No. 2 Men's Soccer Seeks 12th MVC Tournament Crown

State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Notes
#2 Creighton Bluejays at MVC Tournament
Morrison Stadium • Omaha, Neb. • Nov. 9-13
CU at MVC Tournament: 29-8-1
MVC Tournament Central

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Following the Jays: The first four MVC Tournament matches this year will be aired on free MVC Live Video. The championship match will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports KC, Fox College Sports, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, DirecTV Channel 671, Dish Network Channel 418, AT&T U-verse Channel 748 and ESPN3 outside of the seven MVC states. Live stats will also be provided for each match of the event, with links for video and stats provided at www.gocreighton.com.

This Week: Morrison Stadium plays host to the MVC Men's Soccer Championship for the third time (2004, 2007) and the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season co-champions Bluejays will play as the No. 2 seed. The Jays, ranked No. 2 nationally, will be aiming for their 12th MVC Tournament title and their first in Omaha since 1994. The Jays earned a bye into the semifinals, where they will play the winner of the No. 3 Bradley-No. 6 SIUE first round match. Creighton plays at 6 pm on Friday. The title match will kick off at 1 pm on Sunday at Morrison Stadium.

Scouting #2 Creighton (16-2-0, 5-1-0 MVC): The Bluejays are ranked No. 1 in the NCAA's official RPI report and are No. 2 in the coaches poll for the second straight week ... The Jays began the week tied for the NCAA lead with 16 wins and seven road wins ... Creighton is the top defensive team in the NCAA, leading the nation in goals against average (0.22), save percentage (.929) and shutout percentage (.778), having logged 14 shutouts in 18 matches, including eight consecutive shutout victories to start the season and five to end the regular-season ... CU is 9-0-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 20-1 in Omaha ... All-American, 2010 MVC Player of the Year and two-time MAC Hermann Trophy candidate Ethan Finlay leads the MVC with 11 goals and 27 points, while he is the MVC's active career leader in goals (40), assists (16) and points (96) ... Sophomore Bruno Castro, an ACC All-Freshman Team honoree at North Carolina last year, ranks second on the team with five goals and 16 points ... Junior Jose Gomez tops the team with seven assists and has 16 in his two seasons at CU ... Sophomore defender Tyler Polak, CU's other National Player of the Year Candidate and the 2010 MVC Freshman of the Year, has five assists and a goal from his left back slot ... Juniors midfielders Andrew Ribeiro, Greg Jordan and Dion Acoff have eached scored three goals on the year ... Senior CLASS Award Finalist, goalkeeper Brian Holt is the school and MVC record-holder with 39 career shutouts and his 0.65 career goals against average is also a CU and league record. He leads the NCAA with a 0.22 goals against average and 92.6 save percentage, having allowed only four goals in better than 1,610 minutes played this season. Holt, who has played more minutes than anyone in school history, is 52-13-8 in his career, just one win shy of tying the CU record.

Head Coach: Elmar Bolowich is in his first year at Creighton following a 22-year stint at North Carolina, where he guided the Tar Heels to 15 NCAA Tournaments, four College Cup appearances and the 2001 NCAA Title. The 2001 NSCAA National Coach of the Year is now 296-146-40 (.656) in his 23rd year as a collegiate head coach. Bolowich guided UNC to back-to-back ACC championships in his final two seasons in Chapel Hill, while his final three Tar Heel teams advanced to the College Cup. He is one of five active coaches in NCAA Division I soccer to lead a team to four College Cup appearances.

CU-SIUE Series: The Bluejays are 4-4-1 all-time against the Cougars, but are 4-0-1 in their last five meetings.
• CU is 4-1-1 against SIUE since restarting the program in 1990.
• The Jays are 1-0-1 against SIUE as members of the MVC.
• CU is 2-1-1 against SIUE in games played in Omaha, including a 2-2 tie against the Cougars in the 2010 regular-season.

CU-BU Series: Creighton has defeated Bradley more than any other opponent in school history, notching a 23-7-1 all-time record against the Braves.
• CU is 9-2-1 all-time against BU in Omaha.
• CU is 5-3-0 against BU in the MVC Tournament.
• The Braves beat the Bluejays 1-0 in the only previous tourney meeting between the teams in Omaha, in the 2007 championship match.
• The Jays beat the Braves in the MVC title match in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006.

MVC Tournament History: The Bluejays enter the weekend with a 29-8-1 all-time MVC tournament record, the most tournament victories in league history. CU has won more tournament titles, 11, than all other MVC teams combined, earning its 11th crown in 2008. The Jays have appeared in 14 of the 20 MVC tournament championship matches, including four of the last six. The Jays have lost in the quarterfinals once, the semifinals five times, in the championship match three times and won the other 11 tournaments in which they've appeared. The Jays are the only team in league history with more than three tournament titles. The Bluejays have not won the MVC Tournament in Omaha since 1994, while they lost in the semifinals (2004) and the championship match (2007) the only two previous times the event was held at Morrison Stadium. CU is 12-2-1 (.833) in tournament matches held in Omaha, but just 2-2-1 (.500) in the event at Morrison Stadium. Complete Creighton Tournament history on Page 8 of these notes.

MVC Tournament Recognition: Current Bluejays Ethan Finlay, Brian Holt and Andrew Ribeiro have all earned MVC All-Tournament honors previously in their careers. Finlay (2008, 2009) has twice earned all-tournament honors, while Holt was honored on the 2008 team and Ribeiro was honored last year.

We are the Champions: Creighton captured its 11th MVC regular-season title this year (sharing with Missouri State), giving head coach Elmar Bolowich back-to-back regular-season titles (after winning the ACC at North Carolina last year). CU's 11 titles are more than twice as many as the next closest teams – Bradley, Missouri State and SMU all have four regular-season MVC crowns. The title is CU's second straight and its fifth in the last six years.

Double the Titles: Creighton is looking to capture the MVC Tournament title in the same season it is the MVC regular-season champion for the seventh time. The Jays have been double champs in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2006 and 2008.

We're No. 1: Creighton retained its No. 1 ranking in the latest NCAA official RPI released on Tuesday. The Bluejays were also No. 1 last week after they were at the No. 3 slot in the first two RPI rankings released by the NCAA. In addition to its top spot in the RPI, the Bluejays' 16 wins are tied for the national lead with New Mexico, Coastal Carolina and Connecticut. CU's seven road wins this year are also tied for the NCAA lead.

More No. 1 Information: Creighton also remained the top defensive team in the NCAA this week by posting another shutout last week. The Bluejays lead the NCAA with a 0.22 goals against average, a 92.9 save percentage and 77.8 shutout percentage (14 shutouts in 18 matches). Brian Holt leads the NCAA with his 0.23 GAA and 92.5 save percentage.

Road Row-add Row-d: Creighton is tied for the NCAA lead with seven road wins this season. Two of the three teams the Bluejays are tied with were Bluejay home opponents this year and one is an opponent next year. Fordham and UC Irvine both lost in Omaha this year, but have seven road wins, while Northern Illinois also has seven road victories and is scheduled to play in Omaha next year.

Shutout Records: Creighton has posted 14 shutouts this year, breaking the former school record of 13 set by the 2008 team. The 14 clean sheets are also tied with the 2001 SMU team for the MVC record. The Bluejays have logged eight shutouts at home, topping the former CU record of seven set in 2003 – its first season in Morrison Stadium. Brian Holt has tied his record with 12 solo shutouts this season, the total he also posted as a freshman in 2008. His 39 career clean sheets have far surpassed the old MVC (27.5) and school (26) records.

RPI Report: Creighton maintained its No. 1 spot in the RPI for the second straight week, while its foes. Six of CU's opponents this season remained in the top-40 of this week's report: Maryland (2), UC Irvine (8), Indiana (19), Providence (25), Bradley (27) and Wisconsin (38). The Jays are 5-1-0 against the teams in the RPI top-40 this year.

Poll Position: Creighton is ranked second in this week's NSCAA poll, the second straight week and third overall week it has held down the No. 2 spot in the coaches poll. The Bluejays have been ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Midwest Region all 11 weeks of the season. The Jays are also ranked second by Soccer Times and College Soccer News , third byTopDrawerSoccer and fourth by Soccer America.

NCAA Tournament: The Bluejays will be looking to lock up the MVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament this weekend. Should CU not win the event, the Bluejays will look to the selection committee to award them their 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 20 years. The Bluejays appeared in 17 straight NCAA Tournaments between 1992 and 2008, before missing the 2009 NCAA event despite an RPI of 35. The Jays were back in the NCAA Tournament last year, advancing to the second round.

NCAA Stats: In addition to leading the NCAA in goals against average, shutout percentage and save percentage, the Bluejays are ranked highly in other national categories. CU ranks second in the NCAA in win percentage (.889), 27th in offense (1.78 points per game) and 31st in total goals scored (32). In addition to Brian Holt's NCAA-best 0.22 GAA and 92.6 save percentage, other Jays rank among national leaders. Ethan Finlay ranks 18th in the NCAA with 27 points and 19th with 11 goals. Jose Gomez ranks 19th in the NCAA with 0.47 assists per game (7 assists in 15 games).

Not a Regular Season: Creighton already has more wins this year (16) than it finished with last year (13). The 16 regular-season wins are the second-most in school history and the most since the 2000 national runner-up CU squad had 15 regular-season wins en route to leading the nation with 22 victories that season. The 1993 team set the school record with 17 regular-season wins, going a perfect 17-0-0 that year.

Oh Shoot!: Yes Creighton's defense is good, but it's hard for the opponent to score when it doesn't have the ball. Consider that Creighton's last three opponents combined for only three shots on goal. In CU's shutout wins over Drake (Oct. 26) and Central Arkansas (Oct. 29), the Bluejays combined to outshoot the Bulldogs and Bears, 45-4. CU outshot Drake 20-2, including 8-0 on goal and CU launched a season-high 25 shots and 12 shots on goal against UCA, compared to just two shots and one on goal by the Bears. In CU's last five wins it has outscored opponents 9-0 and outshot its foes 107-29.

Finlay's Figures: All-American Ethan Finlay has moved up the MVC and CU career charts this season. He is the fifth player in CU history and ninth in league history to reach 40 career goals. His 96 career points rank sixth in school history and are tied for 11th in Valley history, four points shy of becoming the 10th player in MVC history with 100 points. Of his 40 career goals, 19 have been game-winners and 25 of his 40 goals have been scored at home. He has four multi-goal matches this year and nine in his career. The senior owns Morrison Stadium career records for goals (25), points (60), shots (116) and shots on goal (54).

Another Record for Finlay: Senior Ethan Finlay was named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week five times this season – a league record. Never in league history had a player earned more than three MVC Offensive Player of the Week nods. Finlay was helped by his four multi-goal matches this year.

Attendance Figures: Creighton is averaging 3,298 fans through nine home matches this fall, which unofficially ranks fifth in the NCAA in national attendance figures compiled by the Creighton Sports Information office. The Bluejays have drawn 29,681 fans in nine home dates, compared to 24,974 fans combined drawn by the rest of the MVC in 47 home dates (531 average).

Unofficial NCAA Attendance Leaders
(through Nov. 7)
1. UC Santa Barbara – 5,375
2. Maryland – 4,005
3. Akron – 3,543
4. New Mexico – 3,477
5. Creighton – 3,298
6. Connecticut – 3,276
7. Louisville – 3,073
8. Indiana – 2,322
9. Cal Poly – 2,140
10. Clemson – 2,111

At Home in the Valley: Creighton is 26-4-3 (.833) all-time at Morrison Stadium in MVC regular-season play, compared to just 2-2-1 (.500) at the venue in MVC Tournament play. The Bluejays are an even more impressive 61-7-4 (.875) at home in Valley play all-time. The Jays are 12-2-1 (.833) in MVC Tournament matches held in Omaha all-time.

Home Sweet Morrison: Creighton is 9-0-0 at home this season, having outscored opponents 20-1 in Omaha this year. CU completed its first undefeated home regular-season since 1998 (8-0-0) and is looking to finish an entire season unbeaten at home for the first time since that season. CU is now 68-13-12 (.796) all-time at Morrison Stadium (since 2003). The Bluejays are 17-2-1 (.875) against top 25 foes at Morrison Stadium and since 1990, the Bluejays are 169-29-16 (.823) at home.

Protecting this House: Since moving into Morrison Stadium in 2003, more than half of Creighton's matches have resulted in a Bluejay shutout – 48 clean sheets in 93 matches. The Bluejays have outscored opponents 180-61 at the venue and posted an impressive 0.63 home goals against average at Morrison Stadium.

CU's Defense at Morrison Stadium
Year    GAA    GA    Sho    W-L-T
2003    0.44    5    7    7-2-2
2004    0.90    11    2    10-1-1
2005    0.68    7    6    8-1-1
2006    0.62    6    5    6-1-2
2007    0.85    12    5    6-3-4
2008    0.53    6    6    10-1-0
2009    0.49    4    4    5-2-1
2010    0.88    9    5    7-2-1
2011    0.11    1    8    9-0-0
Totals    0.63    61    48    67-13-12

Winning: Brian Holt became just the second goalkeeper in school history to reach 50 wins when the Jays beat Drake on Oct. 26. His 52 wins entering the tournament are only one shy of Jay Fitzgerald's school-record 53 victories. Earlier this season he became the fourth keeper in CU history with 40 career wins when the Jays topped Fordham on Sept. 9.

Dynamic Duo: Senior co-captains Ethan Finlay and Brian Holt have written their names all over the MVC and Creighton records books. Here is a look at how some of their numbers intertwine.
• Finlay has scored at least one goal in 24 of Holt's 52 career wins.
• Finlay has scored the game-winning goal in 15 of Holt's 39 career shutouts.
• Finlay has scored every goal in a Holt shutout eight times and scored every goal in a Holt victory nine times.

Polak Honored: Sophomore Tyler Polak became the fourth different Bluejay to be named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week this year on Oct. 31, following his play in shutout wins over Drake and Central Arkansas. Polak and the CU defense held both DU and UCA to just two shots each in the dominating performances. The left back also scored his first goal of the year and added his fifth assist in Creighton's 3-0 win over UCA.

Solid Streak: Creighton has not allowed more than one goal in any of its 18 matches this season. That streak of 18 games with one or fewer goals allowed is the longest span in school history, topping the 14 straight put together by the 1999 team.

Multiplicity: Ethan Finlay scored twice against Drake (Oct. 26), his fourth multi-goal match of the season. Only Keith DeFini had more multi-goal matches in a single-season in school history, as DeFini had six multi-goal matches in 1990 and five in 1993. Finlay also had four multi-goal matches last year and he now has nine in his career to rank fourth in school history.

Minuteman: Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt has now played more minutes in goal than any player in school history, as his 6,739 have surpassed the former school mark of his predecessor Matt Allen (6,531). Holt now ranks fourth in MVC history in minutes played.

1-0 W (x7) = Success: Following 1-0 wins at Bradley (Oct. 19) and SIUE (Oct. 22), Creighton has won seven 1-0 matches this year. The seven 1-0 wins are the most in single-season school history, topping the 2002 College Cup team which posted six 1-0 victories en route to the NCAA semifinals.

Duran Recognized: On Oct. 24, senior Andrew Duran was honored for his outstanding play during Creighton's 1-0 shutouts at Bradley (Oct. 19) and SIUE (Oct. 22). Duran was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week and honored on the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week for his play in the pair of shutouts.

That's a Winner: Andrew Ribeiro has scored three goals this season, with each accounting for the game-winning score. His latest winner came at Bradley (Oct. 19). He also owns winners over Drexel (Sept. 4) and Kentucky (Sept. 21) this season. Junior Brent Kallman, playing in his 46th career match, scored the first goal of his career at SIU Edwardsville (Oct. 22), as his header in the first-half provided the only goal in the 1-0 win.

Hat Trick: All-American Ethan Finlay tallied his first career hat trick against No. 7 UC Irvine (Oct. 15), after he had previously scored two goals in a match seven times in his career. The three-goal match for Finlay was Creighton's first hat trick since Julian Nash turned in the feat on Oct. 3, 2004 against a nationally-ranked Tulsa team. He is just the 12th player in the storied history of Creighton soccer to record a hat trick. He joined Nash and Brian Biggerstaff (Nov. 22, 2003 vs. UMKC) as the only three players to notch a hat trick at Morrison Stadium.

CU vs. Top 25: Creighton owns three wins over top 25 teams this year, including two at home to move the Bluejays to an impressive 17-2-1 (.875) against the NSCAA top 25 at Morrison Stadium. The Jays are now 27-9-2 (.737) all-time against nationally-ranked opponents at home. The Jays are 3-1-0 against the NSCAA top 25 this year – with wins over No. 22 Kentucky, No. 7 UC Irvine and at No. 10 Indiana and a loss at No. 3 Maryland. CU is 58-42-10 (.573) all-time against the coaches top 25.

Road Streak Snapped: Creighton had a 14-match unbeaten streak in MVC regular-season road matches snapped in a 1-0 loss at Missouri State on Oct. 12. The Bluejays were 8-0-6 on the MVC road since their previous loss – a 2-1 defeat at Bradley on Oct. 28, 2006. The Jays went 2-0-1 on the MVC road in 2007, 2-0-1 in 2008, 1-0-4 in 2009 and 3-0-0 in 2010. The loss also marked the first Bluejay defeat to a non-ranked team on the road in the regular-season since that same Bradley loss in 2006.

Road Warriors: Since the start of the 2007 season, the Bluejays are an impressive 22-3-7 (.797) in regular-season road matches. Two of the three losses have come to top-five teams, losing 1-0 at No. 1-ranked Akron in 2010 and 1-0 at No. 3-ranked Maryland this season. The Bluejays are 27-8-8 (.721) overall in matches away from Omaha since 2007, including 0-3-1 in postseason road matches and 5-2-0 at neutral sites.

Bouncing Back: Creighton lost its MVC opener for just the fourth time in 21 seasons at Missouri State on Oct. 12. CU bounced back to tie MSU for the MVC title this year. In two of the previous three seasons during which CU lost its MVC opener, the Bluejays advanced to at least the third round of the NCAA Tournament (2000, 2004). In 2000, CU lost its Valley opener 2-1 at Missouri State, before winning 16 of its next 17 matches and advancing to the NCAA championship match. Since losing at MSU on Oct. 12, the Bluejays have won six straight.

Acoff Doubles Up: Junior midfielder Dion Acoff scored his first two goals of the season to earn MVC Offensive Player of the Week honors and be named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week on Oct. 10. Acoff scored his first goal at Wisconsin (Oct. 5) and then scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 win at 10th-ranked Indiana (Oct. 9). The score at IU was Acoff's first career game-winning goal.

Holt Breaks His Own Record: Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt opened this season by not allowing a goal in his first 733:19 played. Adding that streak to the final 20:15 of the 2010 season, Holt did not allowed a goal in 753:34 minutes played – establishing a school-record for consecutive minutes between goals allowed. He surpassed his own school record of better than 722 straight scoreless minutes set during his freshman season in 2008.

Consecutive CU Shutout Minutes Streak
B. Holt - 753:34, Nov. 21, 2010 – Sept. 10, 2011
Brian Holt - 722:12, Sept. 13-Oct. 11, 2008
Kevin Doyle - 562:44, Oct. 11-Nov. 7, 1992
Tom Zawislan - 500:20, Oct. 1-29, 1999
Matt Allen - 480:00, Oct. 26-Nov. 22, 2005

More Clean Sheet Records: Creighton tied its single-season consecutive home shutout record (1999, 2003) this season by starting the year with five straight clean sheets at home – going 512:18 before allowing a goal in Omaha. Earlier this season, CU set a school record by recording eight straight shutouts to start this campaign, topping the former mark of six established by the 2008 team. The Jays did not allow a goal in their first 752:12 minutes this season. In 2008, the Bluejays posted six straight shutouts and went more than 722 minutes between goals that season.

October Success: Creighton went 7-1-0 this October to improved to 54-11-12 (.779) in the month of October since 2002, compared to a winning percentage of .693 in all other months of the season between 2002 and 2010. The Bluejays have gone unbeaten in four Octobers since 2002 (2002, 2003, 2007, 2008).

Bluejays in October Since 2002
Year    Oct.    Season    NCAA
2002    6-0-1    18-4-2    College Cup
2003    7-0-1    12-6-4    Quarterfinals
2004    6-3-0    14-4-2    Third Round
2005    5-3-1    15-5-3    Quarterfinals
2006    5-1-1    13-5-3    First Round
2007    5-0-2    12-3-5    Third Round
2008    4-0-2    16-2-2    Quarterfinals
2009    4-1-3    7-4-5    DNQ
2010    5-2-1    13-5-2    Second Round
2011    7-1-0    16-2-0    ???
Total    54-11-12    136-40-28

Rare Jordan: Redshirt junior Greg Jordan scored just his second career game-winning goal when he knocked in the golden goal to beat Wisconsin in overtime on Oct. 5. Jordan, who ranks third on the team with three goals this year, now has seven career goals. His previous game-winner came against DePaul last September.

Holt Has CLASS: Senior Brian Holt has been named one of 10 national finalists for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Fans can vote for Holt once a day every day through Nov. 14 on Facebook and at www.seniorclassaward.com. Holt and teammate Ethan Finlay were among the 30 preseason candidates for the award.

Bolowich's Best: With an 8-0-0 start this season, Creighton helped head coach Elmar Bolowich to the best start of his 23-year coaching career. In 22 seasons at North Carolina, Bolowich never won more than four matches to start a season. His 2005 team started 7-0-1 after winning its first four matches for the longest unbeaten start to a season in his career.

Historic Start: Creighton's 8-0-0 start was its best since the 1993 team won its first 19 matches of the season en route to earning the No. 1 ranking for the final five weeks of the regular-season. The last two times Creighton started a season with six straight wins it advanced to the College Cup (1996 and 2000). The 2000 team advanced to the NCAA Championship match and led the NCAA with 22 wins. The Bluejays posted a school-record eight straight shutouts, never before had CU started a season with more than four straight clean sheets.

Defensive Players of the Week: A Bluejay was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week in four of the first five weeks this season, with Brian Holt bringing home the honor three times and junior center back Jake Brown winning the honor in week three. Brown earned his first two Bluejay starts and played every minute of CU's shutouts against Fordham (Sept. 9) and DePaul (Sept. 11). Holt has now earned the honor six times in his career as he made seven saves (one shy of his career high set as a freshman in 2008) at Denver to open the season in CU's 1-0 win and posted a solo shutout of Drexel after splitting time in goal of CU's 5-0 win at UMKC. His latest honor came after he shut down the second-highest scoring offense in the NCAA in a 2-0 win over No. 22 Kentucky (Sept. 21).

Fantastic Fans: Creighton drew 5,425 fans for its home opener against Drexel on Sept. 4, the fourth-largest crowd in school history and the third-largest in regular-season play. The fans were among the largest home crowd to witness a home victory, as the Bluejays are 0-2-1 in their highest three attended matches. CU's second home game against Fordham on Sept. 9 brought in 4,242 fans, the seventh-largest crowd. Creighton has ranked in the top-10 in the NCAA attendance in each of the first eight seasons of Morrison Stadium.

Top 10 Creighton Home Crowds
1 – 5,812 vs. UCLA, Sept. 8, 2007
2 – 5,743 vs. Stanford (Exh.), Aug. 26, 2005
3 – 5,609 vs. Missouri State, Sept. 19, 2009
4 – 5,425 vs. Drexel, Sept. 4, 2011
5 – 4,407 vs. Saint Louis, Aug. 31, 1997
6 – 4,345 vs. Virginia (Exh.), Aug. 28, 1993
7 – 4,242 vs. Fordham, Sept. 9, 2011
8 – 4,071 vs. Gonzaga, Aug. 29, 2008
9 – 4,029 vs. UMKC (Exh.), Aug. 27, 2004
10 – 4,023 vs. Tulsa, Sept. 22, 2007

Offensive Output: Creighton's five goals against UMKC (Aug. 31) matched its highest scoring match of the previous four seasons and with nine goals through three matches, the Bluejays equalled the 2008 and 2004 teams for the most goals through three matches in the last 12 seasons. The 2008 team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, while the 2004 team made it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Push the Clutch: Ethan Finlay leads the team and MVC with five game-winning goals this year, nothing new for the senior as he has led the MVC in game-winning goals in each of this first three collegiate campaigns. Of his 40 career goals, 19 have been game-winners.

Big Win: Creighton toppled UMKC 5-0 for the Bluejays' most lopsided victory in five years on Aug. 31. CU's last give-goal win came over Central Arkansas (6-1) on Sept. 27. It was the Jays' most lopsided shutout since a 6-0 win at Georgetown on Oct. 19, 2005.

Finlay, Polak are MAC Hermann Candidates: Senior forward Ethan Finlay and sophomore defender Tyler Polak have been named to the preseason Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List. Finlay was an NSCAA Second-Team All-American last year in recording the highest scoring season by a Bluejay in a decade, while Polak was the 2010 MVC Freshman of the Year. In addition to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, both players have been named preseason All-Americans by College Soccer News and Soccer America.

Finlay, Polak Join Long List: Senior Ethan Finlay and sophomore Tyler Polak are each on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, joining a 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
2011    Ethan Finlay, Tyler Polak
2010    Ethan Finlay
2009    Byron Dacy, Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic
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

Finlay is Top Prospect: TopDrawerSoccer.com has ranked Ethan Finlay as the top senior pro prospect in all of college soccer. Greg Jordan (6) Andrew Duran (33) and Brian Holt (49) are also ranked on that same top-100 senior prospects list. Sophomore Tyler Polak is ranked seventh on a list of the top-25 underclassmen by TDS. Polak was the highest ranked Bluejay by TDS in its first weekly ranking of the top-100 sophomores, juniors and seniors on Aug. 22. The sophomore defender was ranked fifth in the initial list, with Finlay (14), Jordan (74) and Duran (97) also ranking in the top-100 players in the NCAA according to TDS.

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No. 2 Men's Soccer Seeks 12th MVC Tournament Crown

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Players Mentioned

Dion Acoff

Jake Brown

Bruno Castro

Byron Dacy

Andrew Duran

Ethan Finlay

Jose Gomez

Brian Holt

Greg Jordan

Brent Kallman

Tyler Polak

Andrew Ribeiro

Chris Schuler

Seth Sinovic

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