Bluejays Host Braves in Men's Soccer Saturday

Creighton hosts Bradley
Saturday, Oct. 15, 7 pm Morrison Stadium

This Week: The Bluejays close out their five-game home stand with two crucial Missouri Valley Conference games against Missouri State and Bradley. CU shut down ninth-ranked Missouri State 2-0 Wednesday night behind stellar defense which did not allow a shot on goal. The Jays play their final home game in October against Bradley, Saturday at 7 p.m.

Last Week: Creighton split a pair of home games to start 1-1-1 during its current home stand. The Jays lost to Illinois-Chicago 2-1 last Wednesday, despite out-shooting the Flames 26-6 in the contest. CU then snapped its four-game winless streak with a 5-0 blowout of Eastern Illinois to open MVC play. Both Byron Dacy and Jarod Tarver scored two goals in the victory, while Joan Carvajal set a Morrison Stadium record with three assists in the match. CU's nine assists and 19 points against EIU were also stadium records. Dacy was honored as the MVC Offensive Player of the Week for his six-points against UIC and EIU.

Scouting Creighton (6-2-3, 2-0-0 MVC): The MVC preseason favorite Bluejays opened Valley play with a 5-0 win last Saturday to snap their worst winless streak since 1990. CU followed with a 2-0 win over No. 9 Missouri State Wednesday to move into sole possession of first place in The Valley. With three goals in his last two games, freshman Byron Dacy now leads the team with five goals and 14 points. Jarod Tarver is next with 11 points on three goals and five assists. Tarver's five assists tie sophomores Tim Bohnenkamp and Joan Carvajal for the team lead and ranks second in the MVC. CU tops The Valley with 30 assists, 76 corner kicks and 17.4 shots per game. Sophomore Matt Allen has played every minute in goal for CU this season, notching 37 saves and a 0.86 GAA.

Scouting Bradley (8-3-1, 1-0-1 MVC): The Braves are 2-1-1 in their last four contests after a 2-1 victory over Drake Wednesday night. BU opened MVC play with a scoreless tie at Vanderbilt last Saturday, moving them to 4-0-2 in their last six Valley road contests. Zach Bell, Teddy Anderson and Nick Mentgen each have four goals to lead the Braves, while Bell adds four assists to top the team with 12 points. Salim Bullen leads BU with five helpers. Senior all-MVC goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath has played every minute in net for BU this year, making 41 saves and claiming a 0.73 goals against average. The Braves have out-scored opponents 20-9 through their first 12 matches.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea College, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 133-44-19 (.727) record in his 10 seasons at CU. His overall mark is 327-160-49 (.656) in 28 years of coaching. Warming, the all-time winningest soccer coach at CU, has guided his teams to 11 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. He began the year ranked 12th among active NCAA Division I coaches in career winning percentage.

CU-BU Series: The Jays have won three straight 1-0 decisions against the Braves and own an all-time record of 15-3-0 against BU. The Jays have won the last six meetings with BU by a combined score of 9-2. BU's last win over CU was a 4-1 decision on Oct. 20, 2000 in Peoria. Bradley has never won a match against the Jays in Omaha (0-7-0).

Players of the Week Collide: Freshman forward Byron Dacy was honored as the MVC Offensive Player of the Week for his two-goal and two-assist week against Eastern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago last week. Bradley senior goalkeeper Chris Dunsheath enters the match as the two-time reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Week. Dunsheath owns Bradley GK records for wins, goals against average, shutouts and minutes played.

JT's GPA is OK: Junior Jarod Tarver has been honored as the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week after recording two goals in CU's 5-0 romp over Eastern Illinois last week. Tarver, a midfielder from Norman, Okla., carries a 3.03 GPA in environmental science.

In This Corner: The Bluejays lead the MVC with 76 corner kicks, 6.9 per game. The Jays attempted a season-high 13 corner kicks in their loss to Illinois-Chicago (Oct. 5). The 13 corners established a Morrison Stadium record.

Jays Fall Rank: For the first time since the 2003 season, the Bluejays are not ranked in the NSCAA/adidas top-25 poll this week. The Jays were ranked 25th in the coaches poll last week, but dropped out after a 2-1 loss to Illinois-Chicago last Wednesday. The Jays also fell out of the Soccer America poll, are 23rd in the Soccer Times top-25 and 27th in the CollegeSoccerNews.com top-30 poll.

More Rank Info: Creighton hosted No. 9 Missouri State on Wednesday, topping the Bears 2-0. The Bears were the highest-ranked opponent the Jays have played host to at Morrison Stadium since it opened in 2003. MSU was not the highest-ranked team to visit however, as No. 2 Maryland played in the inaugural tournament held at the field in 2003 and No. 3 SMU claimed the MVC Tournament championship at Morrison Stadium in 2004. CU did not face either Maryland or SMU in those events.

For the Record: CU exploded out of the MVC opening gates with a 5-0 victory over Eastern Illinois last Saturday. The Bluejays recorded nine assists on their five goals, totalling 19 points in the match. Both the nine helpers and 19 points established Morrison Stadium records, while sophomore Joan Carvajal's three assists in the win also set a facility record. CU set a stadium record with 13 corner kicks against Illinois-Chicago (Oct. 5).

Home Sweet Home: With a 5-1-1 record at Morrison Stadium this season, the Jays are now 24-4-4 (.813) in three seasons at their new facility. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 124-20-8 (.842) at home. The Jays ranked in the top-five in the nation in attendance last year, up from a top-10 ranking in 2003.

Sharing is Caring: The Bluejays understand that expression, as evident by CU's MVC-best 30 assists in 11 matches. A trio of Jays are tied for the team lead and rank second in the MVC in helpers. Tim Bohnenkamp, Joan Carvajal and Jarod Tarver each have a career-high five assists to pace CU. Carvajal's three helpers against Eastern Illinois (Oct. 8) made him just the sixth player in school history to record at least three assists in a match.

Thirty Something: Two more Bluejays cracked the career 30-point plateau last week. Michael Kraus and Vince Odorisio each had an assist in CU's 5-0 win over Eastern Illinois last Saturday, moving both of their career point totals to 30. Kraus then added an assist against Missouri State on Wednesday to push his point total to 31. Odorisio now has 10 goals and 10 assists in his career. Jarod Tarver (34) moved past Brian Biggerstaff (33) on the active CU career point leaders list with two goals last week.

Active CU Career Point Leaders
Jarod Tarver - 34 (12 g, 10 a)
Brian Biggerstaff - 33 (13 g, 7 a)
Michael Kraus - 31 (10 g, 11 a)
Vince Odorisio - 30 (10 g, 10 a)

Home Town Hero: Tim Bohnenkamp, a sophomore from Omaha, has proved his like for Morrison Stadium in his two years at CU. He dished two assists in a match for the second time this season in CU's 5-0 win over Eastern Illinois (Oct. 8). His five assists on the year are tied for the team lead. All of his 16 career points (4 g, 8 a) have come at home.

Oh-Four: Creighton's loss to Illinois-Chicago (Oct. 5) dropped the Jays to 0-2-2 over a four-match span for only its second four-game winless streak since the program was re-started in 1990. Not since the final four matches of that 1990 season had the Bluejays gone four matches without a victory. Not only is the four-game winless streak a rarity, but the Jays have had only three other three-game winless streaks since 1990; 1997 (0-3-0), 2001 (0-3-0) and 2003 (0-2-1).

Play Ball: Twenty-one Bluejays played in CU's MVC opener with EIU last Saturday, including the season-debut of Zach Torgersen and the Morrison Stadium debut of Andrew Friel. Richard Perdomo also made his first career start in the win. Nineteen of the 21 players played at least 20 minutes in the blowout.

Then There were Four: With Brian Kallman and Jarod Tarver not making starts against EIU last Saturday, CU now has four players who have started all 10 matches this season. Matt Allen, Ryan Junge, Andrew Peterson and Matt Wieland have each started every match this fall.

Half-n-Half: The Jays have allowed one goal in the first half this season, but have surrendered nine in the second half. CU's own scoring has been somewhat more balanced, as the Jays have scored eight goals in the first half and 13 in the second half.

Slump Busters: Creighton's five goals in its shutout of Eastern Illinois Saturday helped the Jays snap out of an offensive funk. The five tallies were two more than the team had managed in its previous five games combined. CU scored 11 goals in its first four matches this year, followed by a five-game stretch of just three goals total before the five-goal outburst against EIU.

20-20-20 Vision: Creighton attempted at least 20 shots in three straight games from Oct. 1 through Oct. 8 for a total of 77 shots in those matches. The Bluejays had not put together three straight 20-shot games since the 2002 team did so from Nov. 9-17. The 2002 squad attempted 68 total shots in that span. This year's team out-scored its opponents just 6-2 during those three games, while the 2002 team had a 10-1 goals advantage during their streak.

Valley Openers: Creighton's 5-0 win over Eastern Illinois snapped a surprising slump. The Jays were 0-1-2 in their last three MVC openers prior to the win last Saturday. CU's last win in a Valley debut was also against EIU in 2001.

Hump Day: Creighton played its first regular-season home Wednesday night game since 1990 last week, losing 2-1 to Illinois-Chicago on Oct. 5. The only other CU regular-season home match on a Wednesday since the program was revived in 1990 came on Oct. 3, 1990, a 1-1 tied with UMKC. The 964 fans in attendance at the match with UIC last Wednesday was only the third crowd of under 1,000 in 29 CU matches since Morrison Stadium opened in 2003.

Just Shoot Me: Creighton launched a season-high 27 shots in its 0-0 tie with UMKC (Oct. 1). Michael Kraus and Jarod Tarver led the team with five shots each. The 27 shots by Creighton also tied the Morrison Stadium record set by Maryland against Butler on Aug. 31, 2003.

October Oddity: The Bluejays play three non-conference games in October this season, after not playing an out of conference contest in October since 1999. That season was also the last time the Jays played as few as seven MVC contests, which is how many they will play this season. In 1999, the Jays went 2-1-0 in October non-conference games. The Jays are now 21-4-3 in October over the last three seasons.

Transfer U: Two transfers from Jacksonville (Fla.) University have made impacts for the Bluejays this fall. Senior defender Brian Kallman has started all eight matches for the Jays this season and has been one of CU's toughest defenders, while he scored CU's lone goal in a 1-1 tie with Portland to open the year. Junior midfielder Tyler Stansberry has played in just four matches, but his goal against SMU (Sept. 25) helped the Bluejays tie the Mustangs 1-1 in Tulsa.

High Five: Creighton was undefeated through five games for the first time since 2000. The 2000 squad opened the season with six wins en route to an appearance in the NCAA championship match and leading the nation with 22 victories. With the Jays' 4-0-1 start this season, they extended their undefeated streak to nine matches. Despite being eliminated from the MVC and NCAA tournaments, CU went 2-0-2 in its last four matches last year.

Rare Feet: The Bluejays' feet have accomplished a rare feat this year, scoring at least three goals in three straight contests from Sept. 4-16. CU scored three goals against Washington, four against Loyola and three against Memphis to mark the first time since 1998 the Jays scored at least three goals in three consecutive games. The 1998 team put together four straight games with at least a trio of goals from Sept. 12-25.

Kraus is Key: Michael Kraus has again made his presence known in the CU lineup. The junior played in four matches last year because of a broken foot after leading the Jays in goals, assists and points as a rookie in 2003. He scored three goals in his first five matches this year, all of which were game-winners. He was named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week, Diadora Challenge MVP and honored on CollegeSoccerNews.com's and Soccer America's National Teams of the Week for two game-winning goals against Memphis and Mercer.

Local Flavor: The Jays have a record 13 Nebraska natives on the roster this fall, while eight Nebraskans started in CU's win over Loyola on Sept. 10. CU had three Nebraskans on its first team in 1990 and the 1996 team did not list one Nebraska native on its roster.

Welcome to Creighton: Bluejay newcomers contributed greatly in CU's opening weekend at the Portland Nike Invitational. The Jays' lone goal in their 1-1 tie with Portland was scored by Brian Kallman. The senior played his first three seasons at Jacksonville University, scoring just two goals in that span. Freshman Byron Dacy was named the tournament MVP after scoring a goal and adding an assist in CU's 3-2 win over Washington on Sunday. The Bluejays won the tournament title due to a goals-scored tiebreaker over Portland.

Record Crowds: A CU home record crowd of 5,743 fans came out to the Jays' exhibition match against Stanford (Aug. 26). The record shattered the former mark by more than 1,300. Five of the top six home attended games in CU history have now come in the month of August, while three of the top four crows have come to exhibition matches. Listed below are the top three home crowds and top three crowds in Morrison Stadium history:

Top Three CU Home Crowds
1 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
2 4,407 vs. SLU, Aug. 31, 1997
3 4,345 vs. Virginia (Exh.), Aug. 28, 1993

Top Three CU Morrison Stadium Crowds
1 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
2 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
3 3,483 vs. Butler, Aug., 29, 2003

MVC Trims Down: Valley affiliates SMU and Tulsa have departed to join Conference USA in all sports. Both squads made the NCAA tournament last season and both remain on CU's schedule this fall. The Jays played the pair as part of Tulsa's tournament in late September.

Schedule Notes: With the departure of SMU and Tulsa from the MVC, there now remain eight teams in MVC soccer. With that change, the conference office has opted to alter the league scheduling from Friday-Sunday matched to Wednesday-Saturday contests. There will no longer be ?travel partners? and this format will allow for easier travel and better recovery for teams.

MVC Tournament Format: The Valley has changed its men's soccer tournament format this season, moving from an eight-team to a six-team bracket. The top six teams will now qualify and all matches will be played at one site. The top two teams will earn a bye into the semifinals, while the first round of play will have 3-6 and 4-5 seed match ups. Shea Stadium and Bradley University will host the event in Peoria, Ill., this November.

Global Bluejays: Live video streaming of both men's and women's home soccer matches is available this season. The video streaming schedule includes all remaining men's and women's home matches, which gives CU fans across the globe the chance to see some of the best soccer, in one the finest facilities in the nation right on their desktops. The season pass is just $21.95. For more information on system requirements in order to view the webcasts and how to register for your season pass, go to www.gocreighton.tv or click on the video webcast button on www.gocreighton.com.

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