Men's Soccer Set To Take On North Carolina For Trip To National Quarterfinal

NCAA Third Round • Sat., Nov. 28 • #12 Creighton at #5 UNC • Chapel Hill, N.C. • 6:00 p.m. CST
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Getting Up To Speed
   Fresh off of a dominating, 5-1 victory over Drake in the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, twelfth-seeded Creighton (18-3-0) will visit fifth-seeded North Carolina (15-1-3) on Saturday, Nov. 28 for a trip to the national quarterfinals. The match-up—the third meeting all-time between Creighton and North Carolina, and first since 1999—will kick off at 6:00 p.m. CST at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.
   The Bluejays received an at-large bid and first-round bye in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship after posting a 17-3 record throughout the regular season and BIG EAST tournament. Creighton, which spent eight consecutive weeks atop the NSCAA Top 25 rankings this season (Sept. 8-Oct. 27), will be seeking to clinch the program's fourth NCAA quarterfinal appearance in the last five years, coinciding with the tenure of Head Coach Elmar Bolowich.
   Since taking the reigns at Creighton in 2011, Bolowich has tallied an impressive 8-2-3 record in NCAA postseason play, including three quarterfinal appearances ('11, '12, '14), and back-to-back College Cup appearances in 2011 and 2012. Prior to arriving in Omaha, Bolowich spent 22 years as the headman at North Carolina, leading the Tar Heels to 15 NCAA tournament appearances, four College Cups, and the program's first-ever national championship in 2001. Saturday's match-up will mark Bolowich's first meeting with North Carolina since his move to Creighton in 2011.
   North Carolina also received an at-large bid into this year's national tournament, compiling a 14-1-3 record throughout the regular season and ACC tournament. The Tar Heels lone loss—a 1-0 road setback to top-seeded Wake Forest—came on Oct. 17 in Winston Salem, N.C. Appearing in the program's seventh-consecutive NCAA tournament, North Carolina bested Coastal Carolina, 2-1, in Second Round action last Sunday (Nov. 22).
   Of the eight Third Round matches, Creighton versus North Carolina is the lone match taking place on Saturday, Nov. 28. Each of the remaining Third Round contests will be played on Sunday, Nov. 29.

Follow The Match
   Saturday's match will be broadcast online at ESPN3.com. Fans can access the stream by visiting the following direct link: http://es.pn/1R55C7l.
   Live stats for Saturday's match can be accessed via CBSi Gametracker at CSTV.com/Gametracker/Universe.
   Scoring updates and infographics will be provided via Twitter at @CreightonMSOC.

Scouting Creighton
   The ninth-ranked and 12th-seeded Bluejays are 18-3-0 on the season after wins versus Michigan (1-0), Milwaukee (4-0), CSUN (2-1), No. 13 UC Irvine (4-0), Michigan State (1-0), Tulsa (1-0), Northern Illinois (2-0), Seton Hall (4-2), Missouri State (4-0), DePaul (1-0), Drake (2-1, 5-1), St. John's (2-1), Butler (1-0), Marquette (3-1), Villanova (5-1), Providence (3-1, 2-1), and losses to Xavier (2-1) and No. 6 Georgetown (2-1, 2-1).
   The Bluejays return eight starters and 13 lettermen from last year's team that won the BIG EAST Conference regular-season title, advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, and ranked No. 7 in the year-end NSCAA poll.
   Creighton returns 30 of its 32 goals from last year, including each of its top six scorers. The Bluejays also return 24-of-30 assists from a year ago, and all but five minutes of the nearly 2,044 minutes in goal from last season.
   Junior forward Fabian Herbers (15g, 15a this year) has emerged as a frontrunner for National Player of the Year honors, as he's contributed at least one point in 19 of Creighton's 21 matches, including a point in the Bluejays' first 10 matches. With 45 total points, Herbers is the leading point scorer in NCAA Division I and the only player to rank among the nation's top 10 for both goals (15) and assists (15). This season, Herbers was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year for a second-consecutive year. He was a unanimous choice for the award this season. In 2014, he led the conference with 28 points, was second in the league with four game-winning goals, and third in both goals (10) and assists (8) en route to earning First-Team All-America accolades. Herbers earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2014 (Third Team) and 2015 (First Team). He ranks fourth among active NCAA Division I players for career points per game (1.38) and is tied for fifth among active players for career points (83).
   Senior Timo Pitter (9g, 4a this year) paced the league in assists (9), shots (75) and shots on goal (36) during a 2014 campaign that saw him add Second Team All-America plaudits. Joining teammates Fabian Herbers and Vincent Keller on the All-BIG EAST First Team this season, Pitter was named BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year for a second-consecutive year. He ranks third among active NCAA D-I players with 85 career points.
   Senior goalkeeper Connor Sparrow (0.76 GAA this year) returns in net after ranking second nationally in goals against average (0.49) and 10th in save percentage (.841) a year ago. Sparrow's career 0.59 goals against average as a Bluejay is the best in Creighton history among goalies with at least 2,000 minutes in net. This season, Sparrow was named BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year alongside Xavier's Dallas Jaye. After making four saves in Creighton's 2-1, double-overtime loss to No. 3 Georgetown in the BIG EAST tournament final, Sparrow was named to the All-Tournament team alongside teammates Timo Pitter and Ricardo Perez.
   Seven players have scored at least nine points for the Bluejays this season: Fabian Herbers (45), Timo Pitter (22), Ricardo Perez (12), Ricky Lopez-Espin (11), Fernando Castellanos (10), Myles Englis (9), and Joel Rydstrand (9).
   Creighton's five-goal outburst against Drake in last weekend's Second Round contest matched the Bluejays' single-game season high scoring output. Creighton also scored five goals on Senior Night (Oct. 24), beating BIG EAST opponent Villanova, 5-1.
   Lopez-Espin, Perez, and Pitter each scored goals for the Bluejays in the win over Drake, with Lopez-Espin recording the first multi-goal match of his career. Pitter scored once to go along with one assist, and Herbers dished out three assists, matching a program and NCAA postseason record for single-game assists. Creighton's Luiz Del Monte recorded three assists in the Bluejays' 2002 national quarterfinal win over Boston College.
   The Bluejays are 5-2-0 away from home this season, with both losses coming to second-ranked and third-seeded Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

Scouting North Carolina
   In the Tar Heels' match immediately prior to their NCAA First Round contest, North Carolina was knocked out of the ACC quarterfinals, with eventual league tournament champion, Syracuse, advancing on penalty kicks (4-3). However, the Tar Heels responded strongly in their next outing, defeating Coastal Carolina, 2-1, in NCAA Second Round action.
   Tucker Hume and Zach Wright accounted for North Carolina's goals in the match, scoring in the second and 85th minutes, respectively. Wright's 85th-minute score pushed the Tar Heels' lead to 2-0 before the Chanticleers added a late 88th-minute goal.
   Hume is North Carolina's leading goal and point scorer this season (11G, 5A, 27PTS). Wright (15), Alan Winn (16), and Raby George (10) have each recorded double-digit point totals for the Tar Heels.
   Redshirt freshman goalkeeper James Pyle has played 1,213 minutes in net for the Tar Heels, accumulating an 11-1-2 record and 0.67 goals against average. Meanwhile, redshirt senior Sam Euler, who 55 minutes of action in last weekend's Second Round win over Coastal Carolina, has amassed 556 minutes of action, maintaining a goals against average of 0.81. Euler has posted a 4-0-1 record this season.
   North Carolina has tallied a 12-0-2 record and has outscored opponents by a 26-10 margin at Fetzer Field on the year.

All-Time Series Tied at 1-1-0
   Despite being perennial powers nationally over the past few decades, Creighton and North Carolina have met just twice all-time, splitting the meetings. In the programs' first-ever meeting (Sept. 21, 1997), North Carolina earned a narrow, 2-1 win in overtime in Chapel Hill. Two years later (Sept. 5, 1999), Creighton avenged that result, defeating the Tar Heels, 3-0, in Omaha.
   Over the past few years, the two programs have nearly met in the NCAA Championship multiple times; however, this season marks the first instance.
   In 2011, Creighton and North Carolina were each in the College Cup, but on different sides of the bracket. Creighton was narrowly edged by UNC-Charlotte on penalty kicks in its semifinal match. North Carolina then defeated Charlotte, 1-0, in the national title match to clinch the program's second championship and first without Elmar Bolowich at the helm. One year later, the program's were one match away from meeting; however, the Tar Heels were bested by Indiana, 1-0, in the national quarterfinals, pitting Creighton against the eventual national champion Hoosiers in the College Cup semifinal instead.

All-BIG EAST Honors
   Five Creighton players earned All-BIG EAST honors: Fabian Herbers, Vincent Keller, Timo Pitter, Joel Rydstrand, and Connor Sparrow.
   Herbers, Keller, and Pitter were each selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team.
For the second-consecutive year, Herbers was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and Pitter was named BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year.
   Sparrow, who shared BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year honors with Xavier's Dallas Jaye, was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
   Rydstrand was a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team. Herbers was unanimously selected as the league's Offensive Player of the Year.

Herbers, Keller Earn Academic Accolades
   As announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Nov. 24, Creighton's Fabian Herbers and Vincent Keller have been selected as CoSIDA Academic All-America honorees.
   CoSIDA's Academic All-America Men's Soccer Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
   Herbers was named to the First Team, while Keller earned Third Team honors, marking just the third time in Creighton Athletics history that multiple student-athletes from the same sport have garnered such distinctions in the same season.
   With this year's distinction, Herbers becomes the second student-athlete in Creighton Men's Soccer program history, alongside Brian Holt (2011)—and seventh in Creighton Athletics history—to earn Academic All-America First Team honors.
   Last season, Herbers was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VII First Team and CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team. Meanwhile, Keller earned BIG EAST All-Academic honors and was the recipient of Creighton's Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year award.

Herbers For Hermann
   Junior forward Fabian Herbers finished the regular season as the nation's leading point scoring (14G, 12A, 40PTS). In postseason play, he has added one goal and three assists, improving his season totals to 15 goals and 15 assists (45PTS). Herbers scored the game-winning goal in Creighton's semifinal win versus Providence on a penalty kick. He leads Creighton with five game-winning goals this season.
   With his game-winning penalty kick against Providence, Herbers became the first Creighton player to convert four penalty kicks in a single season since Mike Tranchilla did so in 2002.
   Herbers is the only player in NCAA Division I Men's Soccer to rank in the national top 10 for both goals (15) and assists (15).
   This season marked Herbers' second-consecutive season in which he earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team honors. He was unanimously chosen as Offensive Player of the Year this year.
   Herbers recorded at least one point (a goal or an assist) in each of Creighton's first ten regular-season games this fall. He was the first Bluejay to start a season in such fashion since restarting the program in 1990. MLS All-Star and Creighton alumnus, Ethan Finlay, had a run of nine straight such games from Sept. 17-Oct. 23, 2010.
   The junior forward has notched a point in 19 of Creighton's 21 contests.
    Herbers' 15 assists this season is just one shy of matching Richard Mulrooney's program single-season record of 16 ('96, 98).

Bluejays Back In Chapel Hill
    Saturday's match-up will serve as a homecoming of sorts for two members of the Creighton coaching staff: Head Coach Elmar Bolowich and Assistant Coach Justin Hughes.
   A native of Wake Forest, N.C., Hughes was a four-year letterwinner at North Carolina, playing under Bolowich from 2003-06. The Tar Heels advanced to the NCAA tournament in each of his four seasons in Chapel Hill, with Hughes posting two of the top three goals against average marks in school history. He finished his collegiate career ranked second in school history with a 0.79 career goals against average before being drafted by the Colorado Rapids of the MLS.
    Another Bluejay with ties to the Tar Heel state, Bolowich spent 22 years as head coach at North Carolina before joining Creighton in 2011, establishing UNC as one of the nation's elite collegiate soccer programs. His remarkable run at UNC included 20 NCAA tournament wins, 16 more than the program had in the 42 years of soccer before his arrival in 1989.
   A two-time ACC Coach of the Year (2000, 2010), Bolowich led the Tar Heels to 15 NCAA tournament appearances, including four trips to the College Cup ('01, '08, '09, '10). In 2001, Bolowich guided North Carolina to the program's first-ever national championship, defeating Indiana, 2-0, in Columbus, Ohio.
   He is the winningest coach in North Carolina Men's Soccer history, posting a 280-144-40 (.647) record.
   In addition to producing winning collegiate teams, Bolowich has a proven track record of developing young men into international and professional players. In total, Bolowich has coached 41 players who have been selected in the MLS drafts since 1996.

Starting Strong
   Creighton's 15-0-0 start to the 2015 season marked the program's best start to a season since 1993 when the Bluejays began 19-0-0.
   Creighton was the nation's last remaining unbeaten and untied team in Division I (men's or women's) remaining in 2015 prior to the Bluejays' narrow, 2-1 loss to Xavier on Oct. 28.
   The Bluejays' 15-0-0 start to a season marked the best start in NCAA Division I Men's Soccer since 2009 when Akron began its campaign with 23 consecutive wins en route to a College Cup appearance.

Pitter Continues To Shine
   With his goal versus Georgetown in the BIG EAST final, Timo Pitter moved past Ray Nikoden (1980-82) into eighth-place among Creighton's all-time point scorers. He currently ranks seventh on Creighton's all-time list for career goals (32), and fifth among active NCAA D-I players for career points (85).
Postseason Success
   Since arriving at Creighton in 2011, Head Coach Elmar Bolowich is 8-2-3 in NCAA postseason play, including consecutive trips to the NCAA College Cup in 2011 and 2012. Creighton has advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals three times under Bolowich ('11, '12, '14).

Top 10 Crowds
   The Bluejays' total home attendance of 46,171 this season is the top mark nationally, and is a program-best, surpassing 2011's total of 40,720. Creighton is currently averaging 3,298 fans through 14 home dates, which ranks third nationally through games as of Nov. 24.
   Creighton's average home attendance of 3,298 is more than triple that of any other BIG EAST institution. Georgetown and Butler rank second and third with averages of 963 and 933, respectively.
   The 4,838 fans for Michigan on Aug. 28 ranked as the largest crowd in school history to witness a season-opener, while the crowd of 4,907 vs. CSUN on Sept. 4 was the program's largest crowd since 2012. CU's crowd of 6,453 on Sept. 19 vs. Tulsa was the second-largest home crowd in program history.
   Creighton finished last season 10th nationally in average home attendance and fifth overall in total home attendance.
   This season will mark the 12th-consecutive season the Bluejays have finished in the top-10 nationally in average home attendance.

Ethan Finlay, All-Star
   Former Creighton All-American, and 2015 MLS All Star, Ethan Finlay has emerged as a key contributor for the Columbus Crew.
   Finlay ended the regular season ranked fifth in the MLS with 13 assists to go with 12 goals in 34 starts with the Crew this year.
   In the Crew's Eastern Conference semifinal match-up versus the Montreal Impact, Finlay scored a game-tying goal in the 77th minute to force overtime. The Crew went on to win the match in the 111th minute and advance to the Eastern Conference Championship against the New York Red Bulls. Columbus currently leads the conference final by a 2-0 aggregate margin. The second and final leg of the Eastern Conference Championship will be played on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. CST in New York and will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
   If the Crew were to advance to the MLS Championship, it would play the winner of the Western Conference final: either Dallas or Portland. The MLS title match will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 3:00 p.m. CST and will be televised on ESPN.
   Earlier this summer, Finlay played in the MLS All-Star Game.
   Finlay played at Creighton from 2008-11, leading the Bluejays to a pair of College Cups before being 10th overall in the 2012 MLS Super Draft.

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Men's Soccer Set To Take On North Carolina For Trip To National Quarterfinal

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Players Mentioned

Fernando Castellanos

Myles Englis

Fabian Herbers

Vincent Keller

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Ricardo Perez

Timo Pitter

Joel Rydstrand

Connor Sparrow