Creighton University
Memphis (Socctoberfest)
Men's Soccer Hosts Memphis For Socctoberfest
9/5/2018 4:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Creighton is 6-0 during Socctoberfest matches
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Creighton hosts Memphis on Friday night as part of Creighton's 2018 Socctoberfest.
Follow the Match
Friday's match will be broadcast on FOX Sports Go, which can be found at FOXSportsGo.com and on the FOX Sports Go app. Josh Peterson will handle play-by-play duties, while Donny Baarns will provide color commentary.Â
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 Friday'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 Creighton
The Bluejays enter Friday's matchup with a 2-1-1 record after going 1-1 during a Labor Day weekend road trip that featured matchups against Grand Canyon in Phoenix and South Florida in Tampa.
Four different Bluejays have each scored one goal, while freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse owns two shutouts and has allowed only two goals during 380 minutes (0.47 GAA).
Senior Akeem Ward leads the team with four points from two assists and one goal.Â
Scouting Memphis
The Tigers head to Omaha with a 2-1-1 record after going 1-1 at the UAB Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama this past weekend.
Sophomore Peyton McKnatt paces the Memphis offense with three goals, including each game-winning score.
Both Tyler Hofmann and Parker Lackland have started in goal for the Tigers. Hofmann owns Memphis' lone shutout against Fairleigh Dickinson (Sept. 2), while the pair has combined for a 1.18 goals against average.Â
Memphis is coached by Creighton Athletics Hall of Famer Richard Mulrooney, who is in his fifth season.Â
Series History Against the Tigers
Creighton leads the all-time series against Memphis 4-0-1.Â
The Bluejays are 2-0-1 against the Tigers in Omaha, including a 1-0 victory on Oct. 8, 2008 during the last meeting between the two schools.Â
Socctoberfest Success
Friday marks Creighton's seventh annual Socctoberfest event.
The Bluejays are a perfect 6-0 during Socctoberfest matches with wins over Bradley, Columbia, Western Illinois, Cal State Northridge, Penn and South Florida.
The Bluejays picked up a 2-0 victory against South Florida during last year's Socctoberfest at Morrison Stadium.
Large Special Event Crowds
After drawing nearly 2,000 fans at the inaugural Socctoberfest in 2012, Creighton has averaged 4,107 fans during the past five 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
*10th-largest crowd in Creighton history
#11th-largest crowd in Creighton history
Creighton Great Mulrooney Back in Omaha
Richard Mulrooney, who played at Creighton from 1995-98 and is a member of the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame, is in his fifth season as head coach at Memphis.Â
Mulrooney is the program's career assists leader (51), as he posted 16 helpers during each of his sophomore and senior seniors. The next closest is Creighton assistant coach Johnny Torres with 36.
Torres and Mulrooney were teammates at Creighton from 1995-97, and helped guide the Bluejays to their first College Cup in 1996.
A 1998 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and First Team All-American, Mulrooney posted 16 assists during his senior season as a Bluejay.
He also made 14 appearances for the U.S. National Team, and earned his first cap in 2001.
Mulrooney played 12 years in the MLS and was named the 2006 MLS Comeback Player of the Year while playing for FC Dallas.
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 131-23-19 overall at Morrison Stadium, including a 1-0-1 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 five of its next six matches at home, including two BIG EAST contests.Â
The Bluejays went 7-1-1 during 2017 at Morrison Stadium.
Scoring First, Leading At Half Produces Success
Under the direction of head coach Elmar Bolowich, the Bluejays are 91-9-4 when scoring first, and 64-2-3 when leading at the half.
Creighton is 2-0-0 when scoring first and leading at the half this season.Â
Comparatively, the Bluejays are 15-28-4 when the opposition scores first, 7-18-2 when trailing at halftime, and 35-17-10 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.
Creighton Splits During Long Road Trip
The Bluejays spent five days away from Omaha and went 1-1 during a pair of road matches.
Creighton fell 1-0 against Grand Canyon in Phoenix on Friday, Aug. 31 before knocking off South Florida by a 2-1 score on Monday.Â
Kuba Polat converted a penalty kick and Akeem Ward executed a give-and-go with Joel Rydstrand to give Creighton a 2-0 lead less than 20 minutes into the Bluejays' match against South Florida.
Sharing the Scoring
Creighton has scored a total of four goals during its first four matches for the second consecutive season. Additionally, four different players have converted goals for the Bluejays, which also happened last season.
Of the four 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)*
*denotes first career goal at Creighton
Of the four of the players to score the first four goals of the 2017 season, only one is part of the 2018 squad (Marios Lomis, Noah Franke, Ricky Lopez-Espin, Luke Haakenson).
Bluejays Post Pair of Shutouts To Open Season
Creighton opened the 2018 regular season with consecutive shutouts, marking the first time the Bluejays accomplished that feat during the first two matches since 2015.Â
The Bluejays kicked off the season with a 2-0 upset of No. 11 Clemson (Aug. 24).Â
Ziyad Fares and Anthony Macchione each scored during the first half of the match, while Akeem Ward tallied assists on each play. Â
Creighton followed its two-goal victory with a 0-0 draw against UC Davis (Aug. 26).
The Bluejays ended the match with a 21-9 advantage in shots.Â
Kruse Opens Career With Two Clean Sheets
Freshman goalie Paul Kruse opened his Creighton career with a pair of shutouts.Â
The Heilbronn, Germany native did not record a save during the Bluejays' 2-0 victory against Clemson, and needed to make only one during a scoreless draw with UC Davis.
Kruse is the first Bluejay to post shutouts in the first two starts of his Creighton career since Zac Gibbens in 2004.Â
Kruse did not allow a goal during his first 280 minutes of action before allowing a score during the 81st minute of Creighton's third game of the season against Grand Canyon (Aug. 31).
First Road Match of the Season
The Bluejays' loss at Grand Canyon on Aug. 31 marked the first time since 2002-2003 that the squad lost its first true road match of the season during back-to-back season.
Last season's 3-0 loss at No. 1 Stanford (Sept. 1, 2016) marked Creighton's first defeat during the squad's first road match of the year since 2006 (at No. 15 Notre Dame, 4-1 loss).
Creighton is 19-6-3 since 1990 in its first true road match of the season.
Overall, the Bluejays are 32-24-7 during all road games under the direction of head coach Elmar Bolowich (since 2011). Creighton finished 2-6-1 during road matches last season.
