Men's Soccer Hosts Ameritas Classic This Weekend
9/15/2004 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
#16 Creighton Plays Host to the Ameritas Classic
vs. Wisconsin, Friday, Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m. ? Creighton Soccer Field
vs. Marquette, Sunday, Sept. 19, 1:00 p.m. ? Creighton Soccer Field
This Week: The 16th-ranked Bluejays play host to the 14th annual Ameritas Classic this weekend. CU welcomes Wisconsin to the Creighton Soccer Field on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The Jays then face Jesuit rival Marquette on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Last Week: Creighton battled two Pac Ten and nationally-ranked foes last weekend at the UNLV FILA Invitational in Las Vegas. The Bluejays cruised to a 3-2 win over sixth-ranked UCLA last Friday, scoring three first-half goals against the Bruins. CU then lost to 18th-ranked Washington last Sunday, 2-1. Vince Odorisio's goal against UCLA, came just 26 seconds into the match, the second-fastest goal from the start of a game in CU history.
Scouting the Opponents:
Wisconsin (2-2-0): The Badgers have opened the season by alternating wins and losses through their first four matches. UW has already faced two Missouri Valley Conference opponents, losing to Evansville 2-1 to open the year and defeating then 20th-ranked Tulsa, 3-2, last Sunday. Southwest Missouri State transfer, Jed Hohlbein, leads the Badgers with four goals and eight points, while Nick Van Sicklen tops the team with three assists. Eric Hanson is in his third season as the starting goalkeeper at UW, he has played all 360 minutes this season, allowing eight goals, while making 20 saves and carrying a 2.00 goals against average. The Bluejays are 4-2-1 all-time against the Badgers. CU has not lost to the Badgers since 1992, logging a 3-0-1 record during the last four meetings in the series.
Marquette (0-3-0): The Golden Eagles have struggled to find their offense this season, losing their first three games via shutout. Marquette lost at Davidson, 1-0, to open the year and has lost to fourth-ranked Saint Louis, 3-0, and Oakland, 2-0, at home. The team has totalled only 10 shots on goal through its first three matches, while Blair Kohlmeyer and Matt Blouin have both taken five shots this season to lead the team. Andy Kroll has started the Eagles first three matches in goal, logging a 2.87 goals against average, while making only three saves through three matches. The Bluejays are 2-5-0 all-time against Marquette, including three consecutive CU losses in the series. The last time CU defeated the Golden Eagles was Oct. 8, 1995, a 3-0 victory in Milwaukee. MU plays at Drake on Friday night.
Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea College, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 116-39-14 (.728) record in his ninth season at CU. His overall mark is 310-155-44 (.652) in 27 years of coaching. His 310 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.
Ameritas Classic: The Bluejays play host to the 14th Annual Ameritas Classic this weekend at the Creighton Soccer Field, with the first three-team event in the tournament's history this fall. The Jays are 18-5-1 all-time in the event, and after winning the 2002 title the Jays have won eight tournament championships. The first Ameritas Classic was held in 1990 and after a hiatus in 1991, has been held every year since.
Quick Score: Vince Odorisio raced to the net and scored the second-fastest goal from the start of a game in school history last Friday night against UCLA. 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
Strange Games: The Bluejays have recorded a winning record against 18 of the 22 teams which they have faced at least five times in their history. CU will play three of the four teams which they have a losing record against this season, including Sunday's opponent. The Jays are 2-5-0 all-time against Marquette, including three straight losses to the Golden Eagles. CU will also play Air Force (2-3-2) and SMU (5-15-0) this fall, while SIU-Edwardsville (3-4-0) is now an annual Division II power.
Ten-Four: Last year it took the Bluejays 10 games to score 10 goals, this season the Bluejays already have 10 goals in their first four matches. In 2003, the Bluejays did not have a player with two goals until the eighth match, this year Vince Odorisio, Brian Biggerstaff and Jarod Tarver each have two goals in the first four contests.
Pac Men: The Bluejays battled two Pac-10 foes last weekend, defeating sixth-ranked UCLA 3-2 and falling to No. 18 Washington, 2-1. The loss to UW was the first time the Huskies have defeated the Jays in three all-time meetings and the win over UCLA moved the Jays all-time record to 2-1-0 against the Bruins. In each of the six meetings with UW and UCLA, the Huskies and Bruins have been ranked in the top-25. In fact, the Bruins have been ranked sixth during all three meetings with the Jays.
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.
Battling the Best: Creighton's split against top-25 opponents last weekend moved its all-time mark against nationally-ranked foes to 36-33-6. The Jays defeated #6 UCLA last Friday, marking their highest-ranked victory since defeating #6 Boston College on Dec. 8, 2002.
Pulling Rank: The Bluejays are ranked in each of the four soccer polls released this week. The Jays are ranked 16th by the NSCAA/adidas and cracked the top-25 in three other polls; Soccer America (11), Soccer Times (13), College Soccer News (18).
Home Cooking: After opening 2-0 at home this season, Creighton's home record since 1990 is an impressive 111-18-6 (.844). Last year the Bluejays were 7-2-2 in their first season at the Creighton Soccer Field. CU has never lost more than three home matches in one season.
Monster Nash: Senior Julian Nash already has more points in four matches this season than he did in 17 matches all of last year. With one goal and three assists through four contests, Nash has five points after logging only four points last year. In 2002, Nash tied for the team-lead in assists (8) and finished second in goals (8) and points (24).
Home Boys: Creighton has used the same starting lineup in its first four matches this season, with five of the 11 Bluejay starters coming from Omaha. Two local newcomers have earned starting nods, sophomore transfer Ryan Junge and freshman Tim Bohnenkamp. The Odorisio cousins, Tony and Vince, along with 2003 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, Matt Wieland, account for the five Omahans in CU's starting 11.
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. Listed below are the top three home crowds and top three crowds at the new Creighton Soccer Field:
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 ? 2,267 vs. Drake, Oct. 3, 2003
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 (12), assists (13) and points (37). Rookie Joan Carvajal has been tabbed as one of 100 freshmen in the nation to watch this season by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
Bye High School: Freshman goalkeeper Matt Allen is breaking ground in Creighton soccer. Allen should be a senior at Burke High School this fall, but graduated a year early in order to come to Creighton. He is the first player in CU soccer history to come to campus a year early. Allen played the second half of CU's 4-0 shutout of Western Michigan in the season-opener, recording two saves in his collegiate debut.
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 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.
