Bluejays Host UCLA in Top 25 Men's Soccer Showdown

#25 Creighton hosts #11 UCLA
Saturday, Sept. 8, 7:00 p.m. ? Morrison Stadium

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's match with UCLA is the MVC's match of the week and can be seen free on the MVC website at www.mvc.org.

This Week: The Bluejays play host to preseason No. 1 and 2006 NCAA runner-up UCLA this Saturday at Morrison Stadium. The trip is the first for the 11th-ranked Bruins to Omaha, as the teams have met three times previously, twice in neutral settings and once at UCLA. Kick off for the top-25 match up is set for 7 p.m.

Last Week: Creighton remained unbeaten all-time at the Diadora Challenge, notching a 2-2 double overtime draw with nationally-ranked San Diego State to open the season last Friday and then topping Green Bay 3-0 on Sunday. Newcomer Andrei Gotsmanov scored twice in the victory, while freshman Tucker Sindlinger assisted on both scores.

Scouting Creighton (1-0-1): The Bluejays are the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament champions and have been tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the conference again this year. The Jays return 13 letterwinners and five starters from last year's 13-5-3 team which advanced to its 15th straight NCAA Tournament. Four of CU's nine letterwinners lost from last year are now playing professionally. As expected, newcomers played a large role in CU's 1-0-1 opening weekend. Three freshmen earned starts, while junior transfer Andrei Gotsmanov also started and tops the team with two goals and 10 shots in CU's first two games. Seven of CU's 11 starters in its 3-0 win over Green Bay were either newcomers or sophomores. Junior forward Byron Dacy and senior goalkeeper Matt Allen are both on the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Dacy has led the team in scoring in each of his first two seasons on campus, but is out with an injured left knee to start the season. Allen, the 2006 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, enters the year on pace to set school records for career minutes played and shutouts.

Scouting UCLA (0-2-0): The Bruins opened the season with losses to two top-10 teams, falling to No. 10 Notre Dame 2-1 in overtime and 1-0 to No. 7 Indiana at a tournament hosted by the Hoosiers. UCLA, was the preseason No. 1 team in two polls this season after advancing to the NCAA championship match last year. The Bruins return eight starters from that 14-6-4 team, but did lose their top two points scorers from last year. Jason Leopoldo is UCLA's leading returning goal scorer, having scored eight last season, while Kyle Nakazawa tops all returners with eight assists last year. Chance Myers has scored UCLA's lone goal this season. Brian Perk, who started seven matches in goal last year, has played the first 183 minutes in net for the Bruins this year, recording eight saves and a 1.47 GAA.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Jays' head coach with a 156-52-23 (.725) record in his 12th season at CU. His overall record is 349-171-53 (.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-UCLA Series: The Bluejays are 2-1-0 all-time against UCLA, including a 3-2 CU win the last time these teams met at a tournament in Las Vegas in 2004. The Jays won 2-0 at UCLA in the 1998 NCAA Tournament and lost the first meeting with the Bruins 6-0 in 1991. UCLA has never played in Omaha.

Been There, Done That: UCLA heads to Omaha with an 0-2-0 record after losing to nationally-ranked Notre Dame and Indiana to open the season. Sound familiar? Last year the Bluejays started 0-2-0 with losses to nationally-ranked Notre Dame and Indiana. CU went undefeated in its next six matches, while the Jays hope to keep UCLA winless in its first three games for the second straight season (the Bruins started last year 0-2-1).

Poll Position: The Bluejays entered the NSCAA/adidas top 25 this week, after just missing the cut last week. CU is ranked 25th in the coaches poll, while the Jays remained 17th in this week's Soccer America poll. UCLA dropped from No. 1 to No. 10 in the Soccer America poll, while it fell from No. 2 to No. 11 in the NSCAA poll.

Battling the Best: Creighton's match up with 11th-ranked UCLA this week will mark its first against a team in the NSCAA top 25 this year. Last year the Bluejays were 1-2-0 against teams in the NSCAA/adidas poll, topping 17th-ranked Memphis, but falling to Indiana (12) and Notre Dame (15). In 2005, the Jays went 5-1-0 against the NSCAA top 25. The Jays are 44-37-7 all-time against the coaches top 25, including 17-8-1 at home and 7-1-0 at Morrison Stadium.

Transfer Time: A trio of Bluejay transfers helped guide Creighton to its first victory of the season on Sunday. In his first season at Creighton, junior transfer Andrei Gotsmanov scored twice and unloaded six shots in the 3-0 win over Green Bay. 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.

Introductions in Order: Six Creighton players saw action as a Bluejay for the first time this weekend, including four which earned starts. Junior transfer Andrei Gotsmanov and freshmen Tucker Sindlinger and Andrew Duran each started both matches, while rookie Sergio Castillo earned the starting nod in the second match of the season. Gotsmanov contributed two goals, while Sindlinger assisted both scores. Redshirt freshman Jeremy Wittig also saw playing time in both matches, while junior Colin Campbell ? now in his fourth season with the program ? saw the pitch during game action for the first time in his career, participating in both contests.

Got Gotsmanov?: The Bluejays do. 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 10 shots.

Go to the Corner: 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 21-6 on corner kicks this season.

Three Grand: Over 3,000 fans witnessed Creighton's season opener. The 3,716 fans was the fourth largest regular-season crowd in school history and second largest regular-season crowd at Morrison Stadium (falling just 30 shy of the record set at last year's home opener - 3,746). The crowd ranks seventh overall in school history, including exhibition matches.

Tucker's Town: Freshman Tucker Sindlinger proved unlucky on several scoring chances in his first weekend of collegiate play, but the rookie forward did dish two assists in CU's 3-0 win over Green Bay, both on Andrei Gotsmanov's goals. The freshman trails just Gotsmanov in shots, attempting seven in his first two college games.

Goose Eggs for Allen: Senior goalkeeper Matt Allen and the Bluejay defense recorded a 3-0 shutout over Green Bay Sunday, marking Allen's 20th career shutout. The ties Tom Zawislan for second on the CU career shutout list and is just four shy of the school record 24 set by Jay Fitzgerald.

Home Cooking: Senior Tim Bohnenkamp added to his own Morrison Stadium record with his 13th career assist at home in CU's win over Green Bay (Sept. 2). The Omaha native has enjoyed playing in his hometown throughout his career, as 25 of his 29 career points have come at Morrison Stadium.

Home Sweet Morrison: Creighton is 1-0-1 at home this season, improving to 32-5-7 (.807) all-time at Morrison Stadium. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 134-21-11 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 averaged 3,098 fans in its first two matches of the season.

Season Openers: The Bluejays moved their record to 7-1-4 in season openers under Bob Warming with a 2-2 tie against San Diego State (Aug. 31). The draw marked the fourth time in the last seven seasons the Jays have tied the season-opener. The Bluejays are now undefeated in their last dozen home openers (9-0-3).

Diadora Challenge?: The Bluejays played host to the 11th annual Diadora Challenge last weekend, in what has not proved to be much of a challenge historically. The Jays remained unbeaten all-time in the event, with a 16-0-5 record.

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.

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

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.

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.

Bluejays Host UCLA in Top 25 Men's Soccer Showdown

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