Men's Soccer Welcomes Ohio State For Final Exhibition Match

Saturday, Aug. 19 | Ohio State at Creighton (Exhibition Match) | Omaha, Neb. | 7:00 p.m. (CST)

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The Creighton men's soccer team hosts Ohio State on Saturday night for the Bluejays' third and final exhibition match before the regular-season starts next week. The Bluejays welcome Virginia Tech to Omaha on Aug. 25 to begin the new season.

Last Time Out
Creighton, ranked No. 14 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25, traveled to Wisconsin and defeated the Badgers on Wednesday night during the Bluejays' second exhibition match of 2017. Marios Lomis scored during the 59th minute for the lone goal of the match.

Scouting Ohio State
Under the direction of head coach John Bluem, the Buckeyes finished the 2016 campaign with a 5-13-1 overall record and 3-4-1 mark in Big Ten play (seventh place). Ohio State returns 11 letterwinners and welcomes 18 newcomers for Bluem's 21st season as head man in Columbus. All-Big Ten Second Team performer Nate Kohl returns after leading the Buckeyes with 14 points from six goals and two assists last season. 2016 Big Ten All-Freshman Team goalkeeper Parker Siegfried is also back after posting a 1.57 goals against average and three shutouts.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Rydstrand led the 2016 squad with seven assists and added three goals.

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 14 returning letterwinners, including transfers Anthony Macchione (Akron) and Sven Koenig (Hawaii Pacific), a 2016 Division II Conference Commissioners Association Third Team All-American.

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.

The Bluejays play five road BIG EAST contests, including matches against 2016 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.

Seventh-year head coach Elmar Bolowich needs two victories to move into second place for number of wins as a Creighton soccer coach. Bolowich 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).

Men's Soccer Welcomes Ohio State For Final Exhibition Match

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Players Mentioned

Noah Franke

Alex Kapp

Michael Kluver

Sven Koenig

Mitch LaGro

Marios Lomis

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Anthony Macchione

Peter Prescott

Joel Rydstrand

Lucas Stauffer

Collin Valdivia

Austin Wormell