Creighton University
Jacksonville
#12 Men's Soccer Hosts Jacksonville For Midweek Nonconference Tilt
9/24/2018 5:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Bluejays have posted five consecutive shutouts at Morrison Stadium
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Creighton hosts Jacksonville for a midweek nonconference contest on Tuesday night.Â
Follow the Match
Tuesday's match will be broadcast on JAYS Video, which can be found at GoCreighton/JAYSVideo. Jon Schriner 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 Saturday's contest can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.
Bluejay fans can stay updated through the Creighton men's soccer Twitter feed: Twitter.com/CreightonMSOC.
Scouting #12 Creighton
The Bluejays enter Tuesday's match on a four-match winning streak, which includes three consecutive shutouts. Creighton is 5-1-1 overall and 2-0-0 during BIG EAST play.Â
Sven Koenig leads Creighton in goals (3) and is tied for the team lead in points (6).Â
Akeem Ward paces the squad in assists with four and is also tied with Koenig with six points overall, while Joel Rydstrand and Younes Boudadi each have two assists..Â
Six different Bluejays have scored goals during the first seven matches of the season, as Creighton has outscored the opposition 10-2.Â
Freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse has started all seven matches for Creighton and claims a 0.28 goals against average during 650 minutes of action, which is the best mark in the BIG EAST and ranks fifth nationally. The Germany native, owns a BIG EAST-best five shutouts, which ranks fourth in Division I.
Head coach Elmar Bolowich is in his eighth season at the helm of the Bluejays.Â
Scouting Jacksonville
The Dolphins enter Tuesday's match after securing their first victory of the season on Saturday. Jacksonville is 1-7-0 overall and 1-0-0 in Atlantic Sun action following a 3-2 double overtime victory against Lipscomb.Â
Igor Ferreira paces the squad with two goals, while Inti Antunez and Jose Manzo each own two assists.Â
The Dolphins average 1.13 goals per match but have been shutout out four times this season.
Three different players have seen time in net as the squad owns a 3.12 goals against average.
Patrick Harding claims four starts, Matt Levy owns three, and Eli Lasley earned one.
Levy helped Jacksonville earn its victory against Lipscomb and boasts a team-best 2.80 goals against average during 289 minutes of action.
Head coach Mauricio B. Ruiz is in his 5th year at the helm of Jacksonville.Â
Series History Against the Dolphins
Creighton and Jacksonville will be meeting for the first time on Tuesday night.Â
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Putting Up Zeros At Home
Creighton currently holds a scoreless streak at Morrison Stadium of 540:54, which spans six matches and includes five consecutive shutouts.
The Bluejays have not allowed a goal during four matches at home this season (380 minutes) and did not allow a goal during the final home match of 2017.Â
Creighton can match a program record for consecutive home matches without allowing a goal on Tuesday. 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-Present 5
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 (540:54) 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 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
The Bluejays' longest shutout streak at home is 636:26 (Oct. 15-Nov. 27, 2011).Â
Tuesday is the first of three consecutive home matches for the Bluejays.Â
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Creighton Leads Nation in Average Attendance
Creighton enters the week at the top of the NCAA Men's Soccer Average attendance list. The Bluejays have averaged 3,999 fans through their first four home matches.Â
2018 Division I Avg. Attendance Leaders (Sept. 24)
Rk. Team Games Total Avg.
1. Creighton 4 15,995 3,999
2. Maryland 4 15,845 3,961
3. UConn 5 19,538 3,908
4. South Carolina 4 14,904 3,726
5. Grand Canyon 4 12,370 3,093
6. Indiana 3 9,196 3,065
7. Utah Valley 3 7,876 2,624
8. Wake Forest 5 12,374 2,475
9. Clemson 3 7,394 2,465
10. UC Santa Barbara 4 9,171 2,293
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.
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 133-23-19 overall at Morrison Stadium, including a 3-0-1 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).
Following their match at Villanova on Saturday, Creighton plays three consecutive home contests.
The Bluejays went 7-1-1 during 2017 at Morrison Stadium.Â
Kruse Named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week
Freshman Paul Kruse earned BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honors, the league announced on Monday morning.
Monday's accolade marked Kruse's second BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honor this season (also on Sept. 10).Â
Kruse claimed his BIG EAST-leading fifth shutout of the season -- third consecutive -- during Creighton's 1-0 victory at Villanova on Saturday afternoon as the Bluejays improved to 2-0-0 in league action and 5-1-1 overall.
The Heilbronn, Germany native, made three saves, each during the second half, while helping the Bluejays move into sole possession of first place in the conference standings and extend their overall winning streak to four matches.
The freshman is tied for fourth (4th) in Division I in shutouts as Enrique Facusse (Kentucky), Miha Miskovic (Northwestern) and Remi Prieur (Saint Mary's) each have six (6) this season to lead the country.
Kruse also lowered his season goals against average to 0.28, which leads the BIG EAST and ranks fifth (5th) nationally.Â
Division I Goals Against Average Leaders (Sept. 24)
Rk. Player (School)     Min    GA GAA
1. Colin Shutler (Virgina) 580:00 1 0.155
2. Roger Penske (Rhode Island) 494:15 1 0.182
3. Andrew Thomas (Stanford) 684:33 2 0.263
4. Enrique Facusse (Kentucky) 655:37 2 0.275
5. Paul Kruse (Creighton) 650:00 2 0.277
Creighton Ranked No. 15 In Initial RPI
Creighton was listed 15th in the intiial RPI released by the NCAA on Monday afternoon (Sept. 24).
The Bluejays are one of four BIG EAST schools listed in the top 50 (25. Xavier, 26. Georgetown, 49. DePaul).
Seven of the 10 league schools are inside the top 100 of the RPI as the BIG EAST is the ranked third (3rd) as a conference, behind the ACC and Pac-12.
Jacksonville is listed at No. 157 of 206 Division I teams.
Haakenson's Goal Lifts Bluejays Past Villanova
Junior Luke Haakenson's goal during the 69th minute at Villanova on Saturday proved to be the game-winner as Creighton claimed a 1-0 victory.
The Bluejays posted their second consecutive shutout to open BIG EAST play for the first time since 2013.Â
Creighton's victory also propelled the Bluejays into sole possession of first place in the BIG EAST.
Bluejays Break Road Woes
Creighton's win at 1-0 Villanova on Saturday marked the Bluejays' first BIG EAST road victory since Sept. 24, 2016 at DePaul.
Creighton was winless in its last eight conference road matches (0-6-2) , including an 0-4-1 mark last season.
Overall, Creighton is 10-10-4 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
