#12 Men's Soccer Journeys To Ohio For BIG EAST Battle With Xavier

Friday, Oct. 12 | #12 Creighton (8-2-1, 4-0-0 BIG EAST) at Xavier (4-3-5, 2-1-1 BIG EAST) | Cincinnati, Ohio | 6:00 p.m. (CST)

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Creighton heads to Ohio for a BIG EAST road match against Xavier on Friday night in Cincinnati.

Follow the Match
Friday's match will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network, which can be found at FOXSportsGo.com and on the FOX Sports Go App. Dan Karell will provide play-by-play.

Live stats for Friday's contest can be found on Creighton's schedule page.

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

Scouting #12 Creighton (8-2-1, 4-0-0 BE)
The Bluejays improved to 4-0-0 in BIG EAST play with a 3-1 victory at St. John's on Saturday night in Queens, New York.

Creighton opened league play with three consecutive shutouts (Butler, Villanova, Seton Hall) for the first time since 2013 and sits atop the BIG EAST standings with 12 points.

Sven Koenig leads Creighton in goals (6) and points (12).

Akeem Ward paces the squad in assists with four, while Younes Boudadi has three.

Eight different Bluejays have scored goals during the first 11 matches of the season, as Creighton has outscored the opposition 16-5.

Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse has started all 11 matches for Creighton and claims a 0.439 goals against average during 1,025 minutes of action, which is the best mark in the BIG EAST and ranks fifth nationally. The Germany native, owns a BIG EAST-best six shutouts, which is tied for seventh in Division I.

Head coach Elmar Bolowich is in his eighth season at the helm of the Bluejays.

Scouting Xavier (4-3-5, 2-1-1 BE)
The Musketeers enter Friday's match following a 1-0 loss at Loyola-Chicago on Tuesday night.

After starting the season 3-0-3 with four shutouts and only two goals allowed, Xavier claims only one win during their last six matches (1-3-2).

The Musketeers are 3-0-3 at home this season, including 1-0-1 during league play.

During BIG EAST play Xavier is 2-1-1 with victories at Georgetown and at home against Villanova. The Musketeers are tied for third in the league standings with seven points.

Xavier leads the conference with 18 goals through 12 matches played, which also ranks 51st nationally.

Simen Hestnes leads the BIG EAST in points with 15 from five goals and five assists.

Sophomore goalkeeper Zachary Nelson has started 10 matches and claims a 1.28 goals against average, while senior Colin Hanley has allowed only one goal during 226 minutes of action (0.40 GAA). Hanley started each of the past two matches for the Musketeers.

Head coach Andy Fleming is in his ninth year at the helm of Xavier.

Series History Against Musketeers
Creighton leads the all-time series against Xavier, 4-2-1.

The Bluejays are 0-1-1 in Cincinnati against the Musketeers.

Both of the previous two meetings between Creighton and Xavier in Ohio went to double overtime.

Road Warriors
Friday's match is the second of three consecutive road matches for the Bluejays.

Creighton has played four contests away from Omaha so far this season and is 3-1-0 in those matches.

The last time the Bluejays played three or more consecutive regular-season road matches was in 2011 (head coach Elmar Bolowich's first season at Creighton), when the squad went 2-2 during a four-match road swing from Sept. 30-Oct. 12.

Creighton already surpassed last season's road win total as the team managed only two wins
during nine road matches in 2017 (2-6-0).

Last Time Out
Creighton scored three unanswered goals and defeated St. John's, 3-1, on Saturday night at Belson Stadium.

The Bluejays improved to 4-0-0 in BIG EAST play and 8-2-1 overall, while the Red Storm fell to 2-1-1 during league play and 6-4-1 overall.

Kuba Polat, Yudai Tashiro and Younes Boudadi each scored for Creighton during the second half after St. John's took a 1-0 lead less than five
minutes after the break.

Paul Kruse made one save as Creighton opened BIG EAST play with four consecutive victories for the first time since 2015 when the squad started 6-0-0.

The Bluejays ended the match with a 16-4 advantage in shots, including 10-2 on goal.

Bluejays Looking To Continue Road Success
Creighton's 1-0 win at Villanova on Sept. 22 marked the Bluejays' first regular-season BIG EAST road victory since Sept. 24, 2016 at DePaul.

The Bluejays were winless in their last eight conference road matches (0-6-2), including an 0-4-1 mark last season.

Creighton also defeated St. John's, 3-1 on Saturday in Queens, New York as the Bluejays won consecutive road league matches for the first time since 2015 against Marquette and Providence.

Overall, Creighton is 11-10-4 during conference road matches since 2013 (first year in BIG EAST).

The Bluejays' best road season during BIG EAST play was in 2014 when the squad went 3-0-1.

Creighton Seeks To Extend Conference Streak
Creighton opened BIG EAST play with three consecutive shutouts for the first time since 2013.

The Bluejays also started league play 4-0-0 for the third time (also 2015 and 2014) since joining the league in 2013.

Creighton looks to extend that streak on Friday night.

The Bluejays are searching for their second 5-0-0 start to the BIG EAST schedule. Creighton started 5-0-0 during 2015 before claiming seven (7) league wins.

Creighton's best start to BIG EAST play is 6-0-0 in 2015.

Scoring First, Leading At Half Produces Success
Under the direction of head coach Elmar Bolowich, the Bluejays are 97-9-4 when scoring first, and 64-2-3 when leading at the half.

This season, Creighton is 8-0-0 when scoring first and 2-0-0 when leading at the half.

Comparatively, the Bluejays are 15-29-4 when the opposition scores first, 7-18-2 when trailing at halftime, and 41-18-10 when the score is tied after 45 minutes of play (since start of 2011 season).

The Bluejays' last loss when scoring first was last season against Georgetown (Nov. 1, 2017).

Creighton's only two losses when leading at the half with Bolowich as head coach occurred on Sept. 16, 2017 at Butler and Oct. 11, 2016 at Tulsa.

Second-Half Scoring
Creighton has scored its last 12 goals during the second half of matches.

The last time the Bluejays scored in the first half was during the 19th minute at South Florida on Sept. 3.

Despite not scoring in the first half during each of their last seven matches, the Bluejays have also not allowed a goal during the first half of those contests.

Creighton has allowed only five goals this season, four during the second half of matches and one during overtime.

Kruse Among Nation's Elite Keepers
Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse is currently tied for seventh (7th) in Division I in shutouts with six (6).

One goalkeeper has nine, two have eight and three others claim seven clean sheets.

Kruse also holds a 0.439 goals against average, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks fifth (5th) nationally.

Division I Goals Against Average Leaders (Oct. 9)
Rk. Player (School) Min GA GAA
1. Remi Prieur (Saint Mary's) 1,094:11 4 0.329
2. Andrew Thomas (Stanford) 954:33 4 0.377
3. Colin Shutler (Virginia) 940:00 4 0.383
4. James Pyle (North Carolina) 1,039:27 5 0.433
5. Paul Kruse (Creighton) 1,024:40 5 0.439

Brian Holt set Creighton's freshman records for goals against average (0.51 in 1,753 min.) and shutouts (12) in 2008.

Holt also holds the Bluejays' single-season records for both goals against average (0.21 in 2,179 min.) and shutouts (17), which were achieved during the 2011 season.

Creighton Ranked No. 11 In Latest RPI
Creighton was listed 11th in the official NCAA RPI released on Monday afternoon.

The Bluejays are one of three BIG EAST schools in the top 50 of the RPI (Georgetown, 41; Xavier, 49). The conference has a total of seven schools listed in the top 100 (of 206 Division I programs).

Boudadi Honored by BIG EAST
Younes Boudadi earned a spot on this week's BIG EAST weekly honor roll.

The junior defender helped Creighton outshoot both opponents by a combined 41-12 margin, including 17-6 on goal.

The Bluejays outshot No. 5 Denver 25-8 and BIG EAST foe St. John's 16-4, while Boudadi also added a goal in Saturday's win over the Red Storm.

Bluejays Ranked 12th in Coaches Poll
Creighton is ranked 12th in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll, the organization announced on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

The Bluejays went 1-1 last week with a 1-0 double overtime loss against then-No. 5 Denver and a 3-1 win at St. John's on Saturday night.

Creighton dropped four spots from last week's top-10 ranking.

The Bluejays are 8-2-1 overall, including 4-0-0 during BIG EAST play, which is good enough for sole possession of first place in the league standings.

Creighton is the lone BIG EAST school listed in this week's top 25.

#12 Men's Soccer Journeys To Ohio For BIG EAST Battle With Xavier

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Younes Boudadi

Sven Koenig

Paul Kruse

Kuba Polat

Yudai Tashiro

Akeem Ward

#12 Men's Soccer Journeys To Ohio For BIG EAST Battle With Xavier

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Younes Boudadi

Sven Koenig

Paul Kruse

Kuba Polat

Yudai Tashiro

Akeem Ward

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