Creighton University
Kansas City
Men's Soccer Hosts Kansas City On Monday Afternoon
3/26/2021 2:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays and Roos were originally scheduled to play in Kansas City
Monday, March 29 | Kansas City (3-6-1) at Creighton (4-4-0) | Omaha, Nebraska | 2 p.m.
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Creighton hosts Kansas City for the Bluejays' lone nonconference home match of the season.
The match was originally scheduled to be played at the Swope Soccer Village.
Follow the Match
Monday's match will feature live video and live stats.
Live video will be featured on YouTube.com/GoCreighton, while live stats will be provided by StatBroadcast.
Links to video and live stats will be provided on the Creighton Men's Soccer schedule page.
Updates will be provided on Twitter (@CreightonMSOC).
Scouting Creighton (4-4-0)
The Bluejays enter Monday's contest after posting a 3-0 road win on Wednesday morning at Xavier.
Senior Diego Gutierrez leads the Bluejays and ranks fourth in the BIG EAST with 10 points from four goals and two assists. The Omaha native owns 14 career goals after posting 10 during three seasons at UNO.
Charles Auguste, Duncan McGuire and Jake Ronneberg each have scored two goals this season.
Callum Watson leads Creighton with three assists, while the Bluejays have a total of 16 assists on 13 goals. Ten different players have at least one helper.
Bluejay freshman Nathan Schnur has started six matches in goal for the Bluejays. The Colorado native owns a 1.45 goals against average and has recorded 22 saves.
Junior goalkeeper Paul Kruse earned Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year accolades, but the Heilbronn, Germany native has been limited to only two matches this season because of injury.
Head coach Johnny Torres is in his second year at the helm of the Bluejays after spending 12 years as an assistant coach.
Scouting Kansas City (3-6-1)
The Roos head to Omaha following a 2-1 win at home against UNO on Thursday evening.
Jony Muñoz leads the Roos and is tied for the lead in the Summit League with five goals scored and ranks second in the conference with 12 points (five goals, two assists).
Kansas City owns 12 goals with nine assists during 10 matches played this season.
Goalkeeper Cooper Clark has started each match this season for the Roos and owns 904 minutes played and a 1.79 goals against average. The junior transfer ranks third nationally with 47 saves. Clark has posted six or more saves four different times, including a season-high nine on Feb. 27 against Oral Roberts.
Head coach Ryan Pore is in his first season as head coach of the Roos after spending time as an assistant coach at Tulsa from 2013-19.
Series History Against Roos
Creighton leads the all-time series against Kansas City, 12-2-1.
The Bluejays defeated the Roos, 3-0, during the last meeting on Sept. 13, 2016 at Morrison Stadium.
Creighton has outscored Kansas City (formerly UMKC) 13-0 during the previous four matchups and the Bluejays have not allowed a goal to the Roos since 2008.
Last Time Out
Creighton scored three second-half goals to down Xavier, 3-0, on Wednesday morning in Cincinnati.
The victory moved the Bluejays into sole possession of second place in the Midwest Division Standings with a 4-2-0 league mark and pushed its overall record to 4-4-0, while the Musketeers dropped to 0-4-1 in BIG EAST play and 3-6-1 overall.
Daniel Espeleta converted the first Bluejay goal during the 58th minute. Charles Auguste sent a looping pass towards the right side of the 18-yard box where Callum Watson recovered the ball and sent it towards Espeleta at the top of the box who kicked a bouncing ball out of mid-air and into the back of the net. The goal marked Espeleta's first during the 2021 spring season and third of his Bluejay career.
Auguste recorded the second Creighton tally during the 66th minute. Musa Qongo sent a cross from the far side of the pitch towards the middle of the box where Auguste kicked the ball while it was still off the ground and past the Xavier goalkeeper for his second goal of the season.
The Bluejays added their final goal of the match during the 79th minute as Duncan McGuire recovered a deflected ball around the goal area and sent the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the year. Espeleta sent in a corner kick from the bench side of the field before multiple players deflected the ball at the far post and towards McGuire's waiting foot. Luke Mitchell earned an assist on the play.
Nathan Schnur made two saves and recorded his first shutout as a Bluejay.
Xavier ended the match with a 13-3 edge in corner kicks, but the final shot total ended tied at 5-5. The Bluejays finished the match with a 5-2 edge in shots on goal after recording only one on goal in the first half.
Fortress Morrison
Creighton is 145-29-21 overall at Morrison Stadium (opened in 2003), and finished 2019 with a 7-3-0 mark, including a 3-1-0 record during BIG EAST play.
The Bluejays owned two shutouts at home in 2019 (both league matches) and six in their 11 home matches in 2018.
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 24-1-3 in their next home match following a home loss at Morrison, including an 2-0-0 mark last season.
Creighton ended its 2019 season with a loss at home against Butler during the first round of the BIG EAST Championship.
The Bluejays are 63-14-8 at Morrison Stadium since the start of 2013 when the program joined the BIG EAST and 25-7-2 during home league matches.
Creighton Adjusts Final Home Match
Creighton moved its final home match of the year against DePaul from Saturday, April 3 to Friday, April 2.
Kickoff between the Bluejays and Blue Demons is now slated for Friday, April 2 at 6 p.m.
Bluejays Fighting For Postseason Spot
Creighton holds a 4-2-0 mark in league action, and the Bluejays are second in the Midwest Division with a .667 winning percentage.
For the spring of 2021, the BIG EAST is split into two divisions. Each team plays home-and-home against the opposing divisional foes. The five Midwest Division teams are slated to play eight league games, while the six East Division teams are scheduled to play 10.
The top two teams in each division with the best winning percentages will qualify for the BIG EAST Championship, which will be hosted by the team with the best winning percentage across the entire league.
Creighton's remaining league schedule consists of a home match against DePaul on April 2 and a match at Butler on April 10.
Entire NCAA Tournament To Be Held In North Carolina
The Division I Competition Oversight Committee recently approved a proposal to have all 48 women's teams and all 36 men's teams compete in Cary, North Carolina and the surrounding areas for the Division I Men's and Women's Soccer Championships.
The men's College Cup will take place at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary May 14-17, with the national semifinals on May 14 and championship on May 17.
Additional dates of men's championship:
First Round -- April 29
Second Round -- May 2
Third Round -- May 6
Quarterfinals -- May 10
Campbell, East Carolina, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro and Wake Forest each plan to host tournament games, while additional matches will be played at the following off-campus sites:
Bryan Park (Greensboro, N.C.)
J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex (Wilson, N.C.)
Sportsplex (Matthews, N.C.)
WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.)
Maximum capacity for each venue will be 25 percent.
