Creighton University
Butler (Homecoming)
#25 Men's Soccer Welcomes Butler For BIG EAST Opener, Homecoming
9/13/2018 3:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays host the Bulldogs for the first conference match of the season and Homecoming
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Creighton opens BIG EAST play with a match against Butler on Saturday night for Homecoming.
Follow the Match
Friday's match will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN), which can be found at FOXSportsGo.com and on the FOX Sports Go app. Jon Schriner (play-by-play) and Rob Simms (color commentary) will be on the call for Saturday's match. Creighton women's soccer player Emma Braasch will also provide sideline reporting.Â
Live stats for Friday's contest can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
Bluejay fans can also stay updated through the Creighton men's soccer Twitter feed: Twitter.com/CreightonMSOC.
Scouting #25 Creighton
The Bluejays enter the start of conference action with a 3-1-1 record, which includes three shutouts.
Two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week Akeem Ward paces Creighton with five points from one goal and a team-best three assists.Â
Six different Bluejays have scored goals during the first five matches of the season, as the team has outscored the opposition 6-2.Â
Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse has started all five matches for Creighton and claims a 0.38 goals against average during 470 minutes of action. The Germany native, owns three shutouts, with all three coming at Morrison Stadium.Â
Head coach Elmar Bolowich is in his eighth season at the helm of the Bluejays.Â
Scouting Butler
After playing Akron to a draw during their season opener, the Bulldogs have claimed only one win during their last four matches and head to Omaha with a 1-3-1 record.Â
Reigning BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year Brandon Guhl leads the team with eight points from three goals and two assists.
Butler is averaging 1.2 goals per match, but the team has allowed a total of seven goals and have been outshot 77-53 through the first five matches of 2018.Â
Goalkeeper Gabriel Gjergji, a freshman from Italy, has started each match for the Bulldogs and owns a 1.30 goals against average with 17 saves.Â
Head coach Paul Snape is in his eighth season.
Series History Against the Bulldogs
Creighton leads the all-time series against Butler 6-2-1.Â
The Bluejays have lost two consecutive games against the Bulldogs, including a 3-2 overtime match last season.
Creighton is 2-0-1 at home against Butler.Â
Putting Up Zeros At Home
Creighton enters Saturday's match with a scoreless streak at Morrison Stadium of 450:54, which spans five matches and includes four consecutive shutouts.
The Bluejays have not allowed a goal during three matches at home this season (290 minutes) and did not allow a goal during the final home match of 2017.Â
Creighton's last goal allowed at home came during the 20th minute of the Bluejays' 2017 penultimate home contest against Xavier.Â
Creighton's current streak is their longest stretch without allowing a goal at home since 2015 (Sept. 4-Oct. 6) when they had a run of 583:08, which included five consecutive home shutouts during the Bluejays' 15-0-0 start that propelled the squad to the No. 1 national ranking.
Additionally, Creighton has posted shutouts during its first three matches of the season at Morrison Stadium for the first time since 2014 when the team started the season with four straight shutouts at home and did not allow a goal until the 75th minute of its fifth home contest.
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 132-23-19 overall at Morrison Stadium, including a 2-0-1 mark this season.
The Bluejays have 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).
Creighton plays four of its next five matches at home, including two BIG EAST contests.Â
The Bluejays went 7-1-1 during 2017 at Morrison Stadium.
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Creighton Ranked No. 25
The Bluejays earned the No. 25 position in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll, the organization released on Tuesday.Â
The Bluejays received 74 points and moved back into the top 25 for the second time this season, as the team held the No. 20 ranking on Aug. 28.
Creighton improved to 3-1-1 overall with victories over South Florida (Sept. 3) and Memphis (Sept. 7) last week.Â
The Bluejays are one of two BIG EAST schools listed in this week's Top 25, as Villanova checks in at No. 13. Georgetown is also receiving votes (24).Â
Wake Forest is ranked No. 1 for the third consecutive week with 23 first-place votes, while Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan State and Denver rounded out the top five.
Ward, Kruse Honored by BIG EASTÂ
Akeem Ward and Paul Kruse each received Player of the Week recognition from the BIG EAST Conference on Monday afternoon. Ward earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Kruse claimed Goalkeeper of the Week accolades.
Ward tallied the game-winning goal during Creighton's 2-1 victory at South Florida on Sept. 3, and recorded an assist on the game-winner against Memphis on Friday night as the Bluejays shutout the Tigers, 2-0. The senior's goal against the Bulls marked the first of his Creighton career.
The Bluejays' point-leader paces the squad in assists with three, after tallying only two during his first two seasons at Creighton.
Kruse tallied a season-high three saves during each match last week. The freshman earned the shutout against Memphis on Friday night for his third clean sheet of the season.
Kruse owns an overall goals against average of 0.38 during 470 minutes of action this season, as the freshman has allowed only two goals. He posted shutouts during his first two starts as a Bluejay, and did not allow a goal until during his 280th minute of time in goal.
His goals against average is tied for 10th nationally entering the weekend.
BIG EAST Opener History
Since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season, Creighton is 4-1-0 during the first conference match of the season.Â
Last season's 3-2 overtime loss at Butler marked the Bluejays' first loss in a conference opener since 2011 when Creighton fell to Missouri State during the Missouri Valley Conference opener.
Over the past five years, the Bluejays have tallied a 26-14-5 record during regular-season league matchups.Â
Creighton is also 13-4-1 during home BIG EAST matches.
The Bluejays have captured one BIG EAST regular-season title (2014) and finished runner-up at the conference tournament twice (2015, 2016).Â
Creighton owns a total of 13 regular-season conference titles and 13 conference tournament titles (last in 2012) as the Bluejays were a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1991-2012.Â
Creighton BIG EAST History
Year Opener (Result) Final Record (Place)
2013 #7 St. John's (W) 4-4-1 (5th)
2014 at Villanova (W) 7-1-1 (1st)
2015 at Seton Hall (W) 7-2-0 (2nd)
2016 Seton Hall (W) 5-3-1 (T-3rd)
2017 at Butler (L) 3-4-2 (T-5th)
Recent Homecoming History
Saturday's match is not only the Bluejays conference opener, it is also Creighton's Homecoming match.
The Bluejays did not play at home during last year's Homecoming/Alumni Week.
During its last five Homecoming matches, Creighton is a 3-2, with both losses coming to Saint Louis (2014, 2012).Â
The Bluejays' 2016 Homecoming match featured the seventh-best home crowd in Creighton men's soccer history, as 5,386 attended the Bluejays' 4-1 win against Seton Hall.Â
Three of out of the last five Homecoming matches have cracked the top 10 of Creighton's highest attended contests. Â
Recent Homecoming MatchesÂ
Date Opponent (Result) Â Â Â Attendance
9/17/16 Seton Hall (W, 4-1) 5,386*
9/19/15 Tulsa (W, 1-0) 6,453#
9/20/14 #20 Saint Louis (L, 0-1 OT) 4,544
9/21/13 #7 St. John's (W, 1-0) 5,282$
9/22/12 Saint Louis (L, 1-3) 3,638
*8th-largest crowd in Creighton history
#2nd-largest crowd in Creighton history
$9th-largest crowd in Creighton history
Scoring First, Leading At Half Produces Success
Under the direction of head coach Elmar Bolowich, the Bluejays are 92-9-4 when scoring first, and 64-2-3 when leading at the half.
This season, Creighton is 3-0-0 when scoring first and 2-0-0 when leading at the half.Â
Comparatively, the Bluejays are 15-28-4 when the opposition scores first, 7-18-2 when trailing at halftime, and 36-17-10 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 home against Tulsa.
Sharing the Scoring
Creighton has scored a total of six goals during its first five matches. Each of the six goals have been scored by six different players.
Of the six goal scorers so far this year, three also claimed their first goals at Creighton.
Ziyad Fares vs. #11 Clemson (Aug. 24)*
Anthony Macchione vs. #11 Clemson (Aug. 24)*
Kuba Polat at South Florida (Sept. 3)
Akeem Ward at South Florida (Sept. 3)*
Luke Haakenson vs. Memphis (Sept. 7)
Sven Koenig vs. Memphis (Sept. 7)
*denotes first career goal at Creighton
Socctoberfest Success
The Bluejays' match against Memphis on Sept. 7 marked Creighton's seventh annual Socctoberfest event.
The Bluejays are a perfect 7-0 during Socctoberfest matches with wins over Bradley, Columbia, Western Illinois, Cal State Northridge, Penn, South Florida and Memphis.
Creighton picked up a 2-0 victory against Memphis on Sept. 7 during the 2018 Socctoberfest celebration. Luke Haakenson and Sven Koenig each scored second-half goals to lead the Bluejays past the Tigers.Â
Large Special Event Crowds
After drawing nearly 2,000 fans at the inaugural Socctoberfest in 2012, Creighton has averaged 4,150 fans during the past six events, including two of the largest crowds in program history.Â
Date Opponent/Result     Attendance
10/20/12 Bradley, W 1-0 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,843
9/6/13 Columbia, W 3-1 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5,102*
9/5/14 Western Illinois, W 1-0Â Â Â Â 3,750
9/4/15 Cal State Northridge, W 2-1 Â Â 4,907#
9/9/16 Penn, W 3-0 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2,888
9/8/17 South Florida, W 2-0Â Â Â Â Â 3,889
9/7/18 Memphis, W 2-0 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4,367
*10th-largest crowd in Creighton history
#11th-largest crowd in Creighton history
To date, Creighton's crowd of 4,367 on Friday night against Memphis ranks as the ninth-largest crowd at a Division I men's soccer match this season.Â
The Bluejays also hosted 5,473 fans on Aug. 23 against Clemson, which ranks third on the list of single-game highs for the 2018 season and sixth all-time in Creighton history.
Creighton enters the weekend ranked fourth nationally in average home attendance (3,761), behind Grand Canyon (5,025), South Carolina (4,312) and UConn (3,956). Below is the top 10.Â
2018 Division I Avg. Attendance Leaders (Sept. 12)
Rk. Team Games Total Avg.
1. Grand Canyon 2 10,050 5,025
2. South Carolina 3 12,937 4,312
3. UConn 3 11,869 3,956
4. Creighton 3 11,284 3,761
5. Maryland 3 9,970 3,323
6. Indiana 3 9,196 3,065
7. Utah Valley 2 5,590 2,795
8. Wake Forest 5 12,374 2,475
9. Portland 5 11,970 2,394
10. Clemson 1 2,137 2,137
