Creighton University
Tulsa
Men's Soccer Matches Up With Tulsa For Midweek Nonconference Tussle
9/23/2019 5:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejay have won four of their last five matches
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Creighton hosts Tulsa on Tuesday night for a nonconference midweek matchup at Morrison Stadium.Â
Follow the Match
Tuesday's match will be broadcast on JAYS Video, which can be found at GoCreighton.com/JaysVideo.
The match will also feature a Spanish radio broadcast on La Nueva (99.5 FM & 1020 AM in the Omaha area and online). Â
Live stats will be provided via StatBroadcast.
Links to live stats and video streams can be found on the Creighton Men's Soccer schedule page.
Updates will be provided on Twitter (@CreightonMSOC), Facebook (Facebook.com/CreightonSoccer) and Instagram (CreightonMSOC).
Scouting Creighton (4-2-1)
After starting the season with a 0-1-1 showing during the opening weekend of the season against ACC opponents ranked near the top of the polls (North Carolina and Wake Forest), Creighton has four wins during their last five matches, including a 3-1 mark during matches played at Morrison Stadium.
Dominic Briggs, Ziyad Fares and Luke Haakenson each have scored two goals to pace the team, while eight different players have each found the back of the net through the first seven matches of the season.
Creighton owns a 1.25 goals against average as both Paul Kruse and Collin Valdivia have seen time in goal. Valdivia recorded the first shutout of his career on Friday at Marquette during the Bluejays' BIG EAST opener.Â
Head coach Johnny Torres is in his first year at the helm of the Bluejays after spending 12 years as an assistant coach.
Scouting Tulsa (3-3-0)
The Golden Hurricane enter Tuesday at 3-3 after a 4-0 victory at home against Incarnate Word on Friday night.
Tulsa is 3-0 at home, but 0-3 during road matches so far this season.
Harris Partain leads the Golden Hurricane with two goals, while the team has scored nine goals through the first six matches.
Bryson Reed and Brady Moody have each started three matches in goal. Reed owns a 1.00 goals against average and 2-1 record, while Moody claims 0.98 GAA and 1-2 win-loss mark. Both individuals have recorded one shutout.Â
Head coach Tom McIntosh is in his 25th season at Tulsa.Â
Series History Against Golden Hurricane
Creighton leads the all-time series against Tulsa 19-10-3. The Bluejays are also 13-2-1 at home against the Golden Hurricane.
Most recently Crieghton claimed a 2-1 overtime victory against Tulsa in 2017.
The Bluejays are 7-1-1 against the Golden Hurricane at Morrison Stadium, including 2-0-0 during NCAA Tournament matches.Â
Opening Conference Play On The Right Foot
Since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 season, Creighton is 6-1-0 during the first conference match of the season, including the Bluejays' 1-0 shutout at Marquette on Friday night.Â
Daniel Espeleta scored his first career goal for the game-winner and Collin Valdivia recorded his first career shutout on Friday.
The Bluejays own a 34-15-6 record during regular-season BIG EAST matchups.Â
The Bluejays have captured two BIG EAST regular-season titles (2014, 2018) and finished runner-up at the conference tournament twice (2015, 2016).Â
Creighton owns a total of 14 regular-season conference titles (most recent in 2018) 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) 7-1-1 (1st)
2019 Marquette (W) TBD
Late Match Dramatics
Daniel Espeleta's game-winning goal during the 86th minute (85:01) on Friday at Marquette marked Creighton's second consecutive game-winner with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time.Â
Luke Haakenson's goal during the 88th minute (87:58) on Sept. 16 against UNO was Creighton's latest regulation game-winner since Sept. 4, 2015 when Myles Englis delivered a game-winning goal against CSUN during the 89th minute (88:15).
During the past 10 seasons, Creighton has had a game-winner during the final five minutes of regulation eight different times.
Creighton Game-Winning Goals During Final 5 Minutes (since 2010)
Date     Opponent       GW Goal Time (Scorer)
11/11/12 SIU Edwardsville 85:37 (Ribeiro)
12/2/12 UConn 88:30 (Blandon)
10/23/13 Butler 86:40 (Miller)
10/4/14 Seton Hall 89:03 (Stauffer)
9/4/15 CSUN 88:15 (Englis)
10/10/15 St. John's 86:56 (Franke)
9/16/19 Nebraska-Omaha 87:58 (Haakenson)
9/20/19 Marquette 85:01 (Espeleta)
Valdivia and Mitchell Honored By BIG EAST
Senior goalkeeper Collin Valdivia and freshman defender Luke Mitchell each received BIG EAST Weekly Awards on Monday afternoon. Valdivia claimed Goalkeeper of the Week honors, while Mitchell earned Freshman of the Week accolades.
Valdivia finished last week 2-0 with nine saves. The senior posted a career-high eight saves during Creighton's 1-0 shutout at Marquette in the BIG EAST opener on Friday night. The shutout marked Valdivia's first clean sheet as a Bluejay. He also needed to make needed to make only one save during a victory against crosstown foe Nebraska-Omaha (Sept. 16) for his first win as a Creighton goalkeeper.
Mitchell tallied his first point as a Bluejay with an assist on Luke Haakenson's game-winning goal against UNO. The Denver, Colorado product played the final 45 minutes against the Mavericks and helped the Creighton defense keep UNO off the scoreboard during his time on the pitch. He also played the entire match during the Bluejays' shutout of Marquette.Â
Senior defender Younes Boudadi also earned a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll for the second time this season after contributing an assist on Daniel Espeleta's game-winner.
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 139-26-21 overall at Morrison Stadium (opened in 2003), including a 3-1-0 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.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.
The Bluejays are 22-1-3 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison, including an 0-0-2 mark last season and 1-0-0 record this year.Â
Creighton is 57-11-8 at Morrison Stadium since the start of 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST.Â
Creighton Ranks Fourth In Average Home Attendance
Creighton ranks fourth nationally in average home attendance (through matches played Sept. 22) with an average of 3,240 fans per match.Â
2019 Division I Avg. Attendance Leaders (9/22)
Rk. Team Games Total Avg.
1. Maryland 3 11,169 3,723
2. Akron 1 3,617 3,617
3. Saint Louis 2 6,598 3,299
4. Creighton 4 12,959 3,240
5. Grand Canyon 2 5,945 2,973
6. Virginia 4 10,249 2,562
7. Indiana 4 10,042 2,511
8. Utah Valley 3 7,474 2,491
9. South Carolina 4 9,413 2,353
10. Boston University 2 4,615 2,308
The Bluejays match against Akron (Sept. 6) drew a crowd of 4,818, which is the second largest single-game attendance this season across all of Division I men's soccer. Saint Louis hosted Notre Dame in front of 5,942 on Aug. 31 for the high single-game attendance this season.
Creighton's match against UNO on Sept. 16 had an attendance of 4,096, which is the fifth-highest this season.
Creighton ranked third nationally in average home attendance during the 2018 season as the Bluejays averaged 2,718 fans during 11 matches.
