No. 23 Men's Soccer Hosts Tulsa For NCAA First Round Match

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Thursday, Nov. 17 | Tulsa (10-4-5) at No. 23 Creighton (11-6-3) | Omaha, Neb. | 7:00 p.m. (CST)

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The Creighton men's soccer team will host Tulsa in the First Round of the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship on Thursday night at Morrison Stadium.

The winner of Thursday's match will play at 16-seed Kentucky in the NCAA Second Round on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Follow The Match
A free live HD video stream of Thursday's match will be available via the FOX Sports GO app. FOX Sports GO is currently available for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire tablets and phones, select Windows devices, and on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. Fans can download the mobile app for free from the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store and Windows Store.

Live stats for the contest can be found on Statbroadcast: Creighton.Statbroadcast.com

Bluejay fans can also stay updated through the Creighton men's soccer Twitter feed: Twitter.com/CreightonMSoc.

Scouting No. 23 Creighton (11-6-3)
The Bluejays fell 2-1 to Butler during the BIG EAST Championship match on Sunday.

Creighton earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

BIG EAST All-Conference Second Team selection Riggs Lennon leads Creighton with 10 goals, while Noah Franke and Joel Rydstrand each own a team-high six assists. The Bluejays average 1.75 goals per match and is tied for second in Division I with 17.05 shots per match.

Creighton has had 10 different players score at least one goal, and five have converted two or more.

BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Ricardo Perez has 10 points from three goals and four assists, including two during postseason play.

BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Alex Kapp leads the conference with seven shutouts and holds a 0.77 goals against average.

Scouting Tulsa (10-4-5)
The Golden Hurricane are making their third consecutive NCAA appearance and 11th overall after earning the American Athletic Conference's automatic bid.

Tulsa claimed the AAC title on penalty kicks, 4-2, over South Florida.

The Golden Hurricane have scored 32 goals from 13 different players. Freshman Matthew Puig leads the squad with eight scores.

Goalkeeper Jake McGuire has played every minute for Tulsa and has six shutouts and a 0.99 goals against average.

Series History vs. Golden Hurricane
Creighton leads the all-time series against Tulsa 17-10-3.

The Golden Hurricane defeated the Bluejays earlier this season 2-1 at Tulsa on Oct. 11.

The teams have met once during the NCAA Tournament with Creighton picking up a 2-1 win at Morrison Stadium on Nov. 25, 2008.

Tulsa Stuns Creighton
The Golden Hurricane scored two second-half goals to defeat the Bluejays 2-1 on Oct. 11.

Ricky Lopez-Espin gave Creighton a 1-0 advantage during the 25th minute before Alejandro Chavez and Matthew Puig each scored during the final five minutes to help Tulsa pick up a come-from-behind victory on its home turf.

Creighton's loss against Tulsa was its first when leading at the half the during coach Elmar Bolowich's tenure as the Bluejay head man.

Last Time Out
Creighton fell 2-1 at Butler in the BIG EAST title match on Sunday afternoon.

The Bulldogs opened up a 2-0 lead before Myles Englis scored his fourth goal of the postseason to cut the deficit to one midway through the second half.

The Bluejays applied extra pressure in an attempt to tie the match, but Butler held off the late attack.

NCAA Tournament History
The Bluejays are making their 24th NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 25 seasons.

Creighton is 32-19-7 during NCAA action, and has advanced to the College Cup five times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2011, 2012), including a runner-up finish during the 2000 season.

Creighton teams coached by Elmar Bolowich have made advanced to at least the Elite Eight four of five seasons and to the College Cup twice.

NCAA Experience
Creighton has a handful of players with meaningful NCAA Tournament stats as five active Bluejays have recorded a point
during NCAA matches, and two others have contributed in large ways at other schools.

Ricky Lopez-Espin and Ricardo Perez each scored two goals, while Evan Waldrep had one during 2015, and Lucas Stauffer scored a goal during the 2014 NCAAs.

Noah Franke had an assist last year, while Stauffer also recorded a helper during the 2014 tournament.

Senior transfer Riggs Lennon has a pair of NCAA match-clinching penalty kicks as a player at Viriginia, including the game-winner against UCLA in the 2014 National Championship match.

Goalkeeper Alex Kapp went 2-1-1 during the 2015 NCAA Tournament for Boston College. He also converted a shootout penalty kick
during the NCAA quarterfinal round against Georgetown.

Fortress Morrison
The Bluejays are 8-1-2 at home this season.

Creighton is 122-21-17 overall at Morrison Stadium, including 14-2-1 during NCAA Tournament matches.

The Bluejays have never lost consecutive matches at Morrison Stadium and have not lost two-straight home matches since 1985 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Senior Ricardo Perez has played in the second-most matches all-time at Morrison Stadium (50), and Alex Kapp enters Thursday's match with the best career goals against average 0.44 (minimum 720 minutes) at the stadium.

Magic of Myles
Myles Englis scored only two goals during the regular season, but has scored four goals through three postseason matches.

He scored the game-tying goal during the first half of Creighton's first round match against Xavier (Nov. 6) and added an insurance goal during the closing seconds.

During Creighton's semifinal match at Providence, Englis scored the game-winning goal during the 41st minute.

Englis also scored Creighton's only goal against Butler during the BIG EAST title match.

Englis Tallies First Career Multi-Goal Match
Myles Englis scored a pair of goals against Xavier on Nov. 6 for his first multi-goal
performance during four seasons.

Englis entered the match with two goals on the season and eight in his career before the match.

The Penalty Kicks Keep Coming
Ricky Lopez-Espin's game-winning penalty kick against Xavier (Nov. 6) marked his first PK during three seasons at Creighton.

The Bluejays have attempted six penalty kicks this season, the most since 2001. Creighton has converted 5-of-6 PKs this season. During the 2001 season, the Bluejays were a perfect 6-of-6.

Riggs Lennon leads the Bluejays with a perfect 3-for-3 showing this season.

Lennon did not attempt a penalty kick during the regular-season while playing three seasons at Virginia, but did convert during postseason shootouts. He had the clinching penalty kick during 2014 NCAA National Championship vs. UCLA, and scored the fifth and final PK during the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals that same season against Georgetown.

Lennon also made a penalty kick during a shootout in a 2013 ACC Tournament match to help Virginia advance past eventual national-champion Notre Dame.

Goalkeeper Alex Kapp also has a penalty kick on his resume. Kapp converted a PK during a shootout last season during the NCAA Tournament against Georgetown to help Boston College advance to the Elite Eight.

Below is a list of the active Bluejays' career penalty kick stats, (includes shootouts):

Player   Career   2016
Riggs Lennon   6-6   3-3
Lucas Stauffer   1-2   1-2
Ricky Lopez-Espin   1-1   1-1
Alex Kapp   1-1   ----

Recent Shootout History
Under coach Elmar Bolowich, Creighton has partipated in three shootouts.

The Bluejays are have advanced once on penalty kicks and been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament twice.

During its last penalty kick shootout, UMBC advanced with a 4-3 edge in PKs to eliminate Creighton during the 2014 NCAA quarterfinals.

The last time the Bluejays advanced on penalty kicks was during the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Creighton advanced past No. 1 Akron 5-4 on penalty kicks to reach the quarterfinal round.

No. 23 Men's Soccer Hosts Tulsa For NCAA First Round Match

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Players Mentioned

Myles Englis

Noah Franke

Alex Kapp

Riggs Lennon

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Ricardo Perez

Joel Rydstrand

Lucas Stauffer

Evan Waldrep