OMAHA, Neb. – Seven opponents which appeared in the 2009 NCAA Tournament highlight a difficult first schedule for new Creighton men’s soccer head coach Jamie Clark this season. The schedule, which was officially released Thursday, includes one of the most difficult non-conference slates in recent Bluejay history.
“My philosophy is to schedule the best teams,” said Clark. “I feel fortunate to walk into a schedule that is full of top-25 teams at home and on the road. The best players always want to play against the best teams and we’ll do that this year and continue to do that in years to come.”
In addition to NCAA Tournament teams Drake and Missouri State from the Missouri Valley Conference, five non-conference opponents reached the NCAA postseason last year, including 2009 NCAA Tournament runner-up Akron, 2006 NCAA champion UC Santa Barbara and seven-time national champion Indiana.
After a pair of exhibition contests, including Clark’s home debut against Hastings (Neb.) College on Aug. 27, the Bluejays open the regular-season on the road at Loyola Chicago on Sept. 1. Clark’s first regular-season home match at Morrison Stadium sees the Bluejays welcome UNC Greensboro on Saturday, Sept. 4.
The Jays then travel to the site of this season’s College Cup, playing at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium on Sept. 7. The Gauchos won a pair of NCAA Tournament games in 2009 and won the national title in 2006.
After a home match with DePaul on Sept. 11, the Bluejays play in the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic in Peoria, Ill., Sept. 17-19. The Jays take on traditional soccer power SMU on the 17th and 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Dartmouth on the 19th. Clark’s Harvard squad topped Dartmouth 2-1 in Ivy League play last year.
The Bluejays open a four-game home stand by hosting Wisconsin on Sept. 24. CU’s first MVC match is at home against Eastern Illinois on Oct. 1. The Jays then host 2009 NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist Tulsa on Oct. 5 and welcome Indiana to Omaha for the first time on Oct. 9 as part of Homecoming Weekend. The Jays lead the all-time series with the perennial power, 3-2-0, with the last four meetings coming on neutral sites.
The next four matches find the Jays on the road, starting at Evansville on Oct. 16. Creighton is then at Drake, also an NCAA Quarterfinalist in 2009, on Oct. 20. MVC newcomer Central Arkansas is up next for CU, as the Jays play in Conway, Ark., on Oct. 23. The long road trip concludes with a road match on Oct. 27 at last year’s national runner-up Akron. The Zips, who earned the top-seed in the tournament, lost the national title match in penalty kicks and finished 2009 with a 23-1-1 mark.
October wraps up with a home match against another MVC newcomer, SIU Edwardsville, on Oct. 30. The Jays conclude the regular season against 2009 MVC regular-season champion Missouri State (Nov. 3) and Bradley (Nov. 6). The Senior Day match with Bradley will kick off at noon.
The State Farm MVC Tournament will return to a six-team field in 2010, after four teams qualified in 2009. The quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 10, followed by the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 12 and the championship on Sunday, Nov. 14, with Bradley’s Shea Stadium hosting the event.
The Bluejays, who posted a 7-4-5 record and were one of the first two teams left out of the NCAA Tournament last year, hope this more competitive schedule will put them in position to earn their 18th NCAA Tournament bid in the last 19 years, should they not secure The Valley’s automatic bid by capturing the MVC Tournament title.
