No. 4 Men's Soccer Hosts Diadora Challenge
9/3/2008 2:45:00 PM | Men's Soccer
#4 Creighton Plays Host to the 12th Annual Diadora Challenge
Friday & Sunday ? Sept. 5 & 7 ? Morrison Stadium ? Omaha, Neb.
#23 Saint Louis vs. UC Riverside, Sept. 5, 4:30 p.m.
#4 Creighton vs. Portland, Sept. 5, 7:00 p.m.
#23 Saint Louis vs. Portland, Sept. 7, 11:00 a.m.
#4 Creighton vs. UC Riverside, Sept. 7, 7:00 p.m. (note time change)
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 Diadora Challenge 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: The fourth-ranked Bluejays play host to the 12th annual Diadora Challenge, when they take on Portland and UC Riverside and are joined by 23rd-ranked Saint Louis in the field. SLU takes on UCR to start the event on Friday, followed by the Jays and Portland at 7:00 p.m. SLU and Portland play at 11 a.m. on Sunday, while the final game of the event pits UCR and Creighton at 7 p.m. Sunday. For the second consecutive week, fans are invited to participate in the Getting Blue BBQ starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in front of Morrison Stadium.
Last Week: Creighton moved its unbeaten streak in home openers to 13 straight (10-0-3) with a 4-1 romp of Gonzaga last Friday night. Jeff Thayer scored two late goals for his first career multiple-goal match, while Tucker Sindlinger netted the game-winner. Andrei Gotsmanov scored CU's first goal of the year and added an assist, one of five players to notch an assist in the win.
Scouting Creighton (1-0-0): The fourth-ranked Bluejays 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. The Jays return 12 letterwinners and seven starters from last year's 12-3-5 team which advanced to its 16th straight NCAA Tournament and lost just once in the regular-season. CU welcomes nine newcomers to the team, including three transfers and six true freshmen. The roster lists 12 freshmen out of 26 student-athletes. Creighton is led by a senior trio ? Andrei Gotsmanov, Seth Sinovic and Tim Walters. Gotsmanov and Sinovic teamed up for the first CU goal of the year. Gotsmanov, a midfielder, is joined by junior forward Byron Dacy on the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Dacy returned to action last week, assisting the game-winning goal, after a torn ACL kept him out of action last year and earned him a medical redshirt. Junior defender Chris Schuler joins Gotsmanov, Dacy and Sinovic on the MVC preseason team. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brian Holt played in net last week, beginning the difficult task of replacing two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year and CU record-setting keeper Matt Allen.
Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Bluejays' head coach with a 168-55-27 (.726) record in his 13th season at CU. His overall record is 361-174-57 (.658) 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.
Scouting Portland (1-0-1): The Pilots opened the season going 1-0-1 at home last weekend, with a 2-2 tie against Virginia Tech to open the year and then posting a 4-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Frankie Lopez was honored on two National Team's of the Week for his four goals and nine points last week. Austin Guerrero has played 192 of the 200 minutes in net this year for Portland, logging five saves and a 0.93 goals against average. The Pilots were 10-6-5 last year and are picked third (of seven) teams in the West Coast Conference this year.
Scouting UC Riverside (0-2-0): The Highlanders have a tough schedule to start the season, opening with losses at nationally-ranked California and UCLA last week and facing top-25 foes, SLU and CU this weekend. UCR is picked sixth of seven teams in the Big West Conference this year after a 5-6-8 campaign last year. Cesar Diaz scored UCR's lone goal last week, as Riverside was out-scored 6-1. Ryan Schmitz was in goal all weekend, posting two saves against six goals allowed.
Series Against CU: The Bluejays are meeting with UC Riverside for the first time in school history, while the CU women's soccer team did knock off the UCR women last Sunday in Omaha. CU and Portland are even at 1-1-1 in the all-time series. UP topped CU 3-2 in 2002 at Portland, while CU defeated the Pilots 2-1 in Omaha in 2003. The teams tied 1-1 in Portland in 2005.
We'll CU Soon SLU: Fellow Jesuit institution Saint Louis makes the trip to Omaha this weekend, but will not face the Bluejays. CU and SLU will play against each other this year however, meeting in St. Louis on Oct. 4. Last year the Jays played in SLU's tournament and knocked off Indiana and LMU to share the tourney title with the Billikens.
Diadora Challenge?: The Bluejays play host to the 12th annual Diadora Challenge this weekend, in what has not proved to be much of a challenge historically. The Jays have never lost a match in the tournament, with a 16-0-5 mark all-time. Creighton won the event last year with a 3-0 win over Green Bay and a 2-2 tie with San Diego State.
Thayer of Omaha: Junior forward Jeff Thayer, an Omaha native, scored three goals in 2007, all of which were game winners. While he didn't score the game-winner last week, he's already two-thirds of the way to last season's goal total, as he notched his first career multiple-goal match against Gonzaga. For his efforts, he was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's 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 last week against Gonzaga. 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.
New No. 1: While the jersey read No. 1, it was not record-setting goalkeeper Matt Allen in net for the Jays last week. Allen played every minute in goal for CU last year and has since been lost to graduation and professional soccer in Europe. Redshirt freshman Brian Holt has taken over the net-minding duties for CU, making three saves and allowing one goal in the first 90 minutes of his career against Gonzaga last week.
Poll Position: Creighton moved to fourth in this week's coaches poll (NSCAA) after opening the year ranked sixth. College Soccer News ranks the Jays fifth and Soccer America has Creighton ranked sixth. TopDrawerSoccer.com's 48-team NCAA prediction poll has the Jays ranked second, behind only Wake Forest. Soccer Times had yet to release its week one poll at press time.
Opening Up: With a 4-1 win over Gonzaga last Friday night, 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 last Friday. The home crowd is 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.
Byron is Back: Junior forward Byron Dacy returns to the pitch this season after taking a medical redshirt with a torn ACL last year. Dacy did well in his return to play, assisting the game-winning goal and leading the Jays with four shots, including three on goal in CU's 4-1 win over Gonzaga to open the season. He played 53 minutes off the bench in his return to competition.
The injury did not prevent Dacy from receiving preseason accolades. College Soccer News named him a second-team preseason All-American, while he appears on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for the third straight year.
Warming's 250th: Last Friday's match against Gonzaga marked head coach Bob Warming's 250th game as Creighton's head coach. Warming has now coached 152 games at CU since returning in 2001, while he coached 98 games at Creighton in his first stint at CU between 1990-94.
Home Sweet Morrison: The Bluejays are now 38-8-10 (.768) all-time at Morrison Stadium, posting a 6-3-4 mark last year. Prior to the three home losses in 2007, CU had lost just one home match in each of its previous three seasons. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 140-24-15 (.824) 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.
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 last Friday.
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 starting with next Friday's match against Portland.
Friday & Sunday ? Sept. 5 & 7 ? Morrison Stadium ? Omaha, Neb.
#23 Saint Louis vs. UC Riverside, Sept. 5, 4:30 p.m.
#4 Creighton vs. Portland, Sept. 5, 7:00 p.m.
#23 Saint Louis vs. Portland, Sept. 7, 11:00 a.m.
#4 Creighton vs. UC Riverside, Sept. 7, 7:00 p.m. (note time change)
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 Diadora Challenge 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: The fourth-ranked Bluejays play host to the 12th annual Diadora Challenge, when they take on Portland and UC Riverside and are joined by 23rd-ranked Saint Louis in the field. SLU takes on UCR to start the event on Friday, followed by the Jays and Portland at 7:00 p.m. SLU and Portland play at 11 a.m. on Sunday, while the final game of the event pits UCR and Creighton at 7 p.m. Sunday. For the second consecutive week, fans are invited to participate in the Getting Blue BBQ starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in front of Morrison Stadium.
Last Week: Creighton moved its unbeaten streak in home openers to 13 straight (10-0-3) with a 4-1 romp of Gonzaga last Friday night. Jeff Thayer scored two late goals for his first career multiple-goal match, while Tucker Sindlinger netted the game-winner. Andrei Gotsmanov scored CU's first goal of the year and added an assist, one of five players to notch an assist in the win.
Scouting Creighton (1-0-0): The fourth-ranked Bluejays 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. The Jays return 12 letterwinners and seven starters from last year's 12-3-5 team which advanced to its 16th straight NCAA Tournament and lost just once in the regular-season. CU welcomes nine newcomers to the team, including three transfers and six true freshmen. The roster lists 12 freshmen out of 26 student-athletes. Creighton is led by a senior trio ? Andrei Gotsmanov, Seth Sinovic and Tim Walters. Gotsmanov and Sinovic teamed up for the first CU goal of the year. Gotsmanov, a midfielder, is joined by junior forward Byron Dacy on the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Dacy returned to action last week, assisting the game-winning goal, after a torn ACL kept him out of action last year and earned him a medical redshirt. Junior defender Chris Schuler joins Gotsmanov, Dacy and Sinovic on the MVC preseason team. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brian Holt played in net last week, beginning the difficult task of replacing two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year and CU record-setting keeper Matt Allen.
Head Coach: Head coach Bob Warming (Berea, 1975) is in his second stint as the Bluejays' head coach with a 168-55-27 (.726) record in his 13th season at CU. His overall record is 361-174-57 (.658) 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.
Scouting Portland (1-0-1): The Pilots opened the season going 1-0-1 at home last weekend, with a 2-2 tie against Virginia Tech to open the year and then posting a 4-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Frankie Lopez was honored on two National Team's of the Week for his four goals and nine points last week. Austin Guerrero has played 192 of the 200 minutes in net this year for Portland, logging five saves and a 0.93 goals against average. The Pilots were 10-6-5 last year and are picked third (of seven) teams in the West Coast Conference this year.
Scouting UC Riverside (0-2-0): The Highlanders have a tough schedule to start the season, opening with losses at nationally-ranked California and UCLA last week and facing top-25 foes, SLU and CU this weekend. UCR is picked sixth of seven teams in the Big West Conference this year after a 5-6-8 campaign last year. Cesar Diaz scored UCR's lone goal last week, as Riverside was out-scored 6-1. Ryan Schmitz was in goal all weekend, posting two saves against six goals allowed.
Series Against CU: The Bluejays are meeting with UC Riverside for the first time in school history, while the CU women's soccer team did knock off the UCR women last Sunday in Omaha. CU and Portland are even at 1-1-1 in the all-time series. UP topped CU 3-2 in 2002 at Portland, while CU defeated the Pilots 2-1 in Omaha in 2003. The teams tied 1-1 in Portland in 2005.
We'll CU Soon SLU: Fellow Jesuit institution Saint Louis makes the trip to Omaha this weekend, but will not face the Bluejays. CU and SLU will play against each other this year however, meeting in St. Louis on Oct. 4. Last year the Jays played in SLU's tournament and knocked off Indiana and LMU to share the tourney title with the Billikens.
Diadora Challenge?: The Bluejays play host to the 12th annual Diadora Challenge this weekend, in what has not proved to be much of a challenge historically. The Jays have never lost a match in the tournament, with a 16-0-5 mark all-time. Creighton won the event last year with a 3-0 win over Green Bay and a 2-2 tie with San Diego State.
Thayer of Omaha: Junior forward Jeff Thayer, an Omaha native, scored three goals in 2007, all of which were game winners. While he didn't score the game-winner last week, he's already two-thirds of the way to last season's goal total, as he notched his first career multiple-goal match against Gonzaga. For his efforts, he was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's 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 last week against Gonzaga. 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.
New No. 1: While the jersey read No. 1, it was not record-setting goalkeeper Matt Allen in net for the Jays last week. Allen played every minute in goal for CU last year and has since been lost to graduation and professional soccer in Europe. Redshirt freshman Brian Holt has taken over the net-minding duties for CU, making three saves and allowing one goal in the first 90 minutes of his career against Gonzaga last week.
Poll Position: Creighton moved to fourth in this week's coaches poll (NSCAA) after opening the year ranked sixth. College Soccer News ranks the Jays fifth and Soccer America has Creighton ranked sixth. TopDrawerSoccer.com's 48-team NCAA prediction poll has the Jays ranked second, behind only Wake Forest. Soccer Times had yet to release its week one poll at press time.
Opening Up: With a 4-1 win over Gonzaga last Friday night, 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 last Friday. The home crowd is 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.
Byron is Back: Junior forward Byron Dacy returns to the pitch this season after taking a medical redshirt with a torn ACL last year. Dacy did well in his return to play, assisting the game-winning goal and leading the Jays with four shots, including three on goal in CU's 4-1 win over Gonzaga to open the season. He played 53 minutes off the bench in his return to competition.
The injury did not prevent Dacy from receiving preseason accolades. College Soccer News named him a second-team preseason All-American, while he appears on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for the third straight year.
Warming's 250th: Last Friday's match against Gonzaga marked head coach Bob Warming's 250th game as Creighton's head coach. Warming has now coached 152 games at CU since returning in 2001, while he coached 98 games at Creighton in his first stint at CU between 1990-94.
Home Sweet Morrison: The Bluejays are now 38-8-10 (.768) all-time at Morrison Stadium, posting a 6-3-4 mark last year. Prior to the three home losses in 2007, CU had lost just one home match in each of its previous three seasons. Since 1990, the Bluejays are 140-24-15 (.824) 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.
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 last Friday.
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 starting with next Friday's match against Portland.
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/ Men's SoccerCreighton Media Availability Men's Soccer - 11/5/25
Wednesday, November 05
Creighton MSOC Highlights & Postgame vs Seton Hall 11 1 25
Sunday, November 02
Creighton Men's Soccer Media Availability - 10/29/25
Wednesday, October 29
Creighton Men's Soccer Highlights at Butler -10-25-25
Saturday, October 25
