Creighton University
North Carolina
Men's Soccer Begins Regular Season With Road Tests Against #6 North Carolina and #4 Wake Forest
8/28/2019 2:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays face Tar Heels on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and the Demon Deacons on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 1Â | Creighton at No. 4 Wake Forest | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 6:00 p.m. (CST)
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Creighton opens the 2019 regular season with a pair of matches in the state of North Carolina against top-10 ACC opponents. The Bluejays play No. 6 North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Friday night before playing at No. 4 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Sunday evening.
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Follow the Match
Friday's match will be featured on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX), while Sunday's match will be broadcast on ACC Network (ACCN).Â
ACCN and ACCNX are available in the Omaha area with subscriptions to DirecTV, Hulu Live TV, Playstation Vue and YouTube TV. They can also be found with proper subscriptions to Google Fiber, Optimum, Spectrum, Suddenlink, TVision and Verizon Fios.
Both matches will include live stats via StatBroadcast.com.
Links to live stats and video streams can be found on the Creighton Men's Soccer schedule page.
Updates throughout the weekend will be provided on Twitter (@CreightonMSOC), Facebook (FB.com/CreightonSoccer) and Instagram (CreightonMSOC).
Scouting Creighton
Under the direction of first-year head coach Johnny Torres, the Bluejays enter the 2019 season as the defending BIG EAST regular-season champions.Â
Torres spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach before accepting the head coach position following the conclusion of the 2019 season.Â
The Bluejays return six starters from last season including All-BIG EAST Second Team goalkeeper Paul Kruse. Kruse earned BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year honors on Aug. 17.
Luke Haakenson and Ziyad Fares return as the leading scorers from last season as Haakenson tallied nine points from three goals and three assists, while Fares totaled seven points with three goals and one assist. Younes Boudadi recorded four helpers during 2018, the most among returners.Â
Scouting North Carolina
The Tar Heels enter the 2019 season with a preseason ranking of No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 after their fourth consecutive ACC Coastal Division championship and 18th NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 19 seasons.
North Carolina was picked by the ACC coaches to claim the 2019 ACC crown, marking the fourth straight year the Tar Heels have been the preseason favorite.Â
UNC will be led by MAC Herman Trophy Watch List midfielder Mauricio Pineda. The senior landed a spot on the 2018 United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team after
ranking fourth on the team with 14 points (five goals, four assists).Â
Head coach Carlos Somoano is in his ninth season as head coach of North Carolina. Somoano took over for Elmar Bolowich in 2011 after Bolowich took the head coaching position at Creighton.
Series History Against Tar Heels
Creighton leads the all-time series against North Carolina, 2-1-0.Â
The Bluejays and Tar Heels last met in 2015 during the NCAA Tournament with Creighton earning a 1-0 victory in Chapel Hill and advancing to the Elite Eight.Â
Creighton and North Carolina have split a pair of matches played between the two schools in Chapel Hill, as the Tar Heels claimed a 2-1 overtime victory in 1997.Â
Scouting Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons earned the No. 4 spot in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25.
Wake Forest, who has won the past four ACC Atlantic Division titles, was also picked to win its division once again.Â
Senior Bruno Lapa, the 2018 ACC Midfielder of the Year and First Team All-American, earned a spot on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Lapa tallied 29 points last season with 10 goals and nine assists.Â
Bobby Muuss is in his fifth year as head coach at Wake Forest and has guided the Demon Deacons to four consecutive Sweet 16 apperances. Â
Series History Against Demon Deacons
Creighton and Wake Forest have not met previously.
Opening Up Against Ranked Competition
Creighton will open the season against a team ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 for the fourth consecutive season, and sixth time in the past seven seasons.Â
The Bluejays are 4-1-0 during those five matchups. Additionally, each of the contests have resulted in 2-0 final scores.
2013 #14 Tulsa W, 2-0
2014 #20 Stanford W, 2-0
2016 at #25 Rutgers W, 2-0
2017 #17 Virgina Tech L, 0-2
2018 #11 Clemson W, 2-0
2019 at #6 North Carolina ---
One of Nations Toughest Schedules
Creighton opens the season against three teams ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 (No. 6 North Carolina, No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 3 Akron).
Coastal Carolina is the only other school to face more than three consecutive preseason top 25 teams to open the season as the Chanticleers are scheduled to play No. 20 Portland, No. 21 Charlotte, No. 22 Oregon State and No. 23 West Virginia during their first four matches of the season.Â
The Bluejays are the only team to play three teams ranked in the top 10 to start the year.
UCF and UCLA each play two top-10 opponents during their first three matches.
UCF will play No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 6 North Carolina (opposite days as Bluejays) before playing unranked Penn State.Â
The Bruins open against unranked Northwestern before matchups against No. 2 Indiana and No. 1 Maryland.
Bluejays All-Time vs. Top 25 Competition
Creighton is 79-56-15 all-time against United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) Top-25 opponents.
The Bluejays are 29-26-10 in true road games against top-25 competition.Â
Last season, the Bluejays defeated No. 11 Clemson, 2-0, during the season-opener before falling 1-0 in double overtime against No. 5 Denver (both at home).
The Bluejays are 42-14-4 at home against Top-25 opponents, including 32-7-3 at Morrison Stadium.
Kruse Named BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Sophomore Paul Kruse earned BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year honors, the league announced on Aug. 17.
Kruse allowed a conference-low six goals and posted four shutouts against league opponents last season, on his way to an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection and unanimous selection to the All-Freshman team. The Heilbronn, Germany native started all 18 of Creighton's matches last season and ranked 10th nationally with a 0.636 goals against average, the fifth-best mark in program history. The sophomore is also Creighton's lone representative on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.Â
Kruse is the first Bluejay to earn a preseason conference player of the year honor since Connor Sparrow claimed BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year selection prior to the 2015 season.
Bluejays Picked Second In BIG EAST Coaches' Poll
The Bluejays were picked second behind Georgetown, the defending BIG EAST tournament champions, in the 2019 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.Â
The Hoyas received 81 points, with all nine possible first-place votes, while Creighton earned 68 points. Providence claimed 65 points for third, followed by Marquette (59, one first-place vote) and Xavier (44) to round out the top five (full poll below).
North Carolina Connections
Former Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich (2011-2018) is North Carolina's winningest head coach in men's soccer history and led the Tar Heels to the 2001 NCAA Championship.
The Germany native coached 22 seasons at North Carolina and helped lead the Tar Heels to 280 victories with 15 NCAA tournament appearances, including four College Cups.Â
Bolowich finished his tenure at Creighton with a record of 115-40-17 and helped lead the Bluejays to the 2011 and 2012 College Cups and a total of six NCAA tournament appearances in eight years.Â
Elmar stepped down from his Bluejay coaching position in November of 2018 and is now the Executive Director of Armada Youth Academy in Jacksonville, Florida.Â
Additionally, Creighton assistant coach Ian Sarachan is the son of Dave Sarachan, the head coach of North Carolina FC.
Leading the Ship
Senior Bryce Gibson and junior Kuba Polat were choosen by the players as captains for the 2019 season.Â
Gibson is in his fifth year as a Bluejay, while Polat is starting his third season after earning All-Freshman accolades in 2017 and Creighton's Young Leadship Award following the 2018 season.Â
Johnny Torres Promoted To Head CoachÂ
McCormick Endowed Director of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen announced the promotion of Creighton Athletics Hall of Famer Johnny Torres from assistant coach to head coach on Nov. 12, 2018.
A two-time National Player of the Year (1996 and 1997) Torres' new appointment marks his first head coaching position.
Torres enters his 13th season overall on the Bluejay coaching staff, following a decade-long professional soccer career. Arguably the greatest soccer player in Creighton and Missouri Valley Conference history, Torres played for the Bluejays from 1994-97.
Torres claimed the National Assistant Coach of the Year honor from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in January 2012. He was also named the NSCAA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year after the 2011 and 2012 seasons and Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015.
Last season, the Creighton coaching staff earned the 2018 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year award after the Bluejays claimed the
regular-season conference title and ranked as high as eighth nationally.
The Bluejays compiled a .719 winning percentage during the previous 12 seasons (163-54-31), including two trips to the College Cup (2011, 2012).Â
Creighton returns seven starters from last season's squad and added 11 players for the new campaign.
Exhibition Recap
Creighton opened the 2019 campaign with three exhibition matches.Â
The Bluejays played Bradley (Aug. 17) to a 1-1 tie, drew 0-0 against Missouri State (Aug. 21) and defeated UIC (Aug. 24), 2-1.Â
The matches against Missouri State and UIC were each played at Morrison Stadium.Â
