No. 13 Men's Soccer Hosts No. 24 Washington Saturday

#13 Creighton hosts #24 Washington
Saturday, Sept. 29, 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.

This Week: The 13th-ranked Bluejays will seek revenge against 24th-ranked Washington this Saturday at Morrison Stadium. UW ended CU's season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last November in Seattle. The Bluejays, averaging better than 4,000 fans at home this year, host the Huskies Saturday at 7 p.m.

Last Week: Creighton suffered its first defeat of the season after opening the year with a five-match unbeaten streak. Tulsa scored three goals in the final 30 minutes of play to come-from-behind and top Creighton 3-1 last Saturday. Mo Travis scored his first goal of the season and the Jays out-shot the Hurricane 22-12, but could not convert more scoring chances.

Scouting Creighton (3-1-2): The Bluejays enter the weekend coming off their first loss of the season, having surrendered three second-half goals in a loss to Tulsa last Saturday after allowing just three goals through their first five matches combined. The Jays have not suffered back-to-back losses since opening the 2006 season with a pair of defeats and have not lost consecutive home matches since the program was restarted in 1990. The Bluejays have out-shot opponents 113-73 and have an impressive 49-20 edge in corner kicks on the season. Junior Tim Walters leads the Bluejay attack with two goals, two assists and six points, as he's collected four points in CU's last three matches. Junior Andrei Gotsmanov has launched a team-leading 28 shots and also has two goals. Senior Tony Schmitz and freshman Tucker Sindlinger both have two assists to tie Walters for the team-lead. Sindlinger and fellow freshman Andrew Duran are both out indefinitely however, due to illness. The Jays are also without junior forward Byron Dacy for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. Senior Matt Allen, the only goalkeeper on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, has played every minute in net, stopped 16 shots and owns a 0.93 goals against average.

Scouting Washington (5-2-1): The Huskies are off to a solid start, entering Saturday's match having posted four shutout wins in their last five games, including a 2-0 blanking of third-ranked SMU. UW also has wins over New Mexico and Furman when each team was nationally-ranked. Four of the seven goals UW has allowed this season came in a 4-1 home loss to Denver last Friday. The Huskies have posted five shutouts and have a team goals against average of 0.83, split between Rylan Hawkins (361 mins, 0.75 GAA) and Stephen Fung (394 mins, 0.91 GAA). MAC Hermann Trophy Candidate and 2006 Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Forrest leads the team with six goals, three assists and 15 points, while he's unloaded 38 shots on the year. All Pac-10 performers Ely Allen and George John both have two goals each.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Bluejays' head coach with a 158-53-24 (.723) record in his 12th season at CU. His overall record is 351-172-54 (.655) 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-UW Series: The Bluejays lead the all-time series with the Huskies, 3-2-0. All five meetings have come since 2000, including a 2-0 CU win over UW in its only other trip to Omaha in 2000. The Jays are 1-1-0 against UW at neutral sites and 1-1-0 against the Huskies in Seattle. This will mark the fourth straight season the teams have faced off, following neutral site meetings in 2004 and 2005 and an NCAA Tournament match up last year. UW ended the Jays' season last year with a 3-0 defeat in Seattle, as Kevin Forrest notched a hat trick for UW.

Pac-10 Ties: The Bluejays are hosting their third Pac-10 opponent of the season in Washington. The Jays opened the season with a 2-2 draw against Pac-10 affiliate San Diego State (Aug. 31) and played to a scoreless tie with UCLA on Sept. 8. In fact the Jays are 0-1-3 in their last four matches with Pac-10 foes, including a loss to UW and a tie against Oregon State last year. The Jays' last win over a Pac-10 team was a 3-2 triumph over UW on Sept. 4, 2005 at a tournament in Portland, Ore.

History Sides with CU: After losing 3-1 to Tulsa last Saturday, the Bluejays have history on their side heading into this week:
? Creighton has never lost back-to-back games at Morrison Stadium and has not lost consecutive home games since Bob Warming re-started the program in 1990.
? The last time CU lost consecutive home matches was 1985, before any current Bluejay was born.
? The Jays have lost just one home match in each of the past three seasons, after going 7-2-2 in the initial season of Morrison Stadium in 2003.
? CU is 7-1-1 against NSCAA top 25 teams at Morrison Stadium and 17-8-2 against top 25 teams at home all-time.

Walters Way: A week after earning National Team of the Week accolades from three publications as well as the MVC Offensive Player of the Week, junior Tim Walters extended his scoring streak to three matches. The forward assisted Mo Travis' goal against Tulsa on Saturday, giving him his fourth point in three games. He is now tied for the team-lead with two goals and two assists and leads the team with six points.

Fantastic Fanatics: Bluejay men's soccer fans continue to turn out in record numbers, as Creighton's match with Tulsa last Saturday drew 4,023 to bump CU's average attendance to 4,008 through four matches. The 4,023 fans ranks as the sixth-highest game attendance in school history and it follows up CU's last home match which drew a record 5,812 to see UCLA on Sept. 8. The average attendance record for a season at Creighton is 2,015, set during the 2004 campaign.

Top Six 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
4 ? 4,345 vs. Virginia (Exh.), Aug. 28, 1993
5 ? 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
6 ? 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007

Top Five 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
4 ? 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007
5 ? 3,746 vs. Georgetown, Sept. 1, 2006

Home Sweet Morrison: Creighton is 1-1-2 at home this season, moving to 32-6-8 (.783) all-time at Morrison Stadium. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 134-22-12 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 4,008 fans through their first four matches of the season.

The Eid of September: Senior Sam Eid earned his first career start against Tulsa (Sept. 22). The Arizona native had played in 28 matches off the bench in his career before hearing his name called as a starter.

Oh Shoot!: Junior Andrei Gotsmanov has not shied away from shots in his first season as a Bluejay, leading the team with 28 shots through six matches for an average of 4.7 shot attempts per game. In just six matches as a Jay, he has already attempted twice as many shots as Danny Minutillo has in 51 matches as a CU midfielder. He also has more career shots than Sam Eid, Seth Sinovic, Jeff Thayer, Chris Schuler, Mo Travis, Rodrigo Faria, Thomas Gjoesund and Tim Walters, who have each played at least 20 career matches at CU.

Poll Position: After losing 3-1 to Tulsa last week, the Bluejays dropped six spots, from seventh to 13th in the NSCAA/adidas top 25. The win by Tulsa earned the Golden Hurricane a bump into the top 25, at No. 23 this week. The Jays are ranked 10th by Soccer Times, No. 19 by Soccer America and No. 15 by College Soccer News this week. CU will be taking on No. 24 Washington this week, as the Huskies are ranked as high as No. 20 by Soccer Times.

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, while also playing to a scoreless draw with No. 11 UCLA (Sept. 8). 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 continues to move up the Creighton career goalkeeper charts. He became the fourth keeper to play at least 5,000 minutes in his career and ranks third in total minutes with 5,183. Allen's career win total is 34, which ranks third, while his 201 career saves rank fourth on the CU charts. His 22 shutouts are just two shy of the school record, while his 0.85 career goals against average ranks second.

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.

Write the Script: Junior forward Tim Walters enjoyed an outstanding homecoming at the Saint Louis Nike Classic (Sept. 13-15). The St. Louis native scored the game-winning goal against No. 2 Indiana in a 2-1 win (Sept. 13). Making the homecoming all the more special, Tim's father played soccer at IU from 1976-79. Walters was rewarded with his first start as a Bluejay on Sept. 15 and he assisted the game-winning goal in overtime of CU's 1-0 victory over Loyola Marymount. 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: CU's backline of Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic and Jeff Thayer were each named to the Saint Louis Nike Classic All-Tournament Team (Sept. 13-15) for their efforts in shutting down No. 2 Indiana, 2-1, and shutting out Loyola Marymount. 1-0. Sinovic also earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors, one week after Schuler earned the award.

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.

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.

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 28 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 49-20 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.

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, forcing him to take a medical redshirt this season.

No. 13 Men's Soccer Hosts No. 24 Washington Saturday

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