Men's Soccer Faces San Francisco and Tulsa in Second Week

Thursday, August 27

Omaha, Neb.

7:30 PM

Creighton University

San Francisco

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Photo by: Nick Barajas

Men's Soccer Faces San Francisco and Tulsa in Second Week

8/26/2026 4:09:00 PM | Men's Soccer

MSOC26-2-USF-Tulsa-Notes

By: Glen Sisk

Omaha, Neb. -- The second week of the regular season brings San Francisco and a road match at Tulsa onto the schedule for Creighton Men's Soccer.

San Francisco at Creighton
Thursday, August 27 @ 7:30 pm

ESPN+: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/84c00543-4e83-40c3-8381-b4537d197582
Stat Broadcast: Creighton.statbroadcast.com

Creighton at Tulsa
Monday, August 31 @ 7:30 pm

ESPN+: https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/ab5cf6e1-7f2a-4ffc-82ff-4600677f597c
Stat Broadcast: Creighton.statbroadcast.com

Follow the Match
Creighton's match with San Francisco on Thursday, August 27 and the match on August 31 at Tulsa can be found online on ESPN+, while live stats will be featured through StatBroadcast.

Jon Schriner and Rob Simms will have the call from Morrison Stadium on Thursday.

Match Promotion
Thursday's contest with the Dons is one of the Bluejays doubleheader days as the women's team opens its home slate against Kansas City at 4:30 pm.

Series History:
Creighton leads San Francisco, 3-1-0
Creighton leads Tulsa, 22-12-5
The match on Thursday will be the fifth meeting between Creighton and San Francisco, including the third straight contest in Morrison Stadium between the two foes. The Bluejays have won the last two battles, taking a 4-2 win on September 1, 2024 and a 2-0 win on September 5, 1997.

Tulsa has been a far more consistent foe as the road contest on Monday will be the 40th in the series. Creighton holds a 22-12-5 edge, including two wins and two draws in the last four matches. In Oklahoma the series is even at 7-7-3. Last season the two squads battled to a 0-0 draw in Morrison Stadium on September 1, 2025.

Scouting Creighton (1-0-1)
After scoring just one goal in a pair of exhibition matches, Creighton found the back of the net seven times during its opening weekend.

A quartet of newcomers found the back of the net as Jordan Igwenma delivered two goals, Carter Tavares notched a goal and two assists, while Allan Juarez as well as Angel Lopez each scored their first goal as a Bluejay. Creighton tallied three goals in each half, building a lead as large as 4-0 before allowing a goal from the Panthers.

Tavares also delivered a goal against Drake, going on to claim the BIG EAST Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week honors with two goals and two assists.

The Bluejays enter the 2026 season with a nice blend of new talent and veteran leadership. Creighton's most experienced unit is the back line with Brian Edelman and Andrija Savic as well as goalkeeper Matthew Hudson returning to guide the defense.

Defender Matthew Reed is also back in 2026, but played more in the midfield during the Bluejays' exhibition contests. Creighton went 8-4-4 last season, including a 4-2-2 mark in BIG EAST games.

Scouting San Francisco (0-1-1)
Opening the season with consecutive tough road matches, the Dons suffered a 4-2 loss at Wake Forest in the opening match, then battled #14 UNC Greensboro to a 0-0 draw.

The Dons' two goals came from Brayden Beason and David Raphael, while assists were provided by Isaiah Easley and Kaleb Afsari. In two road matches San Francisco has fired 31 shots and drawn 11 corner kicks.

In goal the Dons have used Lucas Jones for every second thus far, allowing four goals to Wake Forest.

The Dons finished 2025 with a 10-6-1 record, including 5-4-0 in WCC action. Head coach Chris Brown enters his sixth year at the helm and has improved on his win total in four of his five seasons so far. USF returns four All-WCC selections from last fall, including All-WCC First Team selections - David Raphael and Brayden Beason - and the reigning WCC Freshman of the Year - Ben Norris.

San Francisco was recently picked to finish fourth as a team in the 2026 WCC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll, while Raphael and Beason were named to the WCC Preseason Team. USF returns 20 student-athletes from last year, as well as 10 new student-athletes.

Scouting Tulsa (1-0-1)
Kicking off the 2026 campaign with four consecutive home matches, Tulsa defeated UIC 1-0 on August 20 and battled UC Riverside to a 1-1 draw last Sunday.

Goalkeeper Carlito Saylon earned the American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week as he made nine saves in two matches and allowed just one goal.

Offensively the Golden Hurricane were the benefactor of an own goal in the 1-0 victory over UIC, while Luc Achermann-Stanfield scored on a penalty kick in the 79th minute to knot the 1-1 match with UC Riverside.

Tulsa was picked to finish sixth in the AAC 2026 preseason poll, 10 points behind FIU. The Golden Hurricane enters the season following a 5-9-4 campaign in 2025 that included a 3-3-2 conference record and a trip to the AAC semifinals. Tulsa returns four starters from last year's squad: Danny Stevens, Carlito Saylon, Jared Aguilar and Will Applegate. The Golden Hurricane added 15 newcomers, including six transfers.

Tavares Takes Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week as First BIG EAST Honors
Creighton freshman Carter Tavares claimed both the BIG EAST Freshman as well as Offensive Player of the Week honors when the conference announced the first awards of the 2026 season on Monday, August 24.

The Bluejay freshman burst on the scene with two goals and two assists in his opening matches. Tavares earned the start in the season opening contest on Thursday, August 20, delivering a goal and an assist in Creighton's 6-2 win over FIU. Three days later he notched the game-tying goal in the second half of the Bluejays' 1-1 draw with Drake on Sunday.

Tavares closed the opening weekend of his first season with the team lead in assists and points, while being tied for the team lead in goals.

Bluejays Loaded Up on AAC and WCC
Of the Bluejays' 10 non-conference contests in 2026, six matches will come against teams from either the AAC or the WCC. Two of the first four contests are against AAC teams (FIU and Tulsa), while the battle with San Francisco is the first of four against WCC foes (Santa Clara, Saint Mary's and Denver).

Consider that another Bluejay opponent, Gonzaga, left the WCC prior to this season and one of Creighton's exhibition matches came against Missouri State (AAC).

Newcomers Sparking Creighton's Offense
Six of Creighton's seven goals through two matches have come from newcomers, including four combined from freshmen Jordan Igwenma and Carter Tavares. The only goal from a returner was provided by Ayden Kokoszka in the season opening win over FIU. The two remaining goals were tallied by 5th year transfer Allan Juarez and JC transfer Angel Lopez.

Tavares is First Bluejay Since Lopez-Espin to Score a Goal in Opening Two Matches
Carter Tavares is setting the standard high with his performance in his opening two matches as a Bluejay. Tavares enters the contest with San Francisco with two goals and two assists in his first two games as a Bluejay. The last Creighton freshman to start a career with goals in each of his first two contests was Ricky Lopez-Espin in 2014.