No. 10 Men's Soccer Opens Season at Denver

#10 Creighton Bluejays at Denver Pioneers
CIBER Field at Denver Soccer Stadium • Denver, Colo.
Series History: Creighton leads 2-0-1

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This Week: Creighton opens the 2011 season at Denver on Saturday night, marking the second straight season the Bluejays have opened with a true road match. The match will serve as the regular-season debut of new Bluejay head coach Elmar Bolowich. The Bluejays look to improve upon their four-match unbeaten streak (2-0-2) in season openers.

Exhibition Summary: Creighton tied both of its exhibition matches this season, playing to a 1-1 draw against 2010 NCAA champion and preseason No. 2 Akron as part of the ShinDigz National Soccer Festival in Fort Wayne, Ind., last Saturday night. The Jays then tied No. 12 Notre Dame 2-2 in South Bend, Ind., on Monday. Andrew Ribeiro scored Creighton's lone goal against Akron and Jose Gomez notched both tallies against the Irish. Four-year starting goalkeeper Brian Holt played all 180 minutes in net during the preseason.

Scouting #10 Creighton: The Bluejays returns 13 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's Missouri Valley Conference championship team, which finished 13-5-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament ... The Jays welcome 17 newcomers, including 11 true freshmen ... Of Creighton's eight returning starters, six earned all-MVC honors last year and have been named to the preseason all-MVC team this fall ... The nationally-ranked Bluejays are favored to win the MVC again ... The Jays return their top six scorers from a team which ranked 15th in the NCAA in scoring in 2010 ... Heading up the returning starters is 2010 MVC Player of the Year and MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist Ethan Finlay. The senior forward led the MVC and ranked in the NCAA top-10 with 15 goals and 34 points scored last year and is again on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List this season ... Joining Finlay as a preseason All-American and on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List is sophomore defender Tyler Polak, the 2010 MVC Freshman of the Year ... Juniors Dion Acoff, Jose Gomez and Greg Jordan, along with record-setting senior goalkeeper Brian Holt round out the six Bluejays on the 2011 MVC preseason team ... Acoff led the MVC and ranked 12th in the NCAA with 10 assists last year, while Gomez added nine assists to rank 19th in the nation ... Holt, now in his fourth season as CU's starting keeper, already owns the school record with 27 shutouts and his 0.79 goals against average ranks second in school and league history

Scouting Denver: The Pioneers are coming off of a 9-7-4 season in which they won the Mountain Division of the MPSF with a 6-2-2 league record ... DU is ranked as high as 19th by Goal.com, returning eight starters from last year's team ... DU also played in two draws in the preseason, tying Wisconsin (0-0) and Ohio State (1-1) at the same preseason tournament CU played at in Fort Wayne, Ind. ... Senior Jared Stigall led the team with nine goals, eight assists and 26 points last year ... DU returns its top four scorers from last year's team but will have a new goalkeeper in 2011.

Head Coach: Elmar Bolowich comes to Creighton following a 22-year run 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 280-144-40 (.647) in his 22-year head coaching career, all of which had been spent at UNC. Bolowich guided UNC to back-to-back ACC championships in his final two seasons in Chapel Hill, while his final three UNC 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.

Creighton-Denver Series: Creighton has not played at Denver in the regular-season since Sept. 29, 1980. The Bluejays are 2-0-1 all-time against the Pioneers, including home wins in 2001 and 2008. Current Bluejays Greg Jordan, Ethan Finlay and Andrew Duran each started, while Kris Clark played 44 minutes off the bench in the 2-0 win in 2008 and Brian Holt recorded two saves to preserve the shutout.

300 Club: Creighton has won 299 matches since restarting the program in 1990, which means Creighton is looking for win No. 300 since restarting the program when it plays at Denver in the season-opener. Creighton's average record since 1990 is an impressive 14-4-2, as the Bluejays are 299-92-44 (.737) since bringing the program back after a four-year hiatus.

Away Again: Creighton is opening the season away from Omaha for the second consecutive season, just the fourth time in the last 14 years and only the fifth time since the program was restarted in 1990. This is only Creighton's third true road match to start the season since 1990, joining last year's 2-0 win at Loyola (Ill.) and a 1-1 draw at Saint Louis in 1997.

More Season-Opening Facts:
• Since 1990 CU has lost just two season debuts, losing 1-0 to No. 12 Indiana in 2006 and falling to No. 20 Duke on Sept. 2, 1995. The Jays are 13-2-6 in season-openers since 1990 and are 2-0-2 in their last four openers.
• Creighton has tied five of its last 10 season openers (2001, '03, '05, '07, '09).
• The previous six CU head coaches are 5-1-0 in their Bluejay debut. The only head coach to lose in his debut was Bret Simon, falling to No. 20 Duke in 1995. Jamie Clark won last year's opener 2-0 at Loyola (Ill.).
• Elmar Bolowich is 13-8-1 all-time in season-openers as a head coach, including 10-2-1 in his last 13.

Keeping Clean Sheets: Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt already owns the school record with 27 shutouts entering the 2011 season and with one more he will own the league record. Bradley's Chris Dunsheath recorded 27.5 shutouts (shared shutouts are no longer a recognized statistic) between 2002-05. Holt's next shutout will set the league record. One of his clean sheets came against Denver in his rookie season in 2008.

MVC Preseason Favorite: The defending MVC regular-season champion Bluejays have been picked by league coaches to again win the title in 2011. The Jays received six of seven first-place votes and 48 of the possible 49 points in the poll. Ethan Finlay, Tyler Polak, Dion Acoff, Jose Gomez, Greg Jordan and Brian Holt were each named to the preseason all-MVC team, taking up six of the 11 spots on the squad.   The Bluejays, who have been picked to win The Valley 13 times, own a league record 10 regular-season titles.

Preseason Polls: Creighton is ranked 10th in the NSCAA (coaches) poll to start this season, after ending 2010 ranked 14th in the same poll. College Soccer News and Soccer America both rank the Bluejays sixth to start the season, while Goal.com has the Jays eighth in the preseason.

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.

Seventeen Newcomers, Yes 17: After listing only 21 players on the 2010 roster, Creighton's 2011 roster has 30 student-athletes listed, including 17 newcomers. Of the 17 newcomers, three joined the team in January – transfers and Omaha natives Jake Brown and Taylor Reeves, and true freshman Eric Miller, who graduated high school a semester early to join the Jays. Twelve of the 18 new guys are true freshmen, while six are transfers. In addition to Brown (Saint Louis) and Reeves (Indiana), the Jays also have Division I transfers from Oral Roberts (Daniel Premenko), North Carolina (Bruno Castro) and FIU (Alex Bolowich), along with junior college addition Aaron Rygiel (Georgia Perimeter). With two redshirt freshmen as newcomers and 12 true rookies, the Bluejays have 14 freshmen on the roster this season. Rookies Miller and goalkeeper Jeff Gal each trained with the United States Under-18 National Team this year.

Senior Leaders: Creighton has six seniors on the roster, including three fifth-year players. Goalkeepers Bryan Hoie and Brian Holt each redshirted their first season on campus in 2007 behind two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year Matt Allen, while Andrew Duran took a medical redshirt last year and is back for his fifth season with the Bluejays. Kris Clark and Ethan Finlay are back for their fourth year with the Bluejays and Jace Peters is also a senior (in his second year at Creighton). In addition to the six seniors listed on the roster, fourth-year junior Greg Jordan (medical redshirt in 2009), is on pace to graduate in December. Both Finlay and Jordan joined Creighton a semester early, finishing high school early to join the Bluejays.

Captains Named: Seniors Ethan Finlay and Brian Holt have been named captains for this year's team, as voted on by their fellow seniors and coaching staff.

MVC Tournament Hosts: For just the third time since the venue was dedicated in 2004, Morrison Stadium will serve as host to the State Farm MVC Men's Soccer Championship in November. The Bluejays also hosted the MVC Tournament at Morrison Stadium in 2004 and 2007. The Jays have yet to win the MVC Tournament at Morrison Stadium, as SMU (2004) and Bradley (2007) claimed tourney titles in Omaha the previous two times it was held here. The opening round of the 2011 tournament will take place on Nov. 9, with the semifinals falling on Nov. 11 and the championship match taking place on Sunday, Nov. 13.

Strong Schedule: Following its difficult exhibition schedule, the Bluejays will open the 2011 season on the road with games at Denver (Aug. 27) and UMKC (Aug. 31). Denver won its division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation last year and is ranked 19th by Goal.com in its preseason poll. The Bluejays host 2010 NCAA participant and Big East foe Providence on Sept. 17 and preseason No. 24 and reigning Big West champion UC Irvine on Oct. 15. Creighton will play two more 2010 NCAA Tournament teams on the road, playing at preseason No. 4 Maryland (Sept. 30) and at preseason No. 17 Indiana (Oct. 9) as part of a difficult four-game swing which also features a trip to Wisconsin (Oct. 5) and the MVC opener at Missouri State (Oct. 12).

Finlay, Holt Have CLASS: Seniors Ethan Finlay and Brian Holt have been named two of 30 candidates 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. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

Did You Know?: Ethan Finlay became the 10th Creighton men's soccer player to be named MVC Player of the Year last year. In the storied history of Bluejay men's soccer, no player has repeated as MVC Player of the Year, although Matt Allen was twice named MVC Defensive Player of the Year.

Morrison Stadium is Tops: This summer CollegeSoccerNews.com made a top-12 list of the most exciting venues to watch a college soccer match and Creighton's Morrison Stadium topped the list. Creighton ranked eighth in the NCAA in attendance in 2010 and has ranked in the NCAA top-10 in attendance in each of the last eight years.

CollegeSoccerNews.com's Most Exciting Venues to Watch College Soccer

1.    Morrison Stadium – Creighton
2.    Harder Stadium – UC Santa Barbara
3.    Ludwig Field – Maryland
4.     Cub Cadet Field – Akron
5.     Morrone Stadium – Connecticut
6.     Armstrong Stadium – Indiana
7.     UNM Soccer Complex – New Mexico
8.    Spry Stadium – Wake Forest
9.    Spanos Stadium – Cal Poly
10.     Merlo Field – Portland
11.    Hermann Stadium – Saint Louis
12.     Belson Soccer Stadium – St. John's

The MVC Seven: After welcoming Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville as men's soccer affiliates in 2010, the MVC said goodbye to Eastern Illinois as an affiliate following the 2010 season. EIU, which had been an MVC men's soccer affiliate since 1996, is now an affiliate member of the Summit League, dropping the MVC men's soccer membership to seven.

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

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Players Mentioned

Dion Acoff

Alex Bolowich

Jake Brown

Bruno Castro

Kris Clark

Byron Dacy

Andrew Duran

Ethan Finlay

Jeff Gal

Jose Gomez

Bryan Hoie

Brian Holt

Greg Jordan

Eric Miller

Jace Peters

Tyler Polak

Andrew Ribeiro

Chris Schuler

Seth Sinovic

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