vince for the game-winning tally in the first half. The assist was Tony's first career helper.
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 the new Creighton Soccer Field. CU is averaging 2,255 fans this season, a mark that would shatter the current home attendance record for the Bluejays.
That's a Winner: 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 two game-winning goals this year when he beat Tulsa for the first goal of the game last Sunday in a 4-0 win.
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.
Mustang Madness: In the history of CU soccer, no team has defeated the Bluejays more than SMU. The Mustangs are now 16-5-0 all-time against CU. The Jays, who defeated SMU 2-0 last year in Dallas, have still never won consecutive games against the Mustangs.
Shutouts are Back: After shutting out Western Michigan, 4-0, to open the year, CU went six consecutive games without being involved in a shutout before participating in back-to-back shutouts last weekend. The six straight games with both teams scoring was the longest such streak since the 2000 team played in eight consecutive games with both teams getting in the scoring column. CU was blanked by SMU, 1-0, last Friday and then shutout Tulsa, 4-0, on Sunday.
National Recognition: Freshman Tim Bohnenkamp scored two goals and added an assist in CU's wins over Wisconsin and Marquette on Sept. 17 and 19. For his efforts, the rookie midfielder was named to the CollegeSoccerNews.com and Soccer America National Teams of the Week.
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. SLU, Aug. 31, 1997
2 4,345 vs. Virginia (Exh.), Aug. 28, 1993
3 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
Top Three CU Soccer Field 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.
Tournament Hosts: The Creighton Soccer Field 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.
Mark Your Calendar: Creighton University will officially dedicate and name the new soccer facility on Friday, Oct. 15. The women's team takes on Northern Iowa at 5 p.m. The men will then battle Vanderbilt at 7:30 p.m. A dedication ceremony is planned between games.
