Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Men's Soccer Continues Exhibition Schedule At Wisconsin On Wednesday
8/15/2017 2:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Bluejays will face the Badgers for the second consecutive season during the preseason
Wednesday, Aug. 16 Â | Creighton at Wisconsin (Exhibition Match) | Madison, Wis. | 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Up Next
The Creighton men's soccer team travels to Madison, Wis. for a match on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Wisconsin Badgers. Wednesday's match marks the second of three exhibitions for the Bluejays before the squad opens regular-season play on Aug. 25 at home versus Virginia Tech.Â
Last Time Out
The Bluejays claimed a 2-1 victory on Saturday night over SIU Edwardsville to begin the 2017 preseason schedule. MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List forward Ricky Lopez-Espin scored both of Creighton's goals, including the game-winner with nine seconds remaining in regulation.
Scouting Wisconsin
The Badgers narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament after finishing 2016 with an 11-4-4 record, including a 4-2-2 mark in Big Ten Conference play. 2016 All-American Chris Mueller was recently named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and is one of eight returning starters from last season's squad that fell to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament final. Head coach John Trask is in his eighth season at the helm of Wisconsin. Â The Badgers defeated the Bluejays 3-1 during an exhibition match at Morrison Stadium last season.Â
2017 Creighton Preview
The Bluejays qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in the past 25 years with an at-large bid for the fourth consecutive season, and advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling 2-1 to conference foe Providence to end the 2016 campaign at 13-7-3.Â
The 2017 Creighton men's soccer team enters the new season seeking its first BIG EAST tournament title since joining the conference prior to the 2014 season.Â
Senior forward Ricky Lopez-Espin will lead the offense after tallying a team-high 22 points with a Bluejay-best 10 goals and two assists last year. Lopez-Espin, a 2016 NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team selection, owns 18 career goals, the most of any active Bluejay.Â
Noah Franke, Mitch LaGro, Peter Prescott, Joel Rydstrand and Lucas Stauffer each return after starting all 23 matches last season. LaGro and Prescott will anchor the middle of the Creighton defense after taking the reigns of a unit that allowed 0.84 goals per game a year ago (second in BIG EAST).Â
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Franke and Stauffer both split time in the midfield and backline. Stauffer, a 2016 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, owns 57 career starts — 49 consecutive — and has appeared in all 68 possible matches the past three seasons. Franke has played in 67 matches (40 starts) during his Creighton career.Â
Rydstrand led the 2016 squad with seven assists and added three goals. Â
The biggest question mark heading into the 2017 season may be the Bluejays' goalkeeper position. With the departure of NSCAA Third Team All-American and fourth round MLS SuperDraft selection Alex Kapp, who ranked third nationally with 2,144 minutes played in goal last season, Creighton's current goalkeeper pool has limited collegiate experience. Fifth-year senior Michael Kluver appears to be the front-runner for the starting nod, but the Omaha Skutt Catholic product has only seen 21 minutes of action during two career matches played. Redshirt sophomore Collin Valdivia and true freshman Austin Wormell will also fight for playing time.
The Bluejays welcome 10 newcomers for this season to complement the 14Â returning letterwinners, including transfers Anthony Macchione (Akron) and Sven Koenig (Hawaii Pacific), a 2016 Division II Conference Commissioners Association Third Team All-American.Â
As a standard of the CU men's soccer program, the Bluejays' schedule is one of the toughest in the country. Seven of Creighton's regular-season opponents appeared in the 2016 NCAAs. The Bluejays host NCAA quarterfinalist Virigina Tech to open the season and begin the road slate in California with a contest against two-time defending national champion Stanford.
Creighton will also host defending American Athletic Conference regular-season champion South Florida  for the Bluejays' annual Socctoberfest, and defending AAC tournament champion Tulsa in a rematch of a 2016 NCAA First Round match.
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The Bluejays play five road BIG EAST contests, including matches against 2016 Â regular-season champion and NCAA quarterfinalist Providence and conference tournament champion Butler. Creighton hosts Villanova (NCAA First Round participant), St. John's, Xavier and DePaul during league action.Â
Seventh-year head coach Elmar Bolowich needs two victories to move into second place for number of wins as a Creighton soccer coach. BolowichÂ
currently has 95 career wins, and trails only 2017 Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bret Simon (96) and MVC All-Centennial coach and 2010 CU Hall of Fame inductee Bob Warming (190).
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Up Next
The Creighton men's soccer team travels to Madison, Wis. for a match on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Wisconsin Badgers. Wednesday's match marks the second of three exhibitions for the Bluejays before the squad opens regular-season play on Aug. 25 at home versus Virginia Tech.Â
Last Time Out
The Bluejays claimed a 2-1 victory on Saturday night over SIU Edwardsville to begin the 2017 preseason schedule. MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List forward Ricky Lopez-Espin scored both of Creighton's goals, including the game-winner with nine seconds remaining in regulation.
Scouting Wisconsin
The Badgers narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament after finishing 2016 with an 11-4-4 record, including a 4-2-2 mark in Big Ten Conference play. 2016 All-American Chris Mueller was recently named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and is one of eight returning starters from last season's squad that fell to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament final. Head coach John Trask is in his eighth season at the helm of Wisconsin. Â The Badgers defeated the Bluejays 3-1 during an exhibition match at Morrison Stadium last season.Â
2017 Creighton Preview
The Bluejays qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in the past 25 years with an at-large bid for the fourth consecutive season, and advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling 2-1 to conference foe Providence to end the 2016 campaign at 13-7-3.Â
The 2017 Creighton men's soccer team enters the new season seeking its first BIG EAST tournament title since joining the conference prior to the 2014 season.Â
Senior forward Ricky Lopez-Espin will lead the offense after tallying a team-high 22 points with a Bluejay-best 10 goals and two assists last year. Lopez-Espin, a 2016 NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team selection, owns 18 career goals, the most of any active Bluejay.Â
Noah Franke, Mitch LaGro, Peter Prescott, Joel Rydstrand and Lucas Stauffer each return after starting all 23 matches last season. LaGro and Prescott will anchor the middle of the Creighton defense after taking the reigns of a unit that allowed 0.84 goals per game a year ago (second in BIG EAST).Â
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Franke and Stauffer both split time in the midfield and backline. Stauffer, a 2016 All-BIG EAST First Team selection, owns 57 career starts — 49 consecutive — and has appeared in all 68 possible matches the past three seasons. Franke has played in 67 matches (40 starts) during his Creighton career.Â
Rydstrand led the 2016 squad with seven assists and added three goals. Â
The biggest question mark heading into the 2017 season may be the Bluejays' goalkeeper position. With the departure of NSCAA Third Team All-American and fourth round MLS SuperDraft selection Alex Kapp, who ranked third nationally with 2,144 minutes played in goal last season, Creighton's current goalkeeper pool has limited collegiate experience. Fifth-year senior Michael Kluver appears to be the front-runner for the starting nod, but the Omaha Skutt Catholic product has only seen 21 minutes of action during two career matches played. Redshirt sophomore Collin Valdivia and true freshman Austin Wormell will also fight for playing time.
The Bluejays welcome 10 newcomers for this season to complement the 14Â returning letterwinners, including transfers Anthony Macchione (Akron) and Sven Koenig (Hawaii Pacific), a 2016 Division II Conference Commissioners Association Third Team All-American.Â
As a standard of the CU men's soccer program, the Bluejays' schedule is one of the toughest in the country. Seven of Creighton's regular-season opponents appeared in the 2016 NCAAs. The Bluejays host NCAA quarterfinalist Virigina Tech to open the season and begin the road slate in California with a contest against two-time defending national champion Stanford.
Creighton will also host defending American Athletic Conference regular-season champion South Florida  for the Bluejays' annual Socctoberfest, and defending AAC tournament champion Tulsa in a rematch of a 2016 NCAA First Round match.
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The Bluejays play five road BIG EAST contests, including matches against 2016 Â regular-season champion and NCAA quarterfinalist Providence and conference tournament champion Butler. Creighton hosts Villanova (NCAA First Round participant), St. John's, Xavier and DePaul during league action.Â
Seventh-year head coach Elmar Bolowich needs two victories to move into second place for number of wins as a Creighton soccer coach. BolowichÂ
currently has 95 career wins, and trails only 2017 Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bret Simon (96) and MVC All-Centennial coach and 2010 CU Hall of Fame inductee Bob Warming (190).
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Players Mentioned
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