25th-Ranked Bluejays Host UIC Wednesday Night
10/4/2005 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
#25 Creighton vs. Illinois-Chicago
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 7:00 p.m. Morrison Stadium
#25 Creighton vs. Eastern Illinois
Saturday, Oct. 8, 7:00 p.m. Morrison Stadium
This Week: The 25th-ranked Bluejays continue their five-game home stand by playing host to Illinois-Chicago and Eastern Illinois. The Jays face off with UIC on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CU then opens Missouri Valley Conference play with EIU Saturday at 7 p.m.
Last Week: The Bluejays dominated UMKC last Saturday at Morrison Stadium but were unable to come away with a victory, tying the Kangaroos 0-0. The Jays unloaded a season-high 27 shots, including 10 on goal, and also recorded a season-high 11 corner kicks. The tie was CU's second straight draw and third in eight matches this fall.
Scouting Creighton (4-1-3): The MVC preseason favorite Bluejays are winless in their last three matches (0-1-2) after opening the year undefeated through five matches (4-0-1). CU's offense has slowed down and scored only two goals in its last four matches, after scoring 11 goals through its first four games. The defense has picked up to allow only two goals over the last four games as well, lowering the team and Matt Allen's goals against average to 0.92. Allen has played all 780 minutes in net for CU this season and has 31 saves. Junior Jarod Tarver leads the team with seven points and five assists, while his five helpers lead The Valley. Junior Michael Kraus, tops the team with three goals, all of which have served as game-winners. Freshman Byron Dacy (2 g, 2 a) is tied with Kraus for second on the team with six points. Tim Bohnenkamp has chipped in three assists and eight other Bluejays have scored one goal.
Scouting Illinois-Chicago (4-3-1): The Flames snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-1 romp over Centenary Sunday. Those eight tallies account for half of UIC's goals this season, as they had not previously scored more than two goals in a match. Sophomore Pavle Dundjer leads the team with four goals, six assists and 14 points. Cesar Zambrano has eight points (3 g, 2 a) and Tonci Skroce adds seven points (2 g, 3 a). Jeff Engelbrecht owns a 1.10 GAA with 32 saves in seven games played.
Scouting Eastern Illinois (3-5-1): The Panthers, picked to finish last in the MVC this season, have alternated wins and losses over their last six matches, losing to Northern Illinois last Sunday. All-MVC performer Jimmy Klatter leads the team with eight points (3 g, 2 a), while Dustin Weiher leads EIU and is tied for the MVC lead with five assists. Three goalkeepers have played at least 135 minutes for EIU, with Nick Alexander leading the way with 506 minutes, a 0.89 GAA and 14 saves.
Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea College, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 131-43-19 (.728) record in his 10 seasons at CU. His overall mark is 325-159-49 (.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-UIC Series: The Bluejays and Flames have never faced each other on the soccer pitch.
CU-EIU Series: The Jays are 10-4-1 all-time against the Panthers, including an undefeated 10-0-1 mark since EIU joined the MVC in soccer. CU has out-scored the Panthers 34-5 in the 11 meetings since 1996.
Tough Stretch Ahead: After CU's matches with UIC and EIU this week, perhaps its toughest stretch of games this season lies ahead of them. The Jays' next three opponents have a combined record of 21-6-2 and two have cracked the top-25 this season. CU plays host to two of the top teams in the MVC in Missouri State (7-0-2) and Bradley (7-3-0) before traveling to play at Georgetown (7-3-0) in its final non-conference match of the season.
Double Zero: Creighton's scoreless tie last week against UMKC has not been a rare occurence for the Jays in recent years. CU ended the 2004 season in a 0-0 draw at Maryland in the NCAA tournament (falling in penalty kicks). CU also played in three scoreless ties in 2003, including two at Morrison Stadium. Since 1990, the Bluejays have now played in 12 matches with no goals scored.
Just Shoot Me: Creighton launched a season-high 27 shots in its 0-0 tie with UMKC last Saturday night. The Jays' previous season high had been 18, against both Portland and Loyola. 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.
Go to the Corner: The Bluejays attempted a season-high 11 corner kicks in their tie with UMKC last Saturday. The 11 corners tied their own Morrison Stadium high, while falling one shy of the facility record set by Missouri State against UNLV on Sept. 14, 2003.
Fit to be Tied: Creighton's scoreless tie with UMKC last Saturday marked the Bluejays' second consecutive draw. The Jays have now played in three overtime matches this season, all resulting in ties. In fact, the Bluejays' last six overtime matches have all ended even, with the last decision in an overtime match coming on Oct. 17, 2003, a 2-1 CU win over Vanderbilt. After playing in no overtime matches throughout the entire regular-season in 2004, the Jays have now gone into overtime in five of their last 11 contests.
Top 25: After cracking the top-10 in each major poll two weeks ago, the Bluejays have struggled but are still ranked in the top 25 barely. CU is tied for 25th in the NSCAA/adidas poll this week, ranked 23rd by Soccer America and 17th in both Soccer Times and CollegeSoccerNews.com. CU spent every week in the NSCAA top 25 last year and has yet to drop out of the poll this year. The Jays have not been ranked 25th in the coaches poll since spending one week in the slot, Oct. 22, 1991.
Valley Openers: Heading into this weekend's conference opener against Eastern Illinois, the Bluejays own a 9-2-3 mark all-time in MVC openers. CU has not won an MVC debut since topping EIU 2-1 on Oct. 5, 2001. The Jays are 0-1-2 in their last three Valley openers, tying Drake in 2002 and 2003, while losing 1-0 to SMU last year. The Jays are 5-1-2 in MVC openers under Bob Warming.
Tarver is Tops: Junior Jarod Tarver leads the Missouri Valley Conference with five assists, while he also is tops on the team with his five helpers and seven points. His assist on Tyler Stansberry's goal against SMU (Sept. 25) was his 10th career assist, giving him 10 career goals and 10 career assists. His five assists are already a career-high this season.
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 19-3-3 in October over the last three seasons.
Home Cooking: The Jays went 10-1-1 at home in Morrison Stadium last year and are now 3-0-1 this season to move their overall mark to 20-3-4 at the facility since its opening in 2003. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 122-19-8 (.846) at home. The Jays ranked in the top-five in the nation in attendance last year, up from a top-10 ranking in 2003.
Half and Half: The Bluejays have allowed just one goal in the first half this season, but have surrendered seven tallies in the second half. CU's own scoring has been somewhat more balanced, as the Jays have scored four goals in the first half and nine in the second half.
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.
Debuts: Redshirt freshman Trevor Eastman made his collegiate debut against Memphis (Sept. 16), scoring a goal in the 87th minute to put away the Tigers 3-1. Rookie Michael Stillmock also appeared in his first college match against Memphis. Rookie Seth Sinovic made his first college appearance against UMKC (Oct. 1).
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, accounting for three of CU's four game-winning goals this year. 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.
Double-Double: While the term double-double is not often used in soccer, a pair of CU teammates are approaching a career double-double in goals and assists after Jarod Tarver achieved the feat earlier this season. Michael Kraus has 10 goals and nine assists in his career, while Vince Odorisio has nine goals and nine assists in his career.
Active CU Career Point Leaders
Brian Biggerstaff - 32 (13 g, 6 a)
Jarod Tarver - 30 (10 g, 10 a)
Michael Kraus - 29 (10 g, 9 a)
Vince Odorisio - 27 (9 g, 9 a)
Diadora Challenge: The Bluejays played host to the ninth annual Diadora Challenge (Sept. 16-18) and remained perfect in the event. The Jays won the tournament and improved to 14-0-3 all-time in the event. Michael Kraus was named the tournament MVP, while Matt Wieland, Brian Kallman and Matt Allen were each honored on the all-tournament team for Creighton.
Home Boy: Tim Bohnenkamp, a sophomore from Omaha, has proved his like for Morrison Stadium in his two years of play at CU. The midfielder dished two assists to tie a stadium record against Loyola (Sept. 10). He now has four goals and six assists in his career, with all 14 of his points coming at home.
By Byron: Freshman Byron Dacy made his first collegiate start and it paid immediate dividends against Loyola (Sept. 10). The rookie from Omaha Creighton Prep scored his second goal in just the 13th minute to give CU a 1-0 lead. He is currently tied for second on the team with six points (2 g, 2 a).
Making it Count: Sophomore Danny Minutillo has now scored two goals in his collegiate career, with both serving as game-winners. Last year his first career goal was the game-winner in a 3-2 triumph over UCLA. Minutillo also netted the game-winner against Loyola (Sept. 10), before adding his first career assist on Brian Biggerstaff's insurance tally.
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.
Road Trip: CU's trip to Portland to open this season was a rare one, as only once since 1990 had the Jays opened the year away from home prior to last weekend. The only other time in the last 15 years the Jays opened on the road was Aug. 29, 1997. CU tied Saint Louis 1-1 that day. Since 1990, the Jays are now 11-1-4 in road openers, with their only loss coming at No. 11 SMU in 1998. The Bluejays had not allowed a goal in any season opener since a 1-1 tie with SLU in 1997.
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
For Starters: The Bluejays return eight starters from last year's 14-4-2 team, including the 2003 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, senior Matt Wieland. Sophomores Matt Allen and Tim Bohnenkamp were both named to the MVC All-Freshman Team as rookies last year, while Joan Carvajal earned honorable-mention all-freshman accolades. Junior defender Tony Odorisio was tabbed to all-MVC honorable-mention. Senior Vince Odorisio, and juniors Jarod Tarver and Andrew Peterson all started every match for CU last year. Junior Ryan Junge is CU's eighth returning starter.
Four Gone: The Bluejays lost only four seniors from last year's team,including two MLS draft picks and three starters. Julian Nash and Brett Rodriguez were both first-team all-MVC picks last year before being taken in the MLS draft, while Andrew Brown started 12 matches in goal and Kama Bennah made six starts while appearing in every match.
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.
