Men's Soccer Hosts UMKC Saturday

Creighton hosts UMKC
Saturday, Sept. 13, 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 and live video at www.gocreighton.com. Live stats for all home matches can be viewed free with gametracker by clicking on the ?Live Stats' link. Fans can subscribe to watch a live video stream of the Bluejays' home matches via the ?Live Video' link.

This Week: Creighton concludes its season-opening four-game home stand with a Saturday night match against UMKC. The Bluejays and Kangaroos will kickoff at Morrison Stadium at 7:00 p.m. this Saturday. Fans will also receive the added bonus of having a good view of the downtown fireworks show which will take place around 9:00 p.m., in conjunction with the lighting of the brand new downtown pedestrian bridge.

Last Week: The Bluejays remained unbeaten all-time in the Diadora Challenge (18-0-5), posting back-to-back shutouts last weekend. CU opened with a 3-0 win over Portland last Friday and then blanked UC Riverside 2-0 on Sunday. Freshman Ethan Finlay scored both game-winning goals last week and was honored by Soccer America on its National Team of the Week, while freshman goalkeeper Brian Holt logged his first two career shutouts and earned MVC Defensive Player of the Week recognition for his efforts. Rookie Greg Jordan scored a goal and added an assist in CU's win over UCR and joined Finlay and Holt on the all-tournament team, while Andrei Gotsmanov was honored as the tournament co-MVP.

Scouting Creighton (3-0-0): The Bluejays, ranked as high as No. 2 in several national polls, are the defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season co-champions and have been tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the conference again this year. Through three games the Bluejays have out-scored their opponents 9-1, with six different players scoring at least one goal and nine different players recording at least one assist through three games. Senior Andrei Gotsmanov, junior Jeff Thayer and freshman Ethan Finlay have each scored two goals a piece, while Thayer leads the team with six points. Half of CU's 46 shots have gone on goal this year, while the Jays have out-shot opponents 46-18. Gotsmanov, a midfielder, is joined by junior forward Byron Dacy on the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Dacy, who redshirted last year because of a torn ACL, has a goal and an assist in his first three games back. Preseason All-American junior defender Chris Schuler joins Gotsmanov, Dacy and senior midfielder Seth Sinovic on the all-MVC preseason team. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brian Holt has played all 270 minutes in net this year, stopping six shots while logging two shutouts and a 0.33 goals against average.

Scouting UMKC (1-1-2): The Kangaroos bring a solid offense to Omaha, having scored at least two goals in each of their first four matches, while posting a 1-1-2 mark. UMKC is on a seven-game road trip to start the year, but tied nationally-ranked Illinois-Chicago 2-2 to start the season. UMKC's nine goals have come from four players, with Bryan Perez leading the team with three and Levi Coleman, Brian Harris and Garret Guthrie chipping in two each. Ricardo Guerra has played 110 minutes and posted a 1.64 goals against average, while Ken Cooper has played 290 minutes and logged a 1.86 GAA, as the Kangaroo defense has allowed eight goals through four games.

Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Bluejays' head coach with a 170-55-27 (.728) record in his 13th season at CU. His overall record is 363-174-57 (.660) in his 31st year of coaching. Warming, the MVC All-Centennial Coach and the all-time winningest soccer coach at CU, has guided teams to 14 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 sixth among active Division I coaches in career victories to open the year.

CU-UMKC Series: The Bluejays will look to continue their domination of the Kangaroos this week, as CU owns the all-time series edge over UMKC, 8-1-1. All but two of the meetings with UMKC have come in Omaha, including the last time these teams met, a 3-1 CU win in Kansas City on Oct. 24, 2006. UMKC's last trip to Omaha resulted in a 0-0 tie on Oct. 1, 2005, while the Roos only other trip to Morrison Stadium resulted in a 6-0 CU win in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Poll Position: Creighton has jumped up to a No. 2 ranking in three of the four major polls this week, while the NSCAA/adidas poll has Creighton ranked third. College Soccer News, Soccer Times and Soccer America each have the Jays ranked second, while TopDrawerSoccer.com's 48-team NCAA prediction poll has the Jays ranked second. The consensus No. 1 is defending NCAA champion Wake Forest (4-0-0), while Akron (3-0-1) is the only other team ranked higher than the Jays this week.

Flying High: Creighton's No. 3 ranking in the NSCAA/adidas poll is the highest the Bluejays have been ranked in the regular-season since the 2000 team, which finished as the national runners-up, was ranked third on Sept. 18. The Jays were then ranked second in the 2000 postseason poll and the 2001 preseason poll, but have not been this high since.

Early Arrivals: In Creighton's 2-0 win over UC Riverside on Sunday, both Bluejay goals were scored by true freshmen. However this isn't the first semester on the CU campus for either rookie, as both Ethan Finlay and Greg Jordan graduated high school early and joined the Bluejays for training in the spring semester. Their early arrival has paid dividends already, as Finlay scored both game-winning goals last weekend, while Jordan record an assist and goal on Sunday, in addition to his stellar defensive midfield play which contributed to a pair of Bluejay shutouts. Both players were honored on the Diadora Challenge All-Tournament Team.

Offensive Output: Creighton's four goals in its season opener were the most since 2004, while the Bluejays followed with three goals in their second game. The seven goals through two games were the most for the Jays since the 1992 team poured in 13 goals in its first two matches. CU now has nine goals through three contests, matching 2004 as the highest offensive output through three games in the last nine years.

No Shots For You: The Bluejay defense did not allow a shot on goal in their 2-0 win over UC Riverside (Sept. 7), marking the first time since 2005 that the Jays limited their opponent to zero shots on goal in a game. CU held Missouri State to no shots on goal in a 2-0 win on Oct. 12, 2005. UCR managed only four total shots in the game, the fewest by a Bluejay foe since Brown attempted only three shots against CU on Sept. 19, 2003.

Dacy's Digits: After missing all but two games due to a torn ACL last year, junior Byron Dacy scored his first goal of the season Friday night against Portland. The forward attempted and converted the second penalty kick of his career to get in the scoring column. With his assist in CU's season-opener and a goal last Friday, the Jays are 2-0-0 when Dacy records a point this year and are now 21-2-0 since 2005 when he registers a point.

Diadora Challenge?: The Bluejays played host to the 12th annual Diadora Challenge last weekend, in what has not proved to be much of a challenge historically. The Jays have still never lost a match in the tournament, with a 18-0-5 mark all-time. CU and Saint Louis shared the tourney title this year, as the Jays topped Portland 3-0 and UC Riverside 2-0 in the event.

Diadora Challenge All-Tournament Team
Andrei Gotsmanov - CU, Co-MVP
Ethan Finlay - CU
Greg Jordan - CU
Brian Holt - CU
Kyle Patterson - SLU, Co-MVP
Rob Viviano - SLU
Tim Ream - SLU
James Jaramillo - SLU
Patrick Jurney - Portland
Ryan Kawulok - Portland
David Lozano - UCR
Doug Thrasher - UCR

Transferring Starts: Junior Akin Akinrinade and sophomore Kyle Deremer have both started every game of their collegiate careers, although they have started just three games for the Bluejays. Akinrinade started 29 matches in playing his first two seasons at Central Florida, while Deremer started all 18 matches he played in as a freshman for the Saint Mary's (Calif.) Gaels last year.

Home Sweet Morrison: The Bluejays are now 40-8-10 (.776) all-time at Morrison Stadium, including a 3-0-0 mark this year. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 142-24-15 (.826) at home. CU is 51-4-3 at home all-time in MVC play, including 16-1-2 at Morrison Stadium. CU's lone Valley loss at Morrison Stadium was a 1-0 defeat to No. 17 SMU on Oct. 1, 2004. The Jays have ranked in the top-10 in the nation in attendance all five years that Morrison Stadium has been open.

Thayer of Omaha: Junior forward Jeff Thayer, an Omaha native, scored three goals in 2007, all of which were game winners. While he hasn't score the game-winner this year, he's already two-thirds of the way to last season's goal total and he's already equalled last year's assist total through three games. He notched his first career multiple-goal match against Gonzaga (Aug. 29) and had an assist in each CU win last weekend. For his efforts against Gonzaga, he was honored on the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week.

First Things First: Freshman Kris Clark and sophomore Andrew Duran teamed up with Jeff Thayer on the final goal of the match against Gonzaga (Aug. 29). Duran and Clark both were credited with their first career assists on Thayer's second goal of the match. Sophomore Tucker Sindlinger recorded his first game-winning goal in the win as well.

Opening Up: With a 4-1 win over Gonzaga on Aug. 29, the Bluejays are now undefeated in their last 13 home openers, improving to 10-0-3 in those contests. The Jays moved their record to 8-1-4 in season-openers under head coach Bob Warming, while the four goals were the most scored by the Jays in a season-opener since the 2004 squad won 4-0 over Western Michigan to start the season.

Fantastic Fanatics: For the third time in school history, more than 4,000 fans turned out for a Bluejay regular-season home match, as 4,071 fans showed up for Creighton's season-opener. The Jays followed with over 3,000 fans for their second game to give the Bluejays two of the largest 10 crowds in all of college soccer through two weekends of play. The 4,071 fans ranks as the third-largest regular-season home crowd and the fifth-largest crowd in CU home history (including exhibitions).

Top Five 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 ? 4,071 vs. Gonzaga, Aug. 29, 2008

Top Five Morrison Stadium Crowds
1 ? 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007
2 ? 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
3 ? 4,071 vs. Gonzaga, Aug. 29, 2008
3 ? 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
4 ? 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007

Home-Opening Attendance: Bluejay fans typically make the home-opener a highly-attended contest. Since moving to Morrison Stadium in 2003, the average attendance at CU home-openers is now 3,306, following the crowd of 4,071 that attended last Friday's game.

Keeping Keepers: There is no doubt experience in goal helps, but there is proof in Creighton's past that demonstrates that experience isn't necessary for success. This season the Bluejays return zero career minutes in goal, with three redshirt freshmen goalkeepers on the roster. The Jays have never previously returned zero minutes in net. In fact, both previous times CU returned 202 career minutes in goal or fewer, it reached the College Cup.
The fewest career goalkeeping minutes the Jays have returned prior to this season came during the 2000 campaign. Mike Gabb had played 179 career minutes before the 2000 season, a year the Bluejays would lead the NCAA with 22 wins and appear in the NCAA championship match. The second-fewest minutes the Jays have returned came in 1996, when Jon Epperson entered the year with 202 career minutes. He helped lead the Bluejays to their first College Cup Final Four that season.

Senior Citizens: Creighton has three seniors ? Andrei Gotsmanov, Seth Sinovic, Tim Walters ? listed on its roster this season, the fewest since the 1998 team also had just three seniors on the squad - Marc Madeley, Richard Mulrooney and Patrick Parker. Gotsmanov and Sinovic demonstrated their senior leadership and ability by combining on the first CU goal of the season this year.

National Player of the Year Candidates: For the second straight season, two Bluejays have been placed on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List, a preseason list for the award annually given to the top soccer player in Division I. Junior Byron Dacy is on the preseason watch list for the third straight year, even after playing just two matches and redshirting last year because of a torn ACL. Senior Andrei Gotsmanov, who led the team with six goals and 17 points last year, joins Dacy on the list. Last year, Matt Allen was nominated along with Dacy to begin the season. Gotsmanov and Dacy are now on the long list of National Player of the Year candidates from Creighton, including the 1997 winner and current assistant coach, Johnny Torres.

CU National Player of the Year Candidates
Year Player
2008 Byron Dacy & Andrei Gotsmanov
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

In Attendance: Creighton ranked third in the nation in overall attendance in 2007, while it finished fourth in average attendance last year. The Jays brought in 34,308 fans for an average of 2,639 per game. CU's match against UCLA last year drew a school-record 5,812 fans, while two other 2007 crowds ranked in the CU top-10.

Preseason Favorites: The Missouri Valley Conference coaches have tabbed the Bluejays as preseason favorites for the fourth straight season. CU received five of the six first-place votes to total 35 points. Evansville is picked to finish second with 27 points, while Missouri State picked up the other first-place vote, despite being picked to finish last in the league.

Nine Newcomers: CU's incoming class of nine players ? six true freshmen and three transfers ? was ranked as the 16th-best recruiting class in the country according to College Soccer News. The Jays have 12 freshmen on their roster, five of whom redshirted with the Bluejays last year. Junior Akin Akinrinade (Central Florida), sophomore Kyle Deremer (St. Mary's) and freshman Tim Krueger (Hastings) have transferred into the program. Deremer and Krueger were teammates on Millard North's undefeated state championship team in 2007. Akinrinade, Krueger, along with freshmen Greg Jordan and Ethan Finlay all enrolled and trained at Creighton this spring.

Dairy State Products: A pair of freshmen from Wisconsin have been tabbed among “100 Freshmen to Keep an Eye On” according to College Soccer News. Ethan Finlay and Stew Brown, club teammates for FC Milwaukee, both earned the notice. Finlay was recognized by Rise Magazine as a top-30 national recruit and was an NSCAA Youth All-American, while Brown was an NSCAA High School All-American and named the most outstanding player at the US Youth Soccer National Championships in 2007.

Last Year in Brief: Creighton lost just one regular-season match in 2007 and finished the year with a 12-3-5 record in the third round of the NCAA Tournament - its 16th straight appearance in the NCAA postseason. The Jays ran off an 11-match unbeaten streak during their season, while posting a 4-0-2 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play for their first unbeaten record in MVC play since 1996. CU shared the MVC regular-season crown with Bradley for the second straight year. All-American Matt Allen became the first player in league history to twice be named MVC Defensive Player of the Year, while he wrapped up his career with CU records for minutes played and shutouts.

Free Tickets: Creighton men's soccer is teaming up with the Omaha Housing Authority to help provide soccer shoes and shin guards for the OHA's newly formed soccer programs and you can help! At the four men's soccer home games in September, simply bring a pair of used soccer shoes or shin guards and receive a pair of free tickets to that night's game. There will be collection bins at the main entrance on the west side of the stadium for drop off of the used items for this week's game and the Sept. 27 game against Denver.

Players Mentioned

Matt Allen

Matt Allen

Byron Dacy

Andrew Duran

Andrei Gotsmanov

Brian Holt

Chris Schuler

Seth Sinovic

Jeff Thayer

Tim Walters

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