Men's Soccer Earns No. 12 Seed and Home Game For 23rd NCAA Appearance in 24 Years

2015 NCAA Tournament Bracket

OMAHA, Neb. -- After a tremendous regular-season that included an eight-week run atop the national polls, the Creighton men's soccer team has earned an at-large bid and will make its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance in 24 years. The Bluejays earned a first-round bye as the No. 12 national seed and will host a 1:00 p.m. (CST) home game on Sunday, Nov. 22, against the winner of Thursday night's Drake (12-4-3) vs. Kentucky (12-4-2) game in Lexington, Ky.

Creighton (17-3-0) finished as runner-up in the regular-season and BIG EAST Championship to No. 3 overall seed Georgetown. CU has been led by National Player of the Year candidate Fabian Herbers, who leads the BIG EAST in goals (15), assists (12) and points (42). Herbers repeated BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2015 and is supported by two-time BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Timo Pitter, who owns eight goals and three assists on the season.

The Bluejay defense is paced by Co-BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year Connor Sparrow, who has played all but 15 minutes in net this season. Sparrow is Creighton's all-time leader in goals against average and winning percentage in net, and was named to the All-Tournament Team in last week's BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship.

Head coach Elmar Bolowich owns an 80-21-9 record in five seasons with Creighton and has led teams to six College Cups in his 27 year career. He won the 2001 NCAA title as head coach at North Carolina, and has led six of his last seven teams to the NCAA quarterfinals, or beyond.

Creighton has made 10 quarterfinal appearances since 1996, and is 30-18-7 all-time in 22 previous NCAA appearances. That includes a 14-5-1 home record and a 15-7-5 away mark. The Bluejays reached the College Cup in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2011 and 2012, reaching the 2000 title match.

Creighton has already beaten Drake (2-1) this season in Omaha, and is 25-3-8 all-time against the Bulldogs. That includes four straight wins over Drake, and a 14-1-2 all-time mark in Omaha against their I-80 rival. Creighton is 2-0-0 all-time against Kentucky, beating the Wildcats 4-1 in Greenville, S.C., in 2002 and topping UK 2-0 in Omaha on Sept. 21, 2011 when they last met.

Should Creighton win on Sunday, it could visit No.5 seed North Carolina, or host Coastal Carolina or North Florida in the round of 16.

The 2015 College Cup will be played at Sporting Park, the 18,467-seat home of Sporting Kansas City (MLS), in Kansas City, Kan., on December 11 & 13.

Men's Soccer Earns No. 12 Seed and Home Game For 23rd NCAA Appearance in 24 Years

Players Mentioned

Fabian Herbers

Timo Pitter

Connor Sparrow

Related Videos