Men's Soccer Continues Home Stand With UC Irvine and UNO

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Creighton continues its home schedule with matches against UC Irvine (Friday) and crosstown foe Nebraska-Omaha (Monday).

Follow the Match
Both Friday's and Monday's matches will feature a video stream via Jays Video (GoCreighton.com/JaysVideo).

Both matches 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).

Live stats will be provided 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 (2-1-1)
The Bluejays opened the 2019 campaign with three consecutive matches against teams ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. Creighton finished 1-1-1 during those contests, including a 2-1 victory against No. 21 Akron.

Dominic Briggs leads the team with two goals, while a total of six players have recorded at least one. Five different players have tallied one assist a piece.

Paul Kruse, the Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, owns 16 saves and has allowed five goals during 370 minutes of action.

The Bluejays return six starters from last season. 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.

Head coach Johnny Torres is in his first year at the helm of the Bluejays after spending 12 years as an assistant coach.

Scouting UC Irvine (0-3-1)
The Anteaters faced three ranked opponents during the first two weeks of the season and posted a 0-3-1 record.

Beto Alvarenga owns UC Irvine's lone goal of the season as the team has been outscored 5-1.

UC Irvine was picked second in the 2019 Big West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, while Jose Ortiz and Alvaro Quezada each earned nods to the Preseason All-Conference team.

Head coach Yossi Raz is in his third season at the helm of the Anteaters.

Series History Against Anteaters
Creighton holds a 2-0-0 record all-time against UC Irvine.

The Bluejays have outscored the Anteaters 7-1 during the two previous meetings, including a 4-0 result on Sept. 6, 2015, the most recent contest.

Scouting Nebraska-Omaha (0-3-1)
The Mavericks enter the weekend with only two goals scored through their first four matches.

UNO was shutout during a pair of road losses in the state of California to open the season before the Mavs went 0-1-1 to start their home slate this past weekend.

Diego Gutierrez and Vlad Jokic each found the back of the net during the two home matches.

Nebraska-Omaha was picked second in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll, while Gutierrez was listed on the 2019 Summit League Preseason Players To Watch list.

Head coach Bob Warming is in his second season at UNO after leading the Mavericks to a second place finish in the Summit last season.

Series History Against Mavericks
The Bluejays own a 5-3-1 record against the Mavericks during regular-season matches.

The two teams met in 2016 for the first time since UNO became a Division I program.

Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 5, 2016 during the only previous meeting during the regular season between the two schools at Morrison Stadium.

The Bluejays claimed a 1-0 win during the most previous meeting in 2017 at Caniglia Field.

Dominic Briggs Earns BE Freshman of Week Honors
Dominic Briggs earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors, as the conference released its weekly awards on Monday afternoon.

Briggs provided the game-winning goal during the Bluejays' 2-1 victory against No. 21 Akron on Sept. 6 during Creighton's home opener and Socctoberfest.

The Oconomowoc, Wisconsin native's goal marked his second of the season as he also scored the Bluejays' second goal against No. 6 North Carolina during the season opener (Aug. 30).

Briggs is the first Creighton freshman with two goals in his first three matches since Ricky Lopez-Espin found the back of the net during each of his first two matches in a Bluejay uniform in 2014.

Creighton's Dominance Against California
When playing UC Irvine, Creighton will look to improve upon its 21-1-4 record in its last 26 matches against California-based schools.

The stretch includes matches against 14 different California-based schools and a 9-1-1 mark against ranked teams.

Creighton has outscored teams 41-12 during the 26 games, including a 30-4 margin during an 18-match win streak from Sept. 15, 2007-Sept. 6, 2015.

Creighton's only loss in its past 26 matches against team from the state of California was on Sept. 1, 2017 against defending national champion and No. 1 Stanford.

Prior to the Bluejays setback to the Cardinal, Creighton's last loss to a team from California came on Sept. 7, 2003 a 2-1 loss at Loyola Marymount when the Lions scored in the final five seconds of the second overtime.

Since 1990, Creighton is 31-5-7 against teams from the Golden State, with three of those losses coming to Stanford.

Last 26 Matches vs. California Teams
Date Opponent Score
11/26/03 at San Diego T 1-1 (2OT)
9/5/04 Loyola Marymount W 2-1
9/10/04 vs. #6 UCLA W 3-2
8/31/07 San Diego State T 2-2 (2OT)
9/6/07 #11 UCLA T 0-0 (2OT)
9/15/07 vs. Loyola Marymount W 1-0 (OT)
9/7/08 UC Riverside W 2-0
9/19/8 at Stanford W 1-0
9/21/08 at #6 California W 2-0
10/01/08 CSUN W 1-0 (2OT)
9/5/09 #23 Cal Poly W 1-0
10/31/09 #7 UCLA W 1-0
9/7/10 at #21 UCSB W 1-0
9/24/11 Saint Mary's W 1-0
10/15/11 #7 UC Irvine W 3-1
11/27/11 #13 UCSB W 2-1
9/7/12 at Santa Clara W 1-0
9/9/12 at Saint Mary's W 1-0
9/1/13 Cal Poly W 3-0
8/29/14 #20 Stanford W 2-0
8/31/14 Santa Clara W 1-0
9/4/15 CSUN W 2-1
9/6/15 #13 UC Irvine W 4-0
9/1/17 #1 Stanford L 0-3
9/3/17 California W 3-0
8/26/18 UC Davis T 0-0

Socctoberfest Success
Friday, Sept. 6 marked Creighton's eighth annual Socctoberfest event.

The Bluejays are a perfect 8-0 during Socctoberfest matches with wins over Bradley, Columbia, Western Illinois, Cal State Northridge, Penn, South Florida, Memphis and Akron. Creighton has outscored the opposition 16-3 in those matches.

The Bluejays picked up a 2-1 victory against No. 21 Akron during this year's Socctoberfest at Morrison Stadium (Sept. 6).

Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in a stretch of seven out of eight matches at home (see schedule on front page).

The team will be away from Omaha only once from Sept. 3-Oct. 1.

The Bluejays play four consecutive home matches before starting BIG EAST play on Sept. 20 at Marquette and then concluding the month of September and first of October with three more home matches.

Large Special Event Crowds
After drawing nearly 2,000 fans at the inaugural Socctoberfest in 2012, Creighton has averaged 4,246 fans during the past seven events, including three of the largest crowds in program history.

Date Opponent/Result Attendance
10/20/12 Bradley, W 1-0 1,843
9/6/13 Columbia, W 3-1 5,102*
9/5/14 Western Illinois, W 1-0 3,750
9/4/15 Cal State Northridge, W 2-1 4,907#
9/9/16 Penn, W 3-0 2,888
9/8/17 South Florida, W 2-0 3,889
9/7/18 Memphis, W 2-0 4,367
9/6/19 Akron, W 2-1 4,818^
*10th-largest crowd in Creighton history
#11th-largest crowd in Creighton history
^13th-largest crowd in Creighton history

Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 138-25-21 overall at Morrison Stadium (opened in 2003), including a 2-0-0 mark this year.

The Bluejays finished 2018 with a 6-2-3 record at home and owned shutouts during six of those 10 matches.

Creighton has never lost consecutive matches at Morrison Stadium during the same season.

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.

The Bluejays are 21-1-3 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison, including an 0-0-2 mark last season.

Creighton is 56-10-8 at Morrison Stadium since the start of 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST.

Men's Soccer Continues Home Stand With UC Irvine and UNO

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Younes Boudadi

Dominic Briggs

Ziyad Fares

Luke Haakenson

Paul Kruse

Men's Soccer Continues Home Stand With UC Irvine and UNO

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Younes Boudadi

Dominic Briggs

Ziyad Fares

Luke Haakenson

Paul Kruse

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