No. 2 Men's Soccer Heads to College Cup

NCAA College Cup Semifinal vs. Charlotte 49ers
Friday, December 9 • 5:00 pm
#14 Charlotte 49ers (16-4-3) vs. #2 Creighton Bluejays (21-2-0)
Regions Park • Hoover, Ala.
Series History: Creighton leads 2-1-0
Television: ESPNU
NCAA Tournament Bracket
Video • Tickets
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This Week: The No. 2-ranked and No. 2-seeded Bluejays (21-2-0) are looking to win the first NCAA Championship in any sport in school history. The Bluejays carry an 11-game winning streak into Friday's NCAA Semifinal against unseeded and 14th-ranked Charlotte (16-4-3). The Jays and 49ers will kickoff at 5 pm at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. The winner of the first semifinal will advance to Sunday's 3 pm championship match against No. 1 seed North Carolina or No. 13 seed UCLA. All College Cup games will be televised live on ESPNU and ESPN3. (View video interviews with Andrew Duran and head coach Elmar Bolowich previewing the College Cup at the bottom of this release)

NCAA Recap: Creighton has reached its fourth College Cup with home wins over Northern Illinois (3-0), UC Santa Barbara (2-1) and South Florida (1-0, OT), allowing a combined six shots on goal in the three victories. The Bluejays topped NIU 3-0 in the second round on Nov. 20, after earning a first round bye. Ethan Finlay scored twice in the shutout win. The Jays then knocked off No. 15-seed UC Santa Barbara 2-1 in the third round, scoring twice in the first 20 minutes and then holding off the NCAA's third-ranked offense. Finlay then scored the golden goal in the 97th minute last Sunday in the Jays' 1-0 overtime win over USF.

Scouting #2 Creighton (21-2-0, 5-1-0 MVC): The Bluejays lead the NCAA with 21 wins and are the top defensive team in the country, having posted a nation's best 18 shutouts (two shy of the NCAA record) ... Creighton leads the NCAA in goals against average (0.21), save percentage (.923) and shutout percentage (.783) ... CU's current GAA of 0.21 is the best in NCAA history (edging Evansville's 0.24 in 1990) ...Creighton, the MVC regular-season co-champions and MVC Tournament champions, started the season with eight straight shutout victories and enters the College Cup on an 11-game winning streak ... The Bluejays, who were ranked No. 1 in the NCAA RPI for the last two weeks of the regular-season, are making their fourth NCAA College Cup appearance (1996, 2000, 2002, 2011), while appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 19th time in 20 seasons ... Creighton set a school-record with 14 home wins this season, going 14-0-0 at home and outscoring opponents 28-2 in Omaha ... Creighton has allowed only five goals all year, but also ranks 12th in the NCAA with 40 goals scored this year ... The Bluejays are led by MVC Goalkeeper of the Year, MVC Tournament MVP and MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist Brian Holt, who owns an NCAA record 43 career shutouts and leads the NCAA with a 0.22 goals against average and 91.9 save percentage this season ... Holt, the CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, owns school and league records with 57 wins and a 0.63 career GAA ... Helping Holt lead the nation's best defense is MVC Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Duran and first-team all-MVC defender Tyler Polak, a preseason MAC Hermann Trophy candidate ... Two-time MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and two-time MVC Player of the Year Ethan Finlay ranks 12th in the NCAA with an MVC-best 34 points and his 14 goals rank 13th in the nation. The All-American has tied a school-record with six career NCAA Tournament goals and is the MVC's active career leader in goals (43), assists (17) and points (103) ... Junior midfielder Greg Jordan was CU's fifth first-team all-MVC player this season, as 10 of CU's 11 starters earned an honor from the MVC ... Three CU midfielders earned second-team all-MVC honors – Bruno Castro (6 g, 8 a), Jose Gomez (4 g, 8 a) and Dion Acoff (3 g, 2 a).

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 23-13-4 (.625) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and now 301-146-40 (.659) 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 (2008-10). He is now one of 10 head coaches in NCAA history to lead a team to at least four straight College Cup appearances and one of 12 to appear in five or more College Cups. The native of Germany led the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year in his debut season at Creighton.

Bolowich is the First: Head Coach Elmar Bolowich is among 10 coaches to appear in four straight College Cups, but he is the first to do so with two different teams. He is making his fifth appearance in the College Cup, joining 11 other head coaches that have reached five Cups. He and Bob Guelker (SIU Edwardsville and Saint Louis) are the only two coaches among those dozen to take two different teams to the Cup.

NCAA Tournament History: Creighton is making its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance, all in the past 20 seasons (missed in 2009), looking for its first NCAA title in any sport in school history. Creighton is now 26-16-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a sparkling 10-1-0 mark at Morrison Stadium after its three wins this year. The Jays are 16-6-3 in their last nine appearances, advancing to the quarterfinals in five of their last nine trips to the tourney. Creighton is appearing in its fourth College Cup (1996, 2000, 2002, 2011). The Bluejays lost in the semifinals in 1996 and 2002 and lost in the championship match in 2000. Complete NCAA Tournament history on page 10 of these game notes.

CU-Charlotte Series: Creighton is 2-1-0 all-time against Charlotte, but the teams have not met since a 5-2 49er win on Oct. 19, 1994 in Davidson, N.C. The Bluejays and 49ers played a rare home-and-home series during the 1993 season, with Creighton defeating Charlotte 3-1 in Omaha on Sept. 4 and CU winning 3-2 on Oct. 24 in Charlotte.

CU-UNC Series: Creighton and North Carolina have played twice, with the teams splitting the previous meetings. Creighton lost 2-1 in overtime in Chapel Hill on Sept. 21, 1997 and then won in Omaha, 3-0, on Sept. 5, 1999. Creighton's Elmar Bolowich was UNC's head coach in both previous meetings with the Tar Heels.

CU-UCLA Series: Creighton is 3-1-1 all-time against UCLA, including a 2-0 win at UCLA in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The Jays lost 6-0 in the first meeting between the teams on Sept. 20, 1991, but have since gone unbeaten in the last four meetings, including a 1-0 win in Omaha on Oct. 31, 2009.

Quarterfinal Recap: Creighton finished a perfect home season with a 1-0 overtime win over No. 7-seed South Florida in the quarterfinals last Sunday in frigid Omaha. The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, but just before kickoff the decision was made to delay the game due to snow – as continual efforts from Creighton's facilities crew could not keep the field clear and playable. That crew then worked through the night after the snow stopped to get the field ready for Sunday. The teams were scoreless through regulation before Ethan Finlay scored the golden goal in the 97th minute to send the Bluejays to the semifinals. Brian Holt made three saves in net to set the NCAA record with his 43rd career clean sheet. The Jays outshot the Bulls 20-6 in the win and attempted a season-high 10 corner kicks in the match.

Round Three Recap: Creighton defeated No. 15-seed UC Santa Barbara 2-1 on Nov. 27 in the third round. Bruno Castro was awarded a penalty kick in the eighth minute after UCSB was whistled for a foul in the box during a Castro corner kick. The Jays went ahead 2-0 in the 19th minute when Andrew Ribeiro sent a blast in from close range following a Jose Gomez corner kick. The Jays allowed a goal in the 79th minute, snapping their eight-game scoreless streak, but held off the third-best offense in the NCAA for the win.

Round Two Recap: Creighton topped Northern Illinois 3-0 on Nov. 20 in the second round to open NCAA Tournament play. Jose Gomez scored in the 21st minute off of a crossing pass from Eric Miller and Ethan Finlay added a tally in the 43rd minute to give the Jays a 2-0 lead at halftime. Finlay added his second goal of the match in the 88th minute to conclude scoring in the match. CU outshot NIU 13-4 in the contest, limiting the Huskies to only one shot on goal, as the Jays posted their eighth straight clean sheet.

Against the Field: Creighton has now played nine matches against NCAA Tournament teams this year, going 8-1-0 against those squads. CU owns two wins over Bradley, wins over No. 16 seed Indiana, No. 15 seed UC Santa Barbara, No. 8 seed UC Irvine, No. 7 seed South Florida, and wins over Saint Mary's and Northern Illinois. CU's only loss to a team in the tournament field came to No. 5 seed Maryland.

And the Winner Has ...: The winner of Creighton's match with Charlotte will advance to the NCAA Championship match on Sunday. The title match opponent will be either No. 1-seed North Carolina (20-2-2) or No. 13-seed UCLA (18-4-1). The championship match is set for 3 pm on Sunday.

December to Remember: Creighton hosted just the second December home match in school history last Sunday, topping South Florida 1-0 in overtime to advance to the College Cup. Temperature at kickoff was listed at 26 degrees, with a wind chill at 20. Prior to the win over USF, the Bluejays had lost their last five matches played in December dating back to their 2002 College Cup semifinal loss to Stanford. The Jays are now 6-8-1 all-time in December, including 1-1-0 at home.

Holt Sets NCAA Record: Brian Holt set an NCAA record with his 43rd career shutout against South Florida last Sunday. With his 43rd clean sheet, he moved past Indiana's T.J. Hannig (1997-00) and Bowling Green's Scott Vallow (1995-98) alone into first place in the NCAA record books.

Chasing NCAA History: Creighton enters the College Cup looking to continue its quest for an NCAA title while looking to make statistical history along the way:
• CU has a 0.21 team goals against average – a mark that is tops in NCAA history. Evansville established the current GAA record of 0.24 in 1990.
• Brian Holt's 0.22 goals against average ranks second in NCAA history and his 91.9 save percentage ranks sixth in NCAA history.
• Creighton's 18 shutouts are tied for third in NCAA history, trailing Evansville (20 – 1990) and Akron (19 – 2009) and tied with Indiana (1979).
• CU's .783 shutout percentage is tied for second in NCAA history with Indiana in 1979, trailing only SIU Edwardsville (.857) in 1973.
• Check page nine for more info.

Field Crew Rewarded: After pulling an all-nighter on Friday to try to get Morrison Stadium ready for Saturday's scheduled quarterfinal against South Florida last week, the Creighton facilities crew fought a losing battle with Mother Nature last Saturday, as continual snowfall forced postponement of the match until Sunday. The crew, led by Brandon McCarville and Zach Howard, again pulled an all-nighter on Saturday night, turning a white and snow-covered field into a green and playable pitch for Sunday's 1 pm kickoff. McCarville and Howard's reward for pulling two straight all-nighters at Morrison Stadium? - A trip to the College Cup. The pair of Creighton athletics facilities workers will be relaxing and cheering on the Bluejays from the stands this weekend in Hoover.

We're No. 1: Creighton leads the NCAA with 21 wins, 18 shutouts and a .913 winning percentage. The Bluejays also tied for the national lead with seven road wins this year – even with Charlotte, Louisville, Fordham, UC Irvine and Northern Illinois. Creighton continues to be the top defensive team in the NCAA, ranking first in the nation in goals against average (0.21), save percentage (.923) and shutout percentage (.783) – with an NCAA best 18 shutouts in 23 matches. Brian Holt leads the NCAA with his 0.22 GAA and 91.9 save percentage.

CU vs. Top 25: Creighton is 6-1-0 against top 25 teams this year, including five wins at home to move the Bluejays to an impressive 20-2-1 (.891) against the NSCAA top 25 at Morrison Stadium. The Jays have wins over No. 22 Kentucky, No. 7 UC Irvine, No. 22 Bradley, No. 13 UC Santa Barbara and at No. 10 Indiana this year and a loss at No. 3 Maryland. CU is 61-42-10 (.584) all-time against the coaches top 25.

College Cup Storylines: As if a potential rematch between Creighton's coach and his former team in the NCAA title match weren't enough, here are some other topics of discussion relating to Creighton and this year's College Cup:
• Elmar Bolowich has brought Creighton to the College Cup, after leading North Carolina to the Cup in each of the last three seasons, with a rematch against his former squad a potential. Sound familiar? Former Creighton and Stanford head coach Bret Simon did something similar. Simon led Creighton to the 2000 College Cup championship match and then left for Stanford after that season. He promptly led the Cardinal to the 2001 and 2002 College Cups and in 2002, Simon and Stanford faced Creighton in the College Cup semifinals.
• Creighton is facing Charlotte in the semifinals. Charlotte was the sight of Creighton's 2000 run to the NCAA Title match (where it lost to UConn 2-0). Current Creighton All-American Ethan Finlay spent part of his childhood living in Charlotte and Finlay's first exposure to Creighton came when he attended the 2000 College Cup as a 10-year-old and witnessed the Bluejays beat Indiana 2-1 in triple overtime in the semifinals.
• Charlotte was also in the College Cup during Creighton's first College Cup appearance in 1996 and UCLA was at the College Cup in 2002 during CU's last Cup appearance.
• Creighton assistant coach Johnny Torres - the 1997 Hermann Trophy Award winner - played on Creighton's first College Cup team in 1996. Torres was named Soccer America's National Player of the Year that season.
• Creighton graduate manager Matt Wieland was a freshman starter on Creighton's last College Cup team in 2002. Wieland's older brother Joe, was a starter on the 2000 and 2002 College Cup teams.
• Creighton sophomore Bruno Castro played in nine matches for North Carolina's College Cup team last year, including an appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals for UNC.
• Backup goalkeeper Bryan Hoie's cousin Nic Wilson was a member of the 2000 and 2002 College Cup Creighton teams.
• Reserve back Jake Brown served as a ball boy for the Bluejays during the 2002 season in which it advance to the College Cup.
• Friday's game will mark the first time Creighton has played a match in the state of Alabama.

Two Jays are MAC Hermann Semifinalists: Senior forward Ethan Finlay and senior goalkeeper Brian Holt were named among the 15 semifinalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy on Sunday – college soccer's top individual honor. Finlay is joined by Duke's Andrew Wenger as the only two repeat semifinalists. Finlay was joined by sophomore defender Tyler Polak on the preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.

Trio of Jays Join Long List: Seniors Ethan Finlay and Brian Holt, along with 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, Brian Holt, 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

Smart Birds: Senior Brian Holt was named the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year last week and in so doing became the first Creighton men's soccer player to be named a First-Team Academic All-American. Senior Ethan Finlay and Jace Peters were also named Second-Team Academic All-Americans, giving CU three Academic All-Americans in 2011 after they entered the season with just two in program history.

Coach Hits 300: Head coach Elmar Bolowich not only moved his team along in the NCAA Tournament with a win over UCSB on Nov. 27, but that victory was also a career milestone, serving as his 300th career victory. The first 280 came at North Carolina, while his 20th victory at Creighton helped him become the 13th active Division I head coach with 300 career wins.

Streaking Note: The headline explains it all.
• Seniors Brian Holt and Ethan Finlay have each started all 78 career matches they've played in over the past four seasons.
• Creighton's current 11-game winning streak is its longest since the 2000 team won 11 straight in order to reach the the NCAA title match. The Jays have not won 12 straight since the 1993 team won a school-record 19 straight matches to start the season.
• Creighton entered the NCAA Tournament on an eight-game winning streak, the second-longest streak entering the NCAA postseason in school history (behind the 1993 team which entered the tourney on a 19-game streak).
• Creighton has now posted two winning streaks of at least eight games this season – a first in school history.
• Creighton played its last eight matches at home, a school-record home stand. CU had previously played five-straight games at home on six occasions. The Jays have not played a road match since Oct. 22 - a 1-0 win at SIU Edwardsville.
• Creighton has logged eight straight shutouts twice this season, the second streak ending in a 2-1 win over UCSB in the NCAA Tournament. Before this season, the CU record for consecutive shutouts was six. This Jays also opened the season with eight straight clean sheets.
• CU's six-match shutout streak at home was also a school record (Oct. 26-Nov. 20)
• Creighton's school-record shutout streak of 826:44 consecutive scoreless minutes ended when UCSB scored on Nov. 27, it was the first goal CU had allowed since Oct. 15.
• Brian Holt had his record consecutive shutout streak snapped on Nov. 27 at 816:44 straight minutes. He now owns the top three consecutive scoreless minute streaks in school history - 816:44, 753:34 and 722:12.
• CU tied a school-record by winning its 15th straight home match in its 1-0 victory over South Florida last Sunday. CU also posted 15 straight home wins between 1997 and 1999.
• CU has not allowed more than one goal in any of its 23 matches this season – the longest such streak in school history (the former mark was 14 in 1999).
• Head coach Elmar Bolowich is appearing in his fourth consecutive College Cup (2008-10 at North Carolina), the 10th coach in NCAA history to reach four straight Cups.

Perfect Home Season: Creighton posted a school-record 14 home wins this year, logging just the second perfect home season with a 14-0-0 record at Morrison Stadium this year. The Bluejays outscored opponents 28-2 in Omaha, posting 12 clean sheets for a 0.14 goals against average. The Jays topped the former school record of 13 home wins, set by the 1993 team and bettered the perfection of the 1998 team's 8-0-0 home record.

Finlay's Figures: All-American Ethan Finlay has scored six goals in his last five NCAA Tournament matches, with a pair of multi-goal games to his credit. He scored twice in CU's 3-0 win over Northern Illinois (Nov. 20) after he also had a brace against New Mexico at home in last year's tourney. He scored in CU's season-finale last year at SMU and added a golden goal against South Florida last Sunday. With six career goals in the NCAA Tournament, he has tied Brian Mullan and Mike Tranchilla for the school record. Of Finlay's 14 goals scored this year, 12 came at home, giving him 28 home goals (of 43) in his career.

Holt Breaks His Own Record – Again: Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt has again set a school record for consecutive scoreless minutes, the third time he has set the record in his career. Holt went better than 816 minutes between goals allowed from Oct. 15 to Nov. 27, before UCSB scored on Nov. 27, to break a record he set earlier this season. He started the 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. His first streak of 722:12 was set as a freshman. No other keeper in school history has gone more than 600 straight scoreless minutes.

Consecutive CU Shutout Minutes Streak
Brian Holt - 816:44, Oct. 15 – Nov. 27, 2011
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

NCAA Stats: In addition to leading the NCAA in wins (21), winning percentage (.913), goals against average (0.21), shutout percentage (.783) and save percentage (.923), the Bluejays are ranked highly in other national categories. CU ranks 12th in the nation with 40 goals scored. In addition to Brian Holt's NCAA-best 0.22 GAA and .919 save percentage, other Jays rank among national leaders. Ethan Finlay ranks 12th in the NCAA with 34 points and 13th with 14 goals. Bruno Castro and Jose Gomez are tied for 20th in the NCAA with eight assists.

Winning: Brian Holt not only helped Creighton capture the MVC Tournament title and earn MVC Tournament MVP honors in CU's 1-0 win over Missouri State on Nov. 13, but he also became the winningest goalkeeper in school history in the victory. The win over MSU was the 54th of his career, moving him past the former record of Jay Fitzgerald (1991-95). He has now been in net for 57 Bluejay victories.

Simply the Best: Creighton brought home four of the five MVC specialty awards when postseason honors were handed out. Ethan Finlay became the first Bluejay to twice be named MVC Player of the Year (third two-time winner in MVC history), Andrew Duran was tabbed the MVC Defensive Player of the Year and Brian Holt was named the MVC Goalkeeper of the Year. For the third time in four years and with the third different head coach, Creighton earned MVC Coaching Staff of the Year honors – recognizing head coach Elmar Bolowich, assistants Johnny Torres and Justin Hughes and graduate manager Matt Wieland.

Road Warriors: Since the start of the 2007 season, the Bluejays 5-2-0 in neutral site games and 27-8-8 (.721) in matches played outside of Omaha. Creighton has lost just three regular-season road matches since 2007, with two of the three losses coming to top-five teams (at No. 1 Akron in 2010 and at No. 3 Maryland this season). The Jays have not played outside of Omaha since an Oct. 22 win at SIU Edwardsville, as they just concluded a school-record eight-game home stand.

NCAA at Morrison: Creighton went 3-0-0 at home in the NCAA Tournament this year to improve to 10-1-0 all-time in the NCAA postseason at Morrison Stadium since the venue opened in 2003. The Bluejays scored at least two goals in each of their nine victories and have out-scored opponents 29-7 in the first 11 NCAA matches at Morrison.

Home is Where the Wins Are: Creighton is now 73-13-12 (.806) all-time at Morrison Stadium (since 2003). The 14 wins at Morrison Stadium are a single-season home record (one more than the 1993 team). The Jays had never won more than 10 matches in a season at Morrison Stadium before this year. The Bluejays improved to 20-2-1 (.891) against top 25 foes at Morrison Stadium and since 1990, the Bluejays are 174-29-16 (.831) at home.

Attendance Figures: Creighton averaged 2,909 fans in 14 home matches this fall, which unofficially ranks seventh in the NCAA in national attendance figures compiled by the Creighton Sports Information office. The Bluejays drew 29,681 fans in nine regular-season home dates, compared to 24,974 fans combined drawn by the rest of the MVC in 47 home dates (531 average). Including this season, Creighton has ranked in the top-10 in the NCAA in attendance every season since moving into Morrison Stadium in 2003.

Unofficial 2011 NCAA Attendance Leaders
1. UC Santa Barbara – 4,782
2. Maryland – 3,781
3. New Mexico – 3,749
4. Connecticut – 3,600
5. Akron – 3,300
6. Louisville – 3,023
7. Creighton – 2,909
8. Cal Poly – 2,140
9. Clemson – 2,111
10. Wake Forest – 2,007

Home Security: Since moving into Morrison Stadium in 2003, more than half of Creighton's matches have resulted in a Bluejay shutout – 52 clean sheets in 98 matches. The Bluejays have outscored opponents 188-62 at the venue and posted an impressive 0.61 home goals against average at Morrison Stadium, including a 0.16 home GAA this season.

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    0.14    2    12    14-0-0
Totals    0.61    62    52    73-13-12

MVC Tournament Summary: Creighton won its MVC-best 12th Valley Tournament title with a pair of shutouts on Nov. 11 & 13, winning its first MVC tourney title in Omaha since 1994. CU topped Bradley 1-0 in the semifinals (Nov. 11) behind a Jose Gomez goal and then avenged one of its two losses this season by beating Missouri State 1-0 in the championship match, with freshman Jose Ribas scoring his first career goal for the game-winner. Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt was named the MVC Tournament MVP, while he was joined by senior defender Andrew Duran, sophomore defender Tyler Polak and senior forward Ethan Finlay on the All-Tournament Team.

MVC Title Town: Creighton captured its 11th MVC regular-season title this year (sharing with Missouri State) and followed by winning its 12th tournament title, making the seventh time the Bluejays have won both crowns in the same season – 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2006, 2008 and 2011. CU's 11 Valley regular-season 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 regular-season title was CU's second straight and its fifth in the last six years. CU's 12 tournament crowns are more than all other MVC teams combined, while its 31 wins in MVC tourney play are also a school record.

MVC Honors: In addition to the specialty honors, 10 of Creighton's 11 starters were recognized by the MVC this season.
MVC First-Team
Andrew Duran, Sr., D
Ethan Finlay, Sr., F
Brian Holt, Sr., GK
Greg Jordan, Jr., M
Tyler Polak, So., D
MVC Second-Team
Dion Acoff, Jr., M
Bruno Castro, So., M
Jose Gomez, Jr., M
MVC Honorable Mention
Andrew Ribeiro, Jr., M
MVC All-Freshman Team
Eric Miller, Fr., D

At Home in the Valley: Creighton is 26-4-3 (.833) all-time at Morrison Stadium in MVC regular-season play, compared to just 4-2-1 (.643) 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 14-2-1 (.853) in MVC Tournament matches held in Omaha all-time.

Shutout Records: Creighton leads the NCAA with 18 shutouts – which is an MVC and school record and ranks third in NCAA history. The former school mark of 13 was set in 2008, and the old MVC record of 14 was set by SMU in 2001. Creighton posted 12 shutouts at home, breaking the former school record of seven home clean sheets set in 2003 – CU's first season at Morrison Stadium. Brian Holt has 16 solo shutouts this year, breaking his former CU record of 12 set as a freshman in 2008. His 43 career clean sheets an NCAA record.

RPI Report: Creighton was No. 1 in the RPI for the final two weeks of the regular-season before it finished No. 2 in the NCAA ratings heading into NCAA play. The Bluejays were No. 3 in the RPI poll in each of the first two weeks of the release. Six of CU's regular-season opponents finished in the RPI top-50: Maryland (5), UC Irvine (8), Indiana (14), Bradley (21), Providence (23) and Wisconsin (49). The Jays are now 7-1-0 against the teams in the RPI top-50 this year. USF's final RPI was 9, UCSB's was 15 and Northern Illinois had an RPI of 24. Charlotte's final RPI was 17, North Carolina was No. 1 and UCLA was No. 12.

Poll Position: Creighton was ranked second in the NSCAA's final regular-season poll, the third straight week and fourth overall week it held down the No. 2 spot in the coaches poll. The Bluejays were ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Midwest Region all 12 weeks of the season. The Jays are also ranked second in the latest polls released by Soccer Times and College Soccer News, and third by TopDrawerSoccer and Soccer America.

1-0 W (x10) = Success: Ten of Creighton's 21 wins this season have been 1-0 finals, including its thrilling 1-0 overtime win over South Florida last Sunday to advance to the College Cup. The ten 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.

Dairy State Product: Two-time MVC Player of the Year and two-time MAC Hermann Trophy Candidate Ethan Finlay has moved up the MVC and CU career charts this season. The All-American is the fifth player in CU history and ninth in league history to reach 40 career goals. His 103 career points rank sixth in school history and 10th in Valley history. Of his 43 career goals, 20 have been game-winners and 28 of his 43 goals have been scored at home. He has five multi-goal matches this year and 10 in his career. The senior owns Morrison Stadium career records for goals (28), points (66), shots (141) and shots on goal (66).

Multiplicity: Ethan Finlay scored twice in CU's second round win over Northern Illinois (Nov. 20), his fifth 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. Finlay also had four multi-goal matches last year and he now has 10 in his career to rank fourth in school history.

CU Multi-Goal Matches in a Season
    1.    6    Keith DeFini    1990
    2.    5    Ethan Finlay    2011
        5    Keith DeFini    1993

Finlay's Hat Trick vs. UC Irvine: 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.

Special Day for Ribas: Freshman Jose Ribas picked the perfect time to score his first collegiate goal, scoring the only goal of the MVC Tournament championship match to help CU top Missouri State 1-0 (Nov. 13). Scoring a game-winner as your career first goal in the title match is exciting enough, but add the fact that Ribas' parents traveled from Ecuador to attend the match and the goal is that more memorable.

Not a Regular Season: Creighton won more games in the regular-season this year (16) than it finished with last year (13). The 16 regular-season wins were 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.

Minuteman: Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt has played more minutes in goal than any player in school history, as his 7,196 have surpassed the former school mark of his predecessor Matt Allen (6,531). Holt now ranks fourth in MVC history in minutes played, as he is one of four keepers in league history to play better than 7,000 minutes in his career.

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.

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 26 of Holt's 57 career wins.
• Finlay has scored the game-winning goal in 16 of Holt's 43 career shutouts.
• Finlay has scored every goal in a Holt shutout nine times and scored every goal in a Holt victory 10 times – including CU's 1-0 win over South Florida in the quarterfinals last Sunday.

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 Central Arkansas.
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: Four different Bluejays have at least three game-winning goals this year, led by Ethan Finlay's six. All four of Andrew Ribeiro's goals this season have been game-winners, while Bruno Castro and Jose Gomez have three game-winners. Finlay has led the MVC in game-winning goals in each of his four seasons at Creighton.

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.

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.

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 has scored three goals this year, now has seven career goals. His only other career game-winner came against DePaul last September.

Holt Has CLASS: Senior Brian Holt is 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. 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.

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 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.

Follow Us!: Creighton men's soccer can now be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
www.twitter.com/CreightonMSOC
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Players Mentioned

Dion Acoff

Jake Brown

Bruno Castro

Andrew Duran

Ethan Finlay

Jose Gomez

Bryan Hoie

Brian Holt

Greg Jordan

Eric Miller

Jace Peters

Tyler Polak

Jose Ribas

Andrew Ribeiro

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