Creighton University
Marquette
#19 Men's Soccer Plays Host To Marquette On Wednesday Night
10/23/2018 3:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays can seal a top-four finish in the BIG EAST with a victory against the Golden Eagles
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Creighton hosts Marquette on Wednesday night for the Bluejays' first midweek league match of the season.Â
Follow the Match
Wednesday's match will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN), which can be found at FOXSportsGo.com or on the FOX Sports Go app. Josh Peterson will provide play-by-play and Donny Baarns will handle color commentary.
The match will also feature a Spanish radio broadcast on La Nueva (99.5 FM & 1020 AM in the Omaha area and online: http://player.listenlive.co/49031/es). Â
Live stats for Wednesday's contest will be available at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
Bluejay fans can stay updated through the Creighton men's soccer Twitter feed: Twitter.com/CreightonMSOC.
Scouting #19 Creighton (9-3-2, 5-0-1 BE)
The Bluejays enter Saturday's match as the BIG EAST standings leader with 16 points (5-0-1).Â
Sven Koenig paces the squad and leads the BIG EAST in goals (7), while nine different Bluejays have scored at least one goal.Â
During league action, the Bluejays are outscoring the opposition 11-2.
Akeem Ward paces the squad in assists with four, while Younes Boudadi and Yudai Tashiro each have three.Â
Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse has started all 14 matches for Creighton and claims a 0.479 goals against average during 1,315 minutes of action, which is the best mark in the BIG EAST and ranks fourth nationally. The Germany native, owns a BIG EAST-best seven shutouts, which is tied for eighth in Division I.
Head coach Elmar Bolowich is in his eighth season at the helm of the Bluejays.Â
Scouting Marquette (5-7-1, 3-2-1 BIG EAST)
The Golden Eagles enter Wednesday's contest on a two-match winning streak.Â
Luka Prpa leads the Marquette offense in points, goals (tied) and assists. The sophomore has four goals, and five assists for a total of 13 points. Prpa has earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week status each of the past two weeks with three goals and two assists during Marquette's last two matches.Â
Connor Alba and Lukas Sunesson have also scored four goals a piece for the Golden Eagles.
Marquette has scored nine goals during league play, each in its three victories, while the team has also been shutout three times during BIG EAST play.
Defensively, goalkeeper Luis Barraza claims a 0.78 goals against average during 10 matches played. He owns starts during each BIG EAST match and has a BIG EAST-high 33 saves to go along with a 0.64 goals against average (four goals allowed).
Head coach Louis Bennett is in his 13th season at the helm of Marquette.
Series History Against Golden Eagles
Marquette leads the all-time series against Creighton 7-6-0.
Since the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season, Creighton is 3-2-0 against the Golden Eagles.
Marquette defeated Creighton 4-3 last season in Milwaukee.
The Bluejays are 3-0-0 against Marquette at Morrison Stadium, including 2-0-0 during BIG EAST regular-season matches.Â
Fighting For BIG EAST Positioning
With three league matches remaining for each BIG EAST team, Creighton is the only squad to clinch a spot in the six-team BIG EAST championship.
The Bluejays can earn a top-four seed and at least one home match during the postseason (each round played at highest remaining seeds) with a win on Wednesday night. Â
Creighton currently leads the league with 16 points, while Marquette is in fourth place with 10.Â
Providence and Georgetown are tied for second with 13 points. The Friars and Hoyas play on Wednesday night at Providence.Â
Creighton and Providence tied on Saturday night, while Providence defeated Marquette earlier this season, and Georgetown tied with Marquette.
Creighton and Georgetown play on the final day of the regular season (Oct. 31) at Morrison Stadium.Â
Last Time Out
Creighton remained in first place in the BIG EAST standings with a 0-0 draw against Providence on Saturday night at Morrison Stadium.
The Bluejays moved to 5-0-1 (16 points) in league play and 9-3-2 overall, while the Friars pushed their BIG EAST record to 4-1-1 (13 points) and overall mark to 7-5-2.
Creighton also clinched a top-six finish in the BIG EAST standings and sealed a spot in the BIG EAST postseason tournament with its result. The Bluejays lead the league by three points, while Providence and Georgetown are tied for second place.
Paul Kruse made four saves during his seventh shutout of the season. The Bluejay freshman recorded three stops during the first half of action as Providence held a 7-3 advantage in shots after the opening 45 minutes.
Creighton controlled possession during the second half and fired six shots, compared to the Friars' two. Providence did not record a shot after the 53rd minute of play.Â
The Bluejays also outshot the Friars 3-0 during the two 10-minute overtime periods, as Providence's Colin Miller made three of his four saves during the extra time.Â
Bluejays Nearing Double-Digit Victories
Creighton's next win will be its 10th of the season.
The Bluejays have won 10 or more matches five out of Elmar Bolowich's first seven seasons at Creighton.
The Bluejays have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 24 out of the last 26 seasons.Â
The two times Creighton did not make the NCAAs (2009, 2017) were two out of three years since 1990 in which the program failed to reach the 10-win plateau.Â
The Bluejays reached the NCAA tourney and ended the season with only nine victories in 2013.Â
Scoring First, Leading At Half Produces Success
Under the direction of head coach Elmar Bolowich, the Bluejays are 98-9-4 when scoring first, and 65-2-3 when leading at the half.
This season, Creighton is 9-0-0 when scoring first and 3-0-0 when leading at the half.Â
Comparatively, the Bluejays are 15-30-4 when the opposition scores first, 7-18-2 when trailing at halftime, and 41-19-11 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.Â
Kruse Among Nation's Elite Keepers
Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse holds a 0.479 goals against average, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks fourth (4th) nationally.Â
Division I Goals Against Average Leaders (Oct. 22)
Rk. Player (School)     Min    GA GAA
1. Remi Prieur (Saint Mary's) 1,281:02 5 0.351
2. Zach Rowell (UMass Lowell) 905:00 4 0.398
3. James Pyle (North Carolina) 1,301:26 6 0.415
4. Paul Kruse (Creighton) 1,314:40 7 0.479
5. Enrique Facusse (Kentucky) 1,290:32 7 0.488
Kruse also owns seven shutouts, good enough for a tie for eighth nationally.
Brian Holt set Creighton's freshman records for goals against average (0.51 in 1,753 min.) and shutouts (12) in 2008.Â
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.Â
Kruse earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll status after allowing one goal during 200 minutes last week, including a shutout of Providence on Saturday.
Creighton Ranked No. 37 In Latest RPI
Creighton was listed 37th in the official NCAA RPI released on Monday.
The Bluejays are one of two BIG EAST schools in the top 50 of the RPI (Georgetown, 31). The conference has a total of five schools listed in the top 100 (of 206 Division I programs).
Marquette is ranked 120th in this week's official RPI.
Bluejays Ranked 19th in Coaches Poll
Creighton is ranked 19th in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll, the organization released on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
The Bluejays moved to 9-3-2 overall and 5-0-1 in BIG EAST play following an 0-1-1 mark last week with a loss 1-0 at Akron on Tuesday and a 0-0 draw against Providence on Saturday night at Morrison Stadium. The squad dropped 11 spots in the coaches' poll after last week's top-10 ranking.Â
Creighton is one of two BIG EAST schools listed in this week's poll as Georgetown jumped into the poll at No. 24 after receiving votes last week.Â
The top six teams remained unchanged as Wake Forest, Indiana, Kentucky, Saint Mary's, North Carolina and Virginia (in order, one through six) continued to lead the poll.
Creighton Seeks Unbeaten Conference Mark
The Bluejays started league play 5-0-0 for the second time since joining the conference in 2013.Â
Creighton is unbeaten through its first six conference contests (5-0-1) for the first time since 2015 when the team started 6-0-0.Â
The Bluejays' last unbeaten conference season was 2012 (5-0-1), the team's last year in the Missouri Valley Conference.Â
The Bluejays' best finish during BIG EAST play was in 2014 when Creighton went 7-1-1 to claim the conference regular-season crown.Â
Creighton is also seeking its first unbeaten mark through seven conference matches since joining the league.Â
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 135-24-20 overall at Morrison Stadium, including a 5-1-2 mark this season.
The Bluejays own shutouts during five of their seven home matches this year.
Creighton has never lost consecutive matches at Morrison Stadium during the same season (since 2003).Â
Creighton's loss at Morrison Stadium against No. 17 Virginia Tech to open the 2017 season followed the team's loss at home to end the 2016 campaign (2-1 vs. Providence), marking the first time since 1985 that Creighton had lost consecutive home matches (spanning across two seasons).
The Bluejays are 21-1-2 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison.Â
Creighton went 7-1-1 during 2017 at home and is 53-9-7 at Morrison Stadium since the start 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST.Â
Creighton Ranks Third In Average Home Attendance
Creighton enters Wednesday ranked third in Division I in average home attendance. The Bluejays have averaged 3,179 fans through their first seven home matches, and play two of their final three
regular-season matches at home.Â
2018 Division I Avg. Attendance Leaders (Oct. 23)
Rk. Team Games Total Avg.
1. UConn 9 31,619 3,513
2. Maryland 7 23,212 3,316
3. Creighton 8 25,428 3,179
4. South Carolina 8 21,980 2,748
5. Cal Poly 7 18,916 2,702
6. Wake Forest 10 25,381 2,538
7. Indiana 7 17,288 2,470
8. Grand Canyon 7 17,233 2,462
9. Portland 11 22,174 2,016
10. Clemson 6 11,456 1,909
The Bluejays ranked 10th in average home attendance last season with 2,006 fans per contest, marking the 14th straight season Creighton finished in the top 10.
Second-Half Scoring
Creighton has scored 14 its last 15 goals during the second half of matches.
The Bluejays scored during the third minute on Oct. 12 against Xavier for the team's first goal in the first half since the 19th minute at South Florida on Sept. 3.
Despite not scoring in the first half during a span of seven consecutive matches, the Bluejays also did not allow a goal during the first half of those contests, and have held opponents to zero goals during all 14 matches this season.
Creighton has allowed only seven goals this season, six during the second half of matches and one during overtime.
Putting Up Zeros At Home
Creighton allowed its first goal at home this season during the 76th minute against Jacksonville on Tuesday, Sept. 25.
The Bluejays hold a 0.23 goals against average (two goals allowed) and six shutouts through 765 minutes of action at Morrison Stadium during 2018.
The Bluejays held a streak at Morrison Stadium of 615:59 without allowing a goal, which spanned seven matches, including five consecutive shutouts.
The Bluejays did not allow a goal during the first 455 minutes at home this season, and did not allow a goal during the final home match of 2017.Â
The last goal Creighton conceded before Sept. 25 against Jacksonville was during the 20th minute against Xavier on Oct. 14, 2017, the second-to-last home match a year ago.
Creighton was 14:55 away from matching a program record for consecutive home matches without allowing a goal. The Bluejays have claimed six consecutive home shutouts twice
during program history (Oct. 15, 1999-Sept. 2, 2000 and Oct. 26-Nov. 20, 2011).
Dates    Consecutive Home Shutouts
10/15/99-9/2/00 6
10/26/11-11/20/11 6
10/28/17-9/15/17 5
The Bluejays' longest shutout streak at home is 636:26 (Oct. 15-Nov. 27, 2011).Â
Additionally, Creighton posted shutouts during its first four matches of the season at Morrison Stadium for the first time since 2014 when the team also started the season with four straight shutouts at home and did not allow a goal until the 75th minute of its fifth home contest.
The last time Creighton did not allow a goal through its first five home matches of the season was in 2011.Â
Creighton concludes the regular season with two of its final three matches at home.
