Creighton University
Marquette
Men's Soccer Hosts Marquette at Morrison on Saturday Night, Seeks First League Win
10/7/2021 4:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays are 0-3-0 during BIG EAST play entering Saturday
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Creighton plays its second home BIG EAST match of the season on Saturday night against Marquette.
Follow the Match
Saturday's match will feature live video and live stats.
Live video for the contest will be available on FloSports while live stats will be featured through StatBroadcast.
A subscription is required to view the event on FloSports.
Links to video and live stats will be provided on the Creighton Men's Soccer schedule page.
Updates will be provided during the match on Twitter (@CreightonMSOC).
Scouting Creighton (3-5-1, 0-3-0 BE)
The Bluejays seek their first conference points after dropping the first three league matches on their schedule.
Senior goalkeeper Paul Kruse has started all nine matches, owns three total shutouts (two individual, one combined) and leads the BIG EAST in saves per match (4.22). He earned the league's Goalkeeper of the Week award after posting two clean sheets last week.
Kruse made eight saves — one off his career-high — during the season opener (Aug. 26) against Tulsa before needing to make seven stops on Aug. 29 at Saint Louis. He also tallied five against the top-ranked Hoyas during the Bluejays' last home match on Sept. 18.
Senior Diego Gutierrez leads the Bluejays with nine points from four goals and one assist. The reigning BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year is tied for fifth in the league for goals.
Freshman Manu Toledano owns three goals for the Bluejays, while four other Bluejays have found the back of the net once.
Charles Auguste and Dominic Briggs are tied for the team-lead with two assists.
Head coach Johnny Torres is in his third year at the helm of the Bluejays after spending 12 years as an assistant coach.
Scouting Marquette (4-5-1, 1-2-1 BE)
The Golden Eagles head to Omaha following a 2-1 loss on Wednesday night against Xavier in Milwaukee.
After starting the season 3-0, Marquette has just one win since Sept. 3 (3-1 at Seton Hall on Sept. 24).
Freshman Edrey Caceres paces the team with eight points from three goals and two assists.
Caceres is tied with Beto Soto and Lukas Sunnescon for the team-lead for goals scored, while Zyan Andrade owns a Marquette-best four assists.
Chandler Hallwood has played all 938 minutes in goal for the Golden Eagles and owns a 1.44 goals against average with 34 saves.
Head coach Louis Bennett is in his 16th season at the helm of Marquette.
Series History Against Golden Eagles
Creighton leads the all-time series against Marquette, 9-8-1.
The Bluejays and Golden Eagles split a pair of regular season matchups last season because of the league's modified schedule due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Creighton earned a 2-1 double overtime win in Milwaukee before Marquette claimed a 2-1 single overtime win in Omaha.
Marquette is 1-0-1 in its last two trips to Omaha. The Bluejays' last victory at Morrison Stadium against the Golden Eagles came on Oct. 24, 2018.
Consecutive Shutouts For First Time In Three Years
Creighton posted shutouts against both UNO and UIC last week, marking the first time the Bluejays posted consecutive shutouts since September of 2018.
Creighton earned shutouts in three consecutive matches from Sept. 7-22, 2018 against Memphis, Butler and Villanova.
The Bluejays own three shutouts overall this season.
Creighton had just one clean sheet in the 2020 season and three during 2019.
Kruse Named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week
Senior goalkeeper Paul Kruse earned BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week accolades, the league announced on Monday afternoon.
The Heilbronn, Germany native helped the Bluejays record a pair of shutouts last week against UNO (Sept. 29) and UIC (Oct. 2). Kruse earned the solo clean sheet on Wednesday before earning a combined shutout on Saturday. Overall during his Creighton career, Kruse claims 10 individual shutouts and one combined clean sheet.Â
The senior co-captain made four saves on Sept. 29 during Creighton's 1-0 victory against the Mavericks and did not need to make a stop during 62 minutes of action as the Bluejays' cruised to a 4-0 win against the Flames.
Kruse owns a 1.35 goals against average this season through 802 minutes played this season and leads the BIG EAST with 4.22 saves per match. He also earned the league's weekly award after the Bluejays' 3-0 shutout of then No. 1 Indiana on Sept. 3.Â
Senior Diego Gutierrez claimed a spot on the weekly honor. The Omaha native tallied five points from two goals and one assist last week, including the game-winner against his former school and crosstown rival UNO on Sept. 29. Gutierrez leads the Bluejays this season with nine points (four goals, one assist).
Battle Tested Bluejays
Creighton owns a 3-5-1 record this season, but the nine teams the Bluejays have played so far this fall have a combined record of 57-23-10 (.689).
Of the first nine teams Creighton has faced this season, three are still unbeaten (#1 Georgetown, #6 Tulsa, #14 Saint Louis -- Oct. 5 United Soccer Coaches ranking).
Team    Record as of 10/7  CU's Result
Tulsa 9-0-0 L, 1-2
Saint Louis 8-0-3 L, 0-4
Indiana 6-3-1 W, 3-0
Ohio State 4-5-1 T, 1-1
Georgetown 9-0-0 L, 1-2
St. John's 7-3-2 L, 0-2
UNO 3-5-1 W, 1-0
UIC 5-3-2 W, 4-0
DePaul 6-4-0 L, 0-1
Scoring First Yields Success
The team who has scored first during 21 of the last 22 Creighton matches has proceeded to claim the victory (lone exception the 1-1 (2OT) tie against Ohio State on Sept. 6).
The Bluejays are 3-0 this season when scoring first and 0-5-1 when the opposition finds the back of the net first.
Creighton finished 6-0 during the 2020 season when scoring first, but 0-6 when its opponent scored first.
Head coach Johnny Torres is 14-1-1 when scoring first during his tenure at Creighton, but just 3-17-2 when the opposition finds the back of the net first.
Additionally, the Bluejays are 3-0 when leading at the half this season, but 0-5-1 when trailing or tied at halftime.
Creighton's last come-from-behind victory came during the 2019 regular-season finale against Butler.
The Bluejays' last victory when trailing at the half was on Sept. 24, 2019 against Tulsa as Creighton fell behind 1-0 at the half before winning 4-3 in overtime.
Since Torres took over prior to the 2019 season, the Bluejays have just one win after trailing at halftime (1-8-2).
Shutouts, Shutouts and More Shutouts
Each of Creighton's three victories this season have come via shutouts. Conversely, the Bluejays have been kept off the scoreboard during three of their five losses.
The six shutouts (3 by Creighton, 3 by opponents) through nine matches (66.7 percent) this season is on pace to be the highest percentage of shutouts since 2014 when 15 of the 22 matches (68.2 percent) resulted in shutouts (11 by CU, 3 by opponents, 1 scoreless draw).
The last time there were at least six shutouts through the first nine matches of Creighton's schedule was in 2018 when seven of the first nine matches were shutouts (5 by CU, 1 by opponent, 1 scoreless draw). Only three of the final nine matches on the Bluejays' 2018 schedule resulted in shutouts.
Mike Tranchilla Entering Hall of Fame
Former Bluejay Mike Tranchilla is entering the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend, along with former volleyball player Kelli Browning and baseball standout Pat Venditte.
Tranchilla guided the Creighton men's soccer team to four NCAA Tournament appearances from 1999-2002, helping the Bluejays reach the national championship match in 2000 and the College Cup twice (2000, 2002). He remains Creighton's only two-time All-College Cup team honoree.
Tranchilla was a two-time finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy (2001, 2002) and finished fourth overall in the voting after his senior season. He claimed a spot on the NSCAA All-America First Team in 2002 and the NSCAA All-Region team twice.
He holds the Missouri Valley Conference career records for points scored (140) and goals (55). Tranchilla also paces Creighton in career NCAA Tournament points scored (17 in 11 games) and goals (6).
He ranks second on the program's career lists for points and goals (trailing Creighton Hall of Famer Keith DeFini in each), while ranking third in multiple-goal games with 11. Tranchilla is one of seven players in Creighton history to score four goals in a single game.
The Dallas Burn selected Tranchilla with the 34th overall pick in the Fourth Round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft.
The men's soccer program welcomed back members of the 1990, 2000 and 2011 teams this weekend as part of alumni weekend in conjunction with Tranchilla entering the Hall of Fame.
Scoring Surge Quiets Flames
The Bluejays scored just seven goals during the first seven matches before finding the back of the net a total of four times against UIC on Oct. 2
Creighton also scored three goals in the first half against the Flames, the most in a single half by the Bluejays since scoring three in the first half against DePaul last season (April 2).
Four different players scored goals during the against UIC and a total of seven different Bluejays had at least one point.
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 149-31-21 overall at Morrison Stadium (opened in 2003), which includes a 2-2-0 record this season and a 4-1-0 mark last season.
This season is the first time Creighton has lost consecutive matches at Morrison Stadium during the same season.
The Bluejays are 26-2-3 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison, including a 1-1-0 this season.
The Bluejays are 67-16-8 at Morrison Stadium since the start of 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST and 26-8-2 during home league matches.
Creighton has never lost more than three matches during the same season at Morrison -- previously in 2007 and 2019.
