Creighton University
Villanova
#12 Men's Soccer Heads To Villanova For First Road BIG EAST Contest
9/20/2018 2:45:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Creighton started the conference slate with a 3-0 win over Butler
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Creighton continues its BIG EAST schedule with a road match against Villanova on Saturday.
Follow the Match
Saturday's match will be available via a live stream at Villanova.com on the Nova Nation All-Access Pass. A subscription is required to view the match.
Live stats for Saturday's contest can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
Bluejay fans can also stay updated through the Creighton men's soccer Twitter feed:Â Twitter.com/CreightonMSOC.
Scouting #12 Creighton
The Bluejays opened BIG EAST play with a 3-0 shutout of Butler last week and moved to 4-1-1 overall.
Sven Koenig leads Creighton in goals (3) and points (6) after posting a brace against the Bulldogs.Â
Akeem Ward paces the squad in assists with three, while Joel Rydstrand and Younes Boudadi each have two.Â
Six different Bluejays have scored goals during the first six matches of the season, as Creighton has outscored the opposition 9-2.Â
Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse has started all six matches for Creighton and claims a 0.32 goals against average during 560 minutes of action. The Germany native, owns four shutouts, with all four coming at Morrison Stadium.Â
His goals against average ranks sixth (6th) nationally, and his four shutouts is tied with 14 others for fourth (4th) in Division I, as three players owns five shutouts.
Head coach Elmar Bolowich is in his eighth season at the helm of the Bluejays.Â
Scouting Villanova
The Wildcats enter Saturday's matchup with a 5-2-0 record overall and 0-1-0 conference mark following a 3-0 loss at Marquette on Saturday night.
Villanova is a perfect 4-0-0 at home this season.
Senior midfielder Zach Zandi leads the team with 12 points from five goals and two assists.Â
Goalkeeper Carson Williams claims a 1.40 goals against average, but owns two shutouts through his first four matches at home.Â
Head coach Tom Carlin is in his 11th year at the helm of Villanova.Â
Series History Against the Wildcats
Creighton leads the all-time series against Villanova 3-2-0.
The Wildcats defeated the Bluejays 1-0 during the last matchup between the two sides at Villanova during the 2016 season.
Creighton has been shutout during each of its losses to the Wildcats, but the Bluejays have posted wins each time they have scored at least once against Villanova.Â
Creighton Moves Up To No. 12 Nationally
The Creighton men's soccer team jumped up to the No. 12 position in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, which was released by the organization on Tuesday.
The Bluejays moved up 13 spots from No. 25 after finishing last week 1-0 with a 3-0 win against Butler on Saturday to open BIG EAST play and improve to 4-1-1 overall.
Creighton's current ranking marks the program's highest since Oct. 18, 2016 when the Bluejays were No. 10.Â
The Bluejays are the lone BIG EAST team ranked inside this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25. Xavier (27) and Villanova (5) each received votes.Â
Wake Forest continued to hold the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive week, while Indiana and North Carolina also held their positions at No. 2 and 3, respectively. Denver and Michigan State rounded out the top five.
Bluejays Look To Break Road Woes
Creighton finished the 2017 season 0-4-1 during BIG EAST road matches.
The Bluejays are winless in their last eight conference road matches (last win Sept. 24, 2016 at DePaul).
Overall, Creighton is 9-10-4 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.Â
Sven Koenig Earns Honor Roll Selection
Senior forward Sven Koenig scored two second-half goals to help No. 25 Creighton defeat Butler, 3-0, in the league opener and earned a spot on this week's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll (9/17).Â
Koenig had a career-high six shots on Saturday night, four on goal.
The senior leads the Bluejays with three goals this season after tallying only two during 16 matches played during 2017.
BIG EAST Opener History
Since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season, Creighton is 5-1-0 during the first conference match of the season, including the Bluejays' 3-0 shutout of Butler on Sept. 15.
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 27-14-5 record during regular-season league matchups.Â
Creighton is 18-4-1 during home BIG EAST matches, while posting a 9-10-4 mark on the road.
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)
2018 Butler (W) TBD
Joel Rydstrand Reaches 20 Assists
Senior midfielder Joel Rydstrand recorded his second assist of the season and 20th of his career on Creighton's third goal against Butler (Sept. 15).
Rydstrand is the 20th Bluejay to record at least 20 assists during their career at Creighton.
The Almunge, Sweden native, led the Bluejays in assists each of the past two seasons.
Creighton's career assists leader is current Memphis men's soccer head coach Richard Mulrooney who had 51 from 1995-98.
Rydstrand needs four more assists to crack into the Bluejays' top 10 for career assists.
Individual Career Assist Leaders
Rk. Player # Years Played
1. Richard Mulrooney 51 1995-98
2. Johnny Torres 36 1994-97
Ray Ferri 36 1990-93
4. Brian Mullan 32 1997-00
5. Mike Tranchilla 30 1999-02
6. Fabian Herbers 29 2013-15
7. Jose Gomez 26 2010-12
Keith DeFini 26 1990-93
9. David Wagenfuhr 25 2000-03
10. Brian Kamler 24 1990-93
11. Ray Nikodem 23 1980-82
Brian Adams 23 1991-94
13. Tim Bohnenkamp 22 2004-07
Timo Pitter 22 2012-15
15. Ross Paule 21 1994-96
Jose Ribas 21 2011-14
17. John Probst 20 1980-83
Lance Hill 20 1990-94
Byron Dacy 20 2005-09
Joel Rydstrand 20 2015-Present
Scoring First, Leading At Half Produces Success
Under the direction of head coach Elmar Bolowich, the Bluejays are 93-9-4 when scoring first, and 64-2-3 when leading at the half.
This season, Creighton is 4-0-0 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 37-17-10 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.Â
Three Is The Magic Number
The Bluejays scored three goals against Butler (Sept. 15), marking the 14th time in the past three seasons in which the team has tallied three or more goals.Â
Creighton finished 9-0-0 when scoring three or more goals in 2016 and 3-1-0 last season.Â
Last season's 4-3 loss against Marquette (Oct. 25) marked only Creighton's second loss in program history when scoring three or more goals and first since 1990.
Creighton had won 45 consecutive matches when scoring three or more goals, dating back to a 3-3 tie against Drake (11/7/09).
The Bluejays have scored three or more goals 226 times in program history while going 221-2-3 in those matches.Â
The other loss came during the 1990 season when the Bluejays fell to Missouri State 5-4 in overtime on Nov. 10, 1990.Â
Mitch LaGro Up For Senior CLASS Award
Senior defender Mitch LaGro was selected as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, as announced on Wednesday (Sept. 19) by the organization.Â
LaGro is one of 30 NCAA men's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field that were selected as candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate soccer. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.Â
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30-player candidate pool will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men's College Cup championship in December.
Former Creighton goalkeeper Brian Holt won the 2011 Senior CLASS Award.
