Creighton University
Akron
Men's Soccer Opens Regular Season Home Slate With #21 Akron For Socctoberfest, Columbia On Monday
9/4/2019 3:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Friday marks Creighton's eighth annual Socctoberfest celebration, Monday's contest is scheduled for noon
Monday, Sept. 9Â | Columbia at Creighton | Omaha, Neb. | 12:00 p.m. (CST)
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Creighton starts its regular season home schedule with matches against Akron and Columbia.Â
Follow the Match
Both Friday's and Monday's matches will feature a video stream via Jays Video (GoCreighton.com/JaysVideo).
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 (0-1-1)
The Bluejays opened the 2019 campaign with road matches against No. 6 North Carolina and No. 4 Wake Forest.
Yudai Tashiro and Dominic Briggs each scored goals during the first half at North Carolina before the Tar Heels scored twice in the second stanza before the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Â Â
Creighton fell 1-0 at Wake Forest on Sunday night, during a match featured on the ACC Network.Â
Paul Kruse, the BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, matched his career high with seven saves during the season-opener against North Carolina.Â
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.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 Akron (0-2-0)
Akron started the season with losses against Xavier and No. 5 Stanford.Â
David Egbo, who was listed on the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list, scored the Zips lone goal during the first two matches of the season. Egbo earned All-American status last season after leading the team with 13 goals and 31 points during Akron's run to the NCAA College Cup before the Zips fell to Maryland in the national championship match.Â
Junior Tor Saunders played all 180 minutes in goal and recorded four saves while allowing four goals.Â
Akron is led by Jared Embick, who is in his seventh season as head coach of the Zips.
Series History Against Zips
Akron leads the all-time series, 3-0-2.Â
The Zips claimed a 1-0 victory in Akron, Ohio last season.Â
The two teams have met once previously in Omaha, with Akron and Creighton playing to a 1-1 draw on Aug. 31, 2012.
The Bluejays and Zips have met in the NCAA Tournament twice.Â
The two teams tied 1-1 after 110 minutes of play during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament in Akron before Creighton advanced on penalty kicks, 5-4.
The Zips claimed a 3-2 double overtime win against the Bluejays to advance to the 2015 College Cup.
Scouting Columbia
Columbia enters the 2019 season following a second place finish in the Ivy League and a 10-5-1 overall record a year ago.Â
The Lions were picked fourth in the 2019 Ivy League Preseason Poll and start their regular season on Friday against Nebraska-Omaha.Â
Columbia ranked 23rd nationally in goals against average as goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira held the opposition to a 0.787 GAA. Castanheira ended his career at Columbia as the Ivy League career goals against average leader (0.513 -- 25 goals allowed in 4,378 minutes). All four of Columbia's goalkeepers on the 2019 roster have yet to see playing time at collegiate level.Â
John Denis is the Lions' returning leader offensively. Denis ranked third on the team with six points from two goals and two assists in 2018.
Head coach Kevin Anderson is in his 11th season at the helm of Columbia.
Series History Against Lions
Creighton defeated Columbia 3-1 on Sept. 6, 2013 during the lone previous meeting between the two programs.Â
The Bluejays and Lions met during the 2013 Creighton Socctoberfest and played in front of 5,102 fans, the 10th-largest crowd in Creighton men's soccer history.
Socctoberfest Success
Friday marks Creighton's eighth annual Socctoberfest event.
The Bluejays are a perfect 7-0 during Socctoberfest matches with wins over Bradley, Columbia, Western Illinois, Cal State Northridge, Penn, South Florida and Memphis. Creighton has outscored the opposition 14-2 in those matches.Â
The Bluejays picked up a 2-0 victory against Memphis during last year's Socctoberfest at Morrison Stadium.
Boudadi Earns Spot on BIG EAST Honor Roll
Senior defender Younes Boudadi earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor after playing all 200 minutes at right centre-back during the Bluejays' opening weekend trip to North Carolina.
Boudadi, normally an outside back, helped the Creighton defense limit the opposition to 13 shots on goal.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton starts a stretch of seven out of eight matches at home (see schedule on front page).Â
The team will be away from Omaha only once from Sept. 6-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 4,151 fans during the past six 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
9/7/18 Memphis, W 2-0 4,367
*10th-largest crowd in Creighton history
#11th-largest crowd in Creighton history
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 136-25-21 overall at Morrison Stadium (opened in 2003), and finished 2018 with a 6-2-3 mark.
The Bluejays owned shutouts during six of their 10 home matches last year.
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 21-1-3 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison, including an 0-0-2 mark last season.Â
Creighton is 54-10-8 at Morrison Stadium since the start of 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST.Â
Opening Up Against Ranked Competition
Creighton opened 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 4-1-1 during those six matchups.Â
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 #6 North Carolina T, 2-2 (2OT)
Bluejays All-Time vs. Top 25 Competition
Creighton is 79-57-16 all-time against United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) Top-25 opponents.
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 was 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).
Leading the Ship
Senior Bryce Gibson and junior Kuba Polat were chosen 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 Leadership Award following the 2018 season
