Men's Soccer Prepares For NCAA Third Round Match Against Providence

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Saturday, Nov. 26 | Providence (14-6-0) at No. 23 Creighton (13-6-3) | Omaha, Neb. | 6:00 p.m. (CST)

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The Creighton men's soccer team hosts a third round NCAA Tournament match against Providence on Saturday night.

Follow The Match
A free live HD video stream of Saturday'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 at NCAA.com in the Gamecenter for the Creighton-Providence match: http://www.ncaa.com/game/soccer-men/d1/2016/11/26/providence-creighton

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

Scouting No. 23 Creighton (13-6-3)
The Bluejays continued their NCAA Tournament run with a 3-2 win at 16th-seeded Kentucky on Sunday.

Creighton earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament following a runner-up finish during the BIG EAST Tournament.

BIG EAST All-Conference Second Team selections Riggs Lennon and Ricky Lopez-Espin lead Creighton with 10 goals, while Joel Rydstrand leads the team with seven assists. The Bluejays average 1.86 goals per match and rank sixth in Division I with 16.41 shots per match.

Creighton has had 11 different players score at least one goal, and six have converted two or more.

BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Ricardo Perez has 13 points from four goals and five assists, including one goal and three assists during postseason play.

BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Alex Kapp has seven shutouts (one combined) and holds a 0.79 goals against average.

Scouting Providence (14-6-0)
The Friars scored four goals during a span of 12 minutes to upset top-seeded Maryland 5-4 on Sunday in College Park for a second-round win.

Providence defeated Delaware 2-0 in the NCAA Tournament first round.

BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year Julian Gressel has three goals during two NCAA Tournament matches and has a total of 33 points (14 goals, five assists) through 20 matches this season.

BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper Colin Miller owns a 0.71 goals against average, eight shutouts and a 13-1-0 record. His lone loss came against Creighton during the BIG EAST semifinals.

Providence has won 10 of its last 11 matches, with its only setback coming on Nov. 10 during the BIG EAST semifinals against the Bluejays.

Head coach Craig Stewart and his staff were a unanimous selection as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year after tying a program record with seven BIG EAST victories.

Series History vs. Friars
Creighton leads the all-time series against Providence 5-4-0.

The Bluejays and Friars have split two meetings this season. Providence won in Omaha on Oct. 29, and Creighton picked up a victory in Rhode Island during the BIG EAST semifinals on Nov. 10.

Providence and Creighton have met four times during postseason BIG EAST Tournament play. The teams have split the previous meetings, while Creighton has sealed victories in each of the previous two postseason contests.

The teams have never met in NCAA Tournament play.

Seeing The Same Side Three Times
Saturday's match marks the third time Creighton and Providence have met this season.

This marks the second time in program history that the Bluejays will play one opponent three times during the same season.

Creighton played Saint Louis three times during the 1997 season and went 1-1-1 against the Billikens.

Last Time Out
The Bluejays defeated No. 18 and 16th-seeded Kentucky 3-2 in Lexington on Sunday.

An own goal during the ninth minute and Ricardo Perez's tally during the 32nd, gave Creighton a 2-0 advantage during at the half.

The Wildcats cut the lead to one goal before Karim Sawaf scored his first career goal as a Bluejay to give the Bluejays a 3-1 edge.

Kentucky trimmed the deficit to 3-2 during the 89th minute and forced Alex Kapp to make an athletic kick-save to preserve the victory during the final minute of play.

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

Creighton is 34-19-7 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.

With a victory on Sunday, the Bluejays have now won at least two NCAA Tournaments matches during a single season for the third consecutive year, and 12th time in program history.

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.

Bolowich Seeking Milestone
Head coach Elmar Bolowich is one win away from tying Bret Simon for the second-most wins in program history. A win during Saturday's match would be Bolowich's 96th victory during six seasons at Creighton.

Below is a list of the winningest coaches in Bluejay soccer history.

Coach   W-L-T   Years with program
Bob Warming   190-61-34   1990-94, 2001-09
Bret Simon   96-26-8   1995-2000
Elmar Bolowich   95-28-12   2011-Present

Fortress Morrison
The Bluejays are 9-1-2 at home this season.

Creighton is 123-21-17 overall at Morrison Stadium, including 15-2-1 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 the most matches all-time at Morrison Stadium (51), and Alex Kapp owns the best career goals against average 0.40 (minimum 720 minutes) at the stadium.

Three Is The Magic Number
Creighton is 9-0-0 this season when scoring three or more goals.

The Bluejays have won their last 42 matches when scoring three or more goals, dating back to a 3-3 tie against Drake on Nov. 7, 2009.

Creighton has scored three or more goals 222 times in program history while going 218-1-3 in those matches.

The one loss came during the 1990 season. The Bluejays fell to Missouri State 5-4 in overtime.

Penalty Kick Saves
With his save on Kentucky's penalty kick during the 28th minute of Sunday's Second Round NCAA Tournament match, Alex Kapp became the first Creighton goalkeeper to stop two regulation-time penalty kicks during a single-season since 1990.

Kapp also saved a PK attempt during the Bluejays' first BIG EAST match of the season against Seton Hall (Sept. 17).

In 2012, Creighton had two saves on penalty-kick attempts, but each was recorded by different goalkeepers (Alex Bolowich and Jeff Gal).

Men's Soccer Prepares For NCAA Third Round Match Against Providence

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Players Mentioned

Alex Kapp

Riggs Lennon

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Ricardo Perez

Joel Rydstrand

Karim Sawaf