No. 7 Men's Soccer Hosts Tulsa Saturday

#7 Creighton hosts Tulsa as part of Alumni Weekend
Saturday, Sept. 22, 7:00 p.m. ? Morrison Stadium ? Omaha, Neb.

Following the Jays: Every Creighton home match this season can be followed on the internet via live stats, live video and audio. Live stats for all home matches can be viewed free with gametracker by clicking on the live stats link and fans can subscribe to listen to Peter Della Penna's play-by-play broadcast and watch a live video stream of the Bluejays' home matches via the links at the newly designed www.gocreighton.com.

Extra! Extra!: Head coach Bob Warming's interview with Adam Zundell of College Soccer News and College Soccer Podcast is expected to be uploaded on Wednesday evening. Fans can listen to the interview at www.collegesoccerpodcast.com.

This Week: The seventh-ranked Bluejays return home ? where they are averaging over 4,000 fans ? for a match with former Missouri Valley Conference soccer affiliate Tulsa on Saturday. The Jays and Golden Hurricane kick off Saturday at 7 p.m. Fans are invited to attend the Getting Blue Barbeque outside the stadium starting at 4:30 p.m.

Last Week: Creighton was co-champion of the Saint Louis Nike Classic after defeating second-ranked Indiana 2-1 and Loyola Marymount 1-0 in overtime last weekend. The Jays went up 2-0 on No. 2 IU, with goals from Tim Bohnenkamp and St. Louis native Tim Walters. CU's lone goal allowed on the weekend was a penalty kick. Walters also assisted on Byron Dacy's game-winning goal in the 92nd minute against LMU. Walters, co-MVP of the tourney, was tabbed the MVC Offensive Player of the Week and named to the Soccer America, College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer National Teams of the Week for his play. Seth Sinovic was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week.

Scouting Creighton (3-0-2): The Bluejays are off to an undefeated start through five matches for the second time in three years and are ranked No. 1 in the Midwest Region this week. CU is the defending MVC regular-season and tournament champions, and have been tabbed as Valley preseason favorites this year. Junior Tim Walters leads the Bluejay attack with two goals and five points, while junior Andrei Gotsmanov has launched a team-leading 22 shots and also has two goals. Senior Tony Schmitz and freshman Tucker Sindlinger both have two assists to top the team. The Bluejays have out-shot opponents 91-61 and have an impressive 41-18 edge in corner kicks on the season. Matt Allen, the only goalkeeper on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, has played every minute in net, stopped 14 shots and owns an MVC-best 0.55 goals against average. The defense in front of Allen has been outstanding, as defenders Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic and Jeff Thayer were all named to the Saint Louis Nike Classic All-Tournament Team last weekend.

Scouting Tulsa (4-2-0): The Golden Hurricane are off to a 4-2-0 start after a 9-10-0 season last year. Tulsa's only two losses have come to top-25 teams Virginia and Virginia Tech, while TU topped MVC foe Missouri State 1-0 last Sunday. Todd Goddard leads the team with four goals, 20 shots and 12 shots on goal. Eric Burkholder leads the team with four assists, while Eric DeFreitas adds two goals and two assists. Dominic Cervi has played every minute in net for TU, stopping 24 shots, allowing seven goals for a 1.16 goals against average and posting two shutouts.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Bluejays' head coach with a 158-52-24 (.726) record in his 12th season at CU. His overall record is 351-171-54 (.656) in his 30th year of coaching. Warming, the MVC All-Centennial Coach and the all-time winningest soccer coach at CU, has guided teams to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, is a five-time finalist for National Coach of the Year and is a two-time MVC Coach of the Year. He was named the NSCAA Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2005 and ranked eighth among active NCAA Division I coaches in career victories to open the year.

CU-TU Series: The Bluejays own the all-time series lead with Tulsa, 13-7-2, but have not won either of the last two meetings with the Hurricane. The Jays tied Tulsa 1-1 in the last meeting between the teams as members of the Missouri Valley Conference, in Omaha at the 2004 MVC Tournament. Tulsa topped CU 1-0 in Tulsa the last time these teams met in 2005. The Jays are 7-0-1 against Tulsa in the last eight meetings in Omaha, including a 4-0 win during the 2004 regular-season.

Dacy to Have Surgery: Junior forward Byron Dacy will undergo surgery to repair his torn left ACL. Dacy suffered the injury in the 13th minutes of CU's exhibition match with Ohio State on Aug. 18. He attempted to rehabilitate the knee and played in two regular-season matches - two minutes against UCLA (Sept. 8) and 19 minutes against Loyola Marymount (Sept. 15). He scored the game-winning goal in overtime against LMU. His surgery will take place right before Fall Break in mid-October.

Can't Make This Stuff Up: Junior forward Tim Walters enjoyed an outstanding homecoming at the Saint Louis Nike Classic last weekend. The St. Louis native scored the game-winning goal against No. 2 Indiana in a 2-1 win over the Hoosiers on Thursday. Making the homecoming all the more special, Tim's father of the same name, played soccer at IU from 1976-79. Walters was rewarded with his first start as a Bluejay on Saturday and he assisted the game-winning goal in overtime of CU's 1-0 victory over Loyola Marymount, while he also topped the team with five shots in the win. For his efforts in leading CU to the co-championship of the tournament, he was named co-MVP, MVC Offensive Player of the Week and to three national teams of the week.

Three Amigos: The Bluejays have been playing a 3-5-2 recently and it's worked well defensively, as CU has posted three shutouts in its last four games ? with only a penalty kick breaking up would could be four consecutive clean sheets. CU's backline of Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic and Jeff Thayer were each named to the Saint Louis Nike Classic All-Tournament Team last weekend for their efforts in shutting down No. 2 Indiana and Loyola Marymount. Sinovic also earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors, one week after Schuler earned the award.

Home Sweet Morrison: Creighton is 1-0-2 at home this season, improving to 32-5-8 (.800) all-time at Morrison Stadium. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 134-21-12 at home. The Jays have ranked in the top-10 in the nation in attendance in all four years that Morrison Stadium has been open. The Jays are averaging 4,002 fans through their first three matches of the season.

First Comes Last: Tim Bohnenkamp waited until his last year as a Bluejay to record a first. The senior scored the first goal away from Omaha in his career against No. 2 Indiana (Sept. 13). His previous six career goals had all come at Morrison Stadium. The Omaha native has enjoyed playing in his hometown throughout his career, as 25 of his 31 career points have come at Morrison Stadium.

Poll Position: For the second straight week, the Bluejays jumped nine spots in the NSCAA/adidas top 25, moving to seventh. It marks CU's highest in-season ranking since 2004, when the Jays were ranked seventh for two weeks in October. (CU was ranked sixth in the 2005 postseason poll). The Jays are ranked No. 4 by Soccer Times, No. 8 by Soccer America and No. 11 by College Soccer News this week.
Best in the Midwest: In addition to cracking the top 10 this week, the Bluejays are ranked as the top team in the Midwest in the NSCAA rankings. SMU (2-2-1) is second and Tulsa (4-2-0) is third. MVC foe Bradley (4-1-1) is fourth and CU opponent Memphis (2-1-2) is fifth.

Battling the Best: Creighton's win over second-ranked Indiana (Sept. 13) was the Bluejays' best win against a top 25 team since topping No. 2 SMU in 2000. The win improved the Bluejays to 5-5-1 all-time against teams ranked in the top-five of the coaches poll. CU is 1-0-1 against NSCAA top 25 teams this year, after playing to a scoreless draw with No. 11 UCLA last Saturday. The Jays are 45-37-9 all-time against the coaches top 25, including 17-8-2 at home and 7-1-1 at Morrison Stadium.

Matt's Moves: Senior goalkeeper Matt Allen made some moves up the Creighton career goalkeeper charts last weekend. He became the fourth keeper to play at least 5,000 minutes in his career and enters the week just three minutes short of third place. CU's two victories moved Allen's career total to 34, which ranks third, while his seven saves give him 199 in his career, now in fourth place on the CU charts. His 22 shutouts are just two shy of the school record.

Broken Record: Creighton established a school record for attendance against UCLA (Sept. 8), bringing in 5,812 fans to watch the top 25 match up. The previous school and Morrison Stadium record for attendance was 5,743 against Stanford on Aug. 26, 2005 in an exhibition match. The new record tops the former regular-season record by more than 1,400 as the previous in-season best was 4,407 against Saint Louis on Aug. 31, 1997.

Top Three Creighton Home Crowds
1 ? 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007
2 ? 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
3 ? 4,407 vs. Saint Louis, Aug. 31, 1997

Top Three Morrison Stadium Crowds
1 ? 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007
2 ? 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
3 ? 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004

Third Time's a Charm: Sophomore Chris Schuler was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in his career when he earned the honor after anchoring the Bluejays' shutout of 11th-ranked UCLA (Sept. 8). He used his 6-foot-4 frame to clear balls in the air and also had outstanding challenges on the ground to limit the Bruins to just three shots on goal in CU's second straight shutout.

Transfer U: A trio of Bluejay transfers helped guide Creighton to its first victory of the season against Green Bay (Sept. 2). In his first season at Creighton, junior transfer Andrei Gotsmanov scored twice and unloaded six shots in the 3-0 win. Gotsmanov led St. John's in scoring as a freshman in 2004 in his only other season of collegiate soccer. Junior Tim Walters, playing in his second year at Creighton after spending his rookie campaign at Kentucky, scored his first goal as a Bluejay in the win as well. On the defensive side, it was Indiana transfer Chris Schuler who helped guide the Bluejays to the shutout. Schuler earned freshman All-America honors as a Bluejay last year after redshirting at Indiana in 2005.

Andrei the Giant: Junior Andrei Gotsmanov paid immediate dividends in his first weekend at Creighton, scoring CU's first game-winning goal of the year and notching a multiple goal match in the Jays' 3-0 win over Green Bay. The multiple goal match was the fourth of Gotsmanov's career, after recording two hat tricks and a two-goal match at St. John's as a freshman in 2004 (his only other year of collegiate competition). The Belarus native tops the team with 22 shots.

Cornered In: Creighton tied a Morrison Stadium record with 13 corner kicks in its season-opener against San Diego State (Aug. 31). The Jays tied their own record which was established against Illinois-Chicago on Oct. 5, 2005. CU has out-worked its opponents 41-18 on corner kicks this season.

Preseason Favorites: The Bluejays are the Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorites for the third straight year, according to a vote of league coaches. The Jays received five of the seven first-place votes and 47 of the possible 49 points in the poll. CU will be aiming for back-to-back regular-season titles for the first time since winning five straight from 1992-96.

Rookie Watch: Freshmen Andrew Duran and Tucker Sindlinger have been named among the Top 100 Freshmen to Watch by CollegeSoccerNews.com. Duran, a two-time prep All-American, was named the NSCAA National Player of the Year last season as a midfielder at Lincoln-Way (Ill.) East High. Sindlinger, a forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has extensive international playing experience as part of the Region II Olympic Development Program.

National Player of the Year Candidates: Senior goalkeeper Matt Allen and junior forward Byron Dacy have been named to the preseason watch list for the MAC Hermann Trophy, annually given to the top soccer player in Division I. Allen enters this season on pace to set CU career records for shutouts and minutes played. Dacy has led the team in scoring in each of his first two seasons. Allen joins Dacy on the long list of National Player of the Year candidates from Creighton, including the 1997 winner and current manager, Johnny Torres.

CU National Player of the Year Candidates
Year Player
2007 Byron Dacy & Matt Allen
2006 Byron Dacy
2004 Julian Nash
2003 David Wagenfuhr
2002 Mike Tranchilla
2001 Mike Tranchilla
1997 Johnny Torres (Won)
1996 Ross Paule
1993 Keith DeFini & Brian Kamler

Homecoming: Two former Bluejay standouts have returned to the Bluejay bench this season. Mike Gabb, a two-time College Cup participant and CU goalkeeper from 1998-2002, has returned as an assistant coach working with the keepers. Two-time National Player of the Year and CU Athletics Hall of Famer Johnny Torres is back as an undergraduate manager as he finishes his degree. Torres, arguably the greatest player in school and league history, played at CU from 1994-97 and played professionally for the past 10 years.

For Starters: The Bluejays return five players which started at least 13 of CU's 21 matches last year and four others which earned the starting nod in at least eight matches. Senior goalkeeper Matt Allen earned 20 starts, most among returners, while senior captain Tony Schmitz and sophomore Chris Schuler started 19 contests. Sophomore defender Thomas Gjoesund (14) and junior forward Byron Dacy (13) round out the five returning starters. The Bluejays lost six starters from last year's team, including MVC Player of the Year Michael Kraus and three others which earned all-conference honors.

Exhibition Recap: Creighton, ranked in the top 25 of three national preseason polls, played just one exhibition match, tying Ohio State 2-2 at home on Aug. 18. CU twice trailed and twice scored the equalizer, with senior Sam Eid providing the first goal and redshirt freshman Jeremy Wittig scoring the second goal in the 88th minute to even the match up. No overtime was played. Preseason National Player of the Year Candidate Matt Allen made five saves in goal for CU, while the Bluejays' other representative on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, Byron Dacy, did not fare as well. Dacy was injured in the 13th minute, suffering a torn left ACL. He will miss at least three weeks before being re-evaluated at that time.

Last Season in Short: Creighton finished the 2006 season with a 13-5-3 record, after losing a first-round NCAA Tournament match at Washington, 3-0. The tournament appearance was Creighton's 15th straight, as they are one of just five teams in Division I to have appeared in each of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments. The Bluejays won both the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles last year, while they also had the MVC Player of the Year (Michael Kraus) and MVC Defensive Player of the Year (Matt Allen). Allen returns this year, as does the MVC Tournament MVP Byron Dacy and Freshman All-American Chris Schuler. Dacy topped the team with six assists and 16 points last year, while Kraus, who now plays in the MLS with the Kansas City Wizards, led the team with six goals, including five game-winners.

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