Creighton University
Marquette
Men's Soccer Starts 2021 Spring Season At Marquette
2/18/2021 3:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays playing first match since November of 2019
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Creighton opens its 2021 spring regular season with a BIG EAST match at Marquette on Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee.
Follow the Match
Saturday's match will be streamed on GoMarquette.com.
Live stats will be available on GoMarquette.com via SIDEARM Sports.
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).
Scouting Creighton (0-0-0)
The Bluejays open the 2021 spring season eager to play a match against outside competition as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 fall sports season.
Creighton finished 8-7-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the BIG EAST in 2019 before the season ended with a 1-0 loss to Butler in the first round of the BIG EAST Championships on Nov. 9, 2019.
Five starters and 11 letterwinners return from the 2019 squad. Creighton welcomed 10 newcomers for the 2020 season, which includes five freshmen and five transfers. Four Bluejays will also seek their debuts after redshirting in 2019.
Charles Auguste, Dominic Briggs and Daniel Espeleta each scored two goals in 2019 to lead the returning players.
Musa Qongo paces all returners with four assists.
Paul Kruse, the BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, battled an injury during the middle of last season but managed to record a Bluejay-best 42 saves, including a career-high nine during Creighton's 1-1 two-overtime tie against eventual national champion Georgetown.
Head coach Johnny Torres is in his second year at the helm of the Bluejays after spending 12 years as an assistant coach.
Scouting Marquette (3-0-0)
The Golden Eagles enter Saturday's match with three overtime victories to start the 2021 spring campaign. All three contests have ended 1-0 in the first overtime.
Three different players have converted golden goals as Marquette owns victories over Loyola Chicago, Northern Illinois and Saint Louis. All three match were played inside the Valley Fields Dome in Milwaukee.
Head coach Louis Bennett is in his 15th season as head coach of the Golden Eagles.
Marquette returned six starters and 15 letterwinners from 2019 and added 13 newcomers.
The Golden Eagles were picked fourth in the BIG EAST Midwest Division in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Series History Against Golden Eagles
Creighton leads the all-time series against Marquette, 8-7-1.
The Bluejays defeated the Golden Eagles 1-0 in Milwaukee on Sept. 20, 2019. Daniel Espeleta converted the game-winning goal during the 86th minute.
Creighton owns a 3-4 mark on the road against Marquette and is 2-2 in Milwaukee since joining the BIG EAST.
#Gold4Sarah
Marquette's athletic teams will wear gold jerseys and/or shoelaces in their contests Feb. 17-21 in support of women's volleyball player Sarah Rose, who is undergoing treatment for Ewing's Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.
Creighton's Men's Soccer team is planning to support Rose by wearing gold wristbands for the match.
Those wishing to donate to those families affected by pediatric cancer can consider the Go4theGoal Foundation (qgiv.com).
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Season-Opener Success
Creighton is 8-1-1 during its past 10 lid-lifters.
Overall, the Bluejays are 20-3-7 during their first match of the season since Creighton restarted its men's soccer program in 1990.
This year marks only the second time in the past eight seasons in the which the Bluejays are not starting the season against a team ranked inside the United Soccer Coaches' Top 25.
The last time Creighton opened the year against an unranked opponent was when the Bluejays defeated unranked Michigan 1-0 at Morrison Stadium to open the 2015 season.
Rare To Open On Road
This season marks only the eighth time since 1990 in which Creighton started the regular season with a road match.
The Bluejays are 3-1-3 in their previous seven season-opening road matches.
Creighton also opened the 2019 regular-season on the road against No. 6 North Carolina and tied the Tar Heels, 2-2.
The last time Creighton started consecutive seasons with road matches was in 2010 and 2011.
First Road Match of the Season
Creighton is 19-6-5 since 1990 in its first true road match of the season.
The Bluejays' loss at Grand Canyon on Aug. 31, 2018 marked the first time since 2002-2003 that the squad lost its first true road match of the season during back-to-back seasons.
Creighton's 3-0 loss at No. 1 Stanford (Sept. 1, 2017) marked Creighton's first defeat during the squad's first road match of the year since 2006 (at No. 15 Notre Dame, 4-1 loss).
Playing Inside Is A First
The Bluejays and Golden Eagles will be playing inside a dome complex fitted over the middle FieldTurf Revolution 360 Field within the Valley Fields complex, which will be the first time head coach Johnny Torres has been on the sideline or on the pitch for the Bluejays in a regular-season match played indoors.
Torres spent 12 years as an assistant (2007-2018) before taking over as head coach prior to the 2019 season and played at Creighton from 1994-1997.
The Bluejays have played matches in some extreme weather conditions in the past.
Doing a quick scan of matches in the past 10 years, below are a few games with extreme high or low temperatures at kickoff.
Date Location Weather at Kickoff
Aug. 31, 2018 Phoenix 99, humid
Sept. 1, 2017 Palo Alto, CA 103, sunny
Sept. 6, 2015 Omaha 96, storms in forecast
Nov. 30, 2014 Omaha 20, windy
Nov. 21, 2013 Omaha 26, light snow
Dec. 4, 2011 Omaha 26, wind chill 20
Nov. 20, 2011 Omaha 30, wind chill 20
Kruse Named BIG EAST Preseason GOY
Junior goalkeeper Paul Kruse earned BIG EAST Preseason Co-Goalkeeper of the Year and Preseason All-BIG EAST honors.
The recognition is Kruse's second BIG EAST preseason honor as he also claimed Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year status in 2019. The Heilbronn, Germany native started 10 matches in 2019 and posted 42 saves, including a career-high nine during Creighton's 1-1 double overtime tie against eventual national champion Georgetown.
Bluejays Picked Second In Midwest Division
The BIG EAST will be split into two divisions for the 2021 spring season – the Midwest Division and the East Division. Creighton will compete in the five-team Midwest division, along with Butler, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier. The Bluejays were picked to finish second in the Midwest Division of the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Creighton received two-first place votes and 14 points overall, just one point behind Butler.
The Bluejays are slated to play home and home matches against each divisional opponent (eight matches).
The East division will comprise of six teams (Connecticut, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova) and each team will play 10 league matches (home and home against each East Division opponent).
Georgetown, the 2019 National Champion, earned unanimous selection as the preseason favorite of the east division.
Both divisional schedules have two built in make-up dates for rescheduling purposes if needed.
For the preseason awards, coaches only voted for the order of teams in their own division but could place any player from any of the 11 teams on the All-BIG EAST team.
The Spring 2021 BIG EAST Championship presented by JEEP is scheduled to take place April 14-17 and will be hosted by the highest overall seed across both divisions. The championship will consist of four teams, the top two from each division.
The Bluejays finished tied for fourth overall (4-4-1) in the BIG EAST during the 2019 season and hosted a first-round BIG EAST Championship match but fell to Butler, 1-0.
Leading the Ship
After earning captain status for the 2019 season, junior goalkeeper Paul Kruse will serve as captain for the 2021 spring season.
2020-21 Season Preview
Under the direction of second year head coach Johnny Torres, the Creighton men's soccer program will seek to return to the NCAA Tournament during the spring of 2021 after the NCAA postponed the 2020 fall championships because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bluejays finished 8-7-2 in the fall of 2019 during Torres' first as head coach after spending 12 seasons as an assistant at his alma mater. Creighton tied for fourth in the BIG EAST and ended the regular-season with a 1-1 double overtime draw against eventual national champion Georgetown.
Creighton must replace over half of its scoring from 2019 as Yudai Tashiro, Luke Haakenson and Younes Boudadi each signed professionally after combining for 11 goals and nine assists as seniors. Kuba Polat also headed to the professional ranks after starting 50 matches and tallying nine assists in three seasons as a Bluejay.
Four players return who scored at least one goal a season ago. Juniors Charles Auguste and Daniel Espeleta each had two, while sophomore Dominic Briggs also scored twice and sophomore Jake Ashford scored once -- the game-winner in double overtime against Butler to help the Bluejays secure a home match for the opening round of the BIG EAST Championships.
Junior Paul Kruse is expected to lead Creighton's defense in his third season as the starting goalkeeper. The Germany native struggled with an injury in 2019 that limited him to only 10 matches during his second season in a Bluejay uniform after starting all 18 matches in 2018, posting a 0.64 goals against average and earning
All-BIG EAST Second Team recognition as well as unanimous All-BIG EAST Freshman Team accolades.
Overall, the Bluejays welcome back 11 different players who started at least one match in 2019.
Espeleta owns 27 career starts, the most of any returning field player. He logged 1,214 minutes last season, which is the most of any returner.
Senior Musa Qongo tied for the team lead in assists with four during his first season in a Creighton uniform. The South Africa native claims 14 career helpers, which includes 10 during two seasons at Tyler Junior College.
Auguste and Briggs each made impacts offensively during their first seasons playing as Bluejays, while sophomore defenders Luke Mitchell and Jake Ronneberg also showcased their skills with significant minutes as rookies in 2019.
Creighton bolstered its roster with the addition of 10 newcomers, including five upperclassmen transfers. Diego Gutierrez headlines the group after spending three seasons at Nebraska-Omaha. The Omaha native made 37 starts and appeared in 44 matches while recording 10 goals and 13 assists, which both rank in the top-10 on the Mavericks' career charts.
Defender Mitch Dobson heads to Omaha after helping Monroe College to the 2019 NJCAA Division I title and midfielder Callum Watson joins the Bluejay program after leading Hastings College to a runner-up finish in the 2019 NAIA Championship and earning an individual spot on the All-America First Team.
