Men's Soccer Heads to Providence for BIG EAST Semifinal Match

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Thursday, Nov. 10 | No. 24 Creighton (10-5-3) at No. 22 Providence (12-5-0) | Providence, R.I. | 6 p.m. (CST)

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The fourth-seeded Creighton men's soccer team travels to top-seeded Providence for the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep.

Follow The Match
Thursday's match will be broadcasted on the BIG EAST Digital Network, which can be found at FOXSportsGo.com and on the FOX Sports Go app.

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. 24 Creighton (10-5-3)
The Bluejays picked up a 3-1 victory over Xavier in the first round of the BIG EAST Championships Presented by Jeep on Sunday at Morrison Stadium to advance to Thursday's semifinal round.

Creighton finished in a tie for third in the BIG EAST and earned the No. 4 seed in the postseason BIG EAST Tournament.

BIG EAST All-Conference Second Team selection Riggs Lennon leads Creighton with 10 goals, while Noah Franke has a team-high six assists. The Bluejays average 1.78 goals per match and leads Division I with 17.61 shots per match.

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

BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Alex Kapp leads the conference with seven shutouts and holds a 0.69 goals against average.

Scouting No. 22 Providence (12-5-0)
The Friars enter posteason play with an eight-match winning streak, including victories in their final seven BIG EAST contests.

Providence ended the season at 7-2-0 during conference play and captured the BIG EAST regular-season title for the first time in program history.

Julian Gressel was named BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Colin Miller claimed Co-Goalkeeper of the Year honors.

Gressel led the conference with 27 points from a league-best (tie) 11 goals and five assists.

Miller went 11-0-0 during the regular season with seven shutouts. He also leads Division I in save percentage (.913) and goals against average (0.360).

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
The all-time series between Creighton and Providence is tied 4-4-0.

The Friars defeated the Bluejays 1-0 on Oct. 29 in Omaha.

Providence owns a 2-1 record in the series at home, including 1-0 during posteason play.

Familiar Foes in BIG EAST Tourney
Thursday marks the fourth consecutive season Providence and Creighton will meet in the BIG EAST Championships.

The Friars own a 2-1 record against the Bluejays during postseason play, however, Creighton picked up a 2-1 win over Providence during the 2015 BIG EAST Championship semifinals (match played at Creighton).

Last Time Out
Myles Englis scored a pair of goals and Ricky Lopez-Espin converted a penalty kick as Creighton defeated Xavier 3-1 during the First Round of the BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep.

Xavier opened a 1-0 advantage with a goal on the first shot of the match during the sixth minute, but the Bluejays tied the match during the final minute of the first half and scored two unanswered goals during the final 45.

The victory marked the Bluejays' second win during four BIG EAST Tournament appearances.

BIG EAST Postseason History
Creighton is 2-3 during four BIG EAST tournament appearances.

The Bluejays have played in the opening round of the BIG EAST Tournament only one other time besides this season. Creighton dropped its only other First Round matchup (2013), 2-1 at Providence, and is now 1-1 in BIG EAST first round matches.

The Jays are 0-2 in true road BIG EAST Tournament matches, including 0-1 at Providence (2013).

MSOC Seeking First BIG EAST Men's Tourney Title
The Creighton men's soccer team is looking to become the first Creighton men's team to win a BIG EAST Tournament title in any sport.

Since joining the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton volleyball is the only team to secure a conference tournament championship (2014, '15).

The Bluejay men's soccer team is 0-1 in BIG EAST Conference Championship title matches (2-1 loss in double overtime against Georgetown last season).

The Creighton men's soccer program captured 13 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament titles as a member of the conference from 1991-2012 (22 seasons).

Lopez-Espin's Strong Foot of Late
Including his penalty kick on Sunday, junior Ricky Lopez-Espin has scored four of Creighton seven goals during the past four matches.

The Miami, Fla. native has doubled his career-goal total with eight during 2016, after tallying eight over his first two seasons as a Bluejay.

Englis Tallies First Career Multi-Goal Match
Myles Englis scored a pair of goals against Xavier on Sunday 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.

Perez, Kapp Named BIG EAST Players of the Year, Six Bluejays Honored on All-Conference Teams
Ricardo Perez was named the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year, and Alex Kapp claimed BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year accolades, the league announced on Saturday, Nov. 5.

Perez has appeared in every match during his four seasons at Creighton, including all 18 this season. He has three goals and three assists during the 2016 campaign.

Kapp is tied for the BIG EAST lead with seven shutouts and holds a 0.69 goals against average and .814 save percentage.

Additionally, Lucas Stauffer and Perez made the BIG EAST All-Conference First Team, and Riggs Lennon, Ricky Lopez-Espin, Mitch LaGro and Kapp made the All-Conference Second Team.

Kapp On Goal
Senior Alex Kapp notched his seventh shutout as a Bluejay against Georgetown on Nov. 3. He had two clean sheets all of last season in 10 starts at Boston College.

Kapp has 14 career shutouts through 54 career starts in goal.

He also has 57 saves through 18 matches this season, while allowing 13 goals in 1700
minutes of action (0.69 goals against average).

The senior did not allow a goal for 286 minutes and 33 seconds; a span that streched from the 13th minute of Creighton's match against UNO (Sept. 5) to the 10th minute of the first BIG EAST contest against Seton Hall (Sept. 17).

Kapp Ties Morrison Stadium Record
Alex Kapp tied a Morrison Stadium record for the most saves by a Creighton individual in a single match with nine against No. 8 Denver (Sept. 21).

Alex Bolowich also recorded nine saves at home against No. 14 Old Dominion on Sept. 14, 2012.

Kapp's nine saves also matched his career high.

Conference Success
With a victory on the final day of the regular season against Georgetown (Nov. 3), Creighton finished above .500 in conference play for the 25th time in program history.

The Bluejays went 5-3-1 in BIG EAST regular-season play this season and finished in a tie for third place.

In 26 seasons combined in the Missouri Valley Conference (22 seasons) and BIG EAST (4 seasons), Creighton has never finished with more losses than wins during conference play and finished at .500 only once (4-4-1 in 2013).

Creighton vs. Top 25
The Bluejays are 75-51-15 all-time against Top-25 opponents, and 3-1-1 this season.

Creighton is 26-23-10 on the road against Top-25 opponents, including 1-1-0 during 2016.

The Penalty Kicks Keep Coming
Ricky Lopez-Espin's game-winning penalty kick 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 sesaon, 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, 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 in 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.

Three Is The Magic Number
Creighton is 7-0-0 this season when scoring three or more goals.

The Bluejays have won their last 40 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 220 times in program history while going 216-1-3 in those matches.

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

Men's Soccer Heads to Providence for BIG EAST Semifinal Match

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Players Mentioned

Myles Englis

Noah Franke

Alex Kapp

Mitch LaGro

Riggs Lennon

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Ricardo Perez

Lucas Stauffer