Lopez-Espin Earns BIG EAST Player of the Year Award, Bluejays Land Four On All-Conference Teams

OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton men's soccer senior forward Ricky Lopez-Espin earned BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors, while a total of four Bluejays made the all-conference teams, the league announced on Friday, Nov. 3. In addition to Lopez-Espin's regular-season award, the senior was unanimously selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team, while Lucas Stauffer also made the First Team, Noah Franke claimed a spot on the Second Team, and Kuba Polat earned unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team.

Lopez-Espin led the BIG EAST in points and goals during the regular season, while becoming the second Creighton player to be named BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Year (Fabian Herbers, 2014 and 2015). The Miami, Florida, native scored 11 goals and added three assists to total 25 points during 17 regular-season matches. His goal total ranks 13th nationally heading into the postseason. The senior also paced the conference with 15 points and seven goals during BIG EAST contests.

He shared this season's Offensive Player of the Year honors with Brandon Guhl (Butler). Lopez-Espin and Guhl were the only unanimous selections for the All-Conference First Team.

Lopez-Espin is currently tied for eighth on Creighton's career goals list with 29. He also earned a spot on last season's All-BIG EAST Second Team.

Senior defender Lucas Stauffer made the All-BIG EAST First Team for the second consecutive season. The Owensboro, Kentucky, native tallied 10 points from two goals and six assists while playing a team-high 1,460 minutes during the 2017 regular-season. Stauffer joins Fabian Herbers (2014, 2015) and Timo Pitter (2014, 2015) as Creighton players to be named to multiple All-BIG EAST First Teams. He also becomes the 24th player in program history to be named to an All-Conference First Team on multiple occasions (includes 22 seasons in Missouri Valley Conference).

Additionally, Stauffer claimed a spot on the 2014 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. He is currently the Division I active leader for matches played (85) and has started 66 consecutive contests.

Both Lopez-Espin and Stauffer were listed on the 2017 Preseason All-Conference Team.

Senior midfielder Noah Franke claimed his first All-Conference selection with a spot on the Second Team. Franke recorded 10 points with three goals and four assists. The Orlando, Florida, native ranked second on the team with 38 shots during 17 matches played, including 16 starts. Franke has played in 84 matches at Creighton and made 56 starts.

Freshman midfielder Kuba Polat earned unanimous BIG EAST All-Freshman Team honors. Polat started all 17 regular-season contests and had four assists (all during league play) and one goal. The Ludwigshafen, Germany, native is the fifth Bluejay to be named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman team since Creighton joined the league in 2013. Polat is the first Creighton freshman to start each regular-season match since Timo Pitter in 2012.

Creighton opens postseason play with a BIG EAST Tournament First Round match on Saturday at St. John's. Kickoff between the No. 6-seed Bluejays and No. 3-seed Red Storm is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central at Belson Stadium in Queens, New York. The match will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network.

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2017 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Regular-Season Awards and All-Conference Teams
BIG EAST Co-Offensive Players of the Year
Brandon Guhl, Butler, So., F
Ricky Lopez-Espin, Creighton, Sr., F

BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
Harry Cooksley, St. John's, Sr., M

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
David Enstrom, St. John's, Sr., D

BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Eric Dick, Butler, RS-Sr.

BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Derek Dodson, Georgetown, Fr., F

BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Butler (Head Coach Paul Snape)

All-BIG EAST First Team
Brandon Guhl, Butler, So., F *
Ricky Lopez-Espin, Creighton, Sr., F *
Mac Steeves, Providence, RS-Sr., F
Harry Cooksley, St. John's, Sr., M
Christopher Lema, Georgetown, Sr., M
Lewis Suddick, Butler, So., M
Cory Brown, Xavier, Sr., D
David Enstrom, St. John's, Sr., D
Brendan McDonough, Georgetown, Jr., D
Lucas Stauffer, Creighton, Sr., D
Eric Dick, Butler, RS-Sr., GK

All-BIG EAST Second Team
Derek Dodson, Georgetown, Fr., F
Declan McCabe, Georgetown, Sr., F
Matt Vasquenza, Xavier, Sr., F
Andres Arcila, Seton Hall, Jr., M
Noah Franke, Creighton, Sr., M
Simen Hestnes, Xavier, Jr., M
Luka Prpa, Marquette, So., M
Shane Bradley, Villanova, So., D
Joe Moulden, Butler, Jr., D
Cameron Taylor, Xavier, RS-Jr., D
JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown, Jr., GK

BIG EAST All-Freshman Team
Kuba Polat, Creighton, Fr., M *
Istvan Wilhelms, DePaul, Fr., M
Derek Dodson, Georgetown, Fr., F *
Jacob Montes, Georgetown, Fr., M *
Sean O'Hearn, Georgetown, Fr., D
Manuel Cukaj, Marquette, Fr., D
Matt DePerro, Providence, RS-Fr., F
Jack Shearer, St. John's, Fr., F *
Theo Quartey, Villanova, Fr., M
Samuel Buzzas, Xavier, RS-Fr., D
Zach Nelson, Xavier, RS-Fr., GK

* - denotes unanimous selection

Lopez-Espin Earns BIG EAST Player of the Year Award, Bluejays Land Four On All-Conference Teams

Players Mentioned

Noah Franke

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Lucas Stauffer

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