Men's Soccer Ranked 14th in Preseason United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Creighton men's soccer team checked in at No. 14 in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's National Preseason Poll, as released on Thursday, Aug. 3.

United Soccer Coaches is the new brand identity of the NSCAA. The name change was included in an announcement on Wednesday, Aug. 2, which also unveiled the upcoming host cities for the annual United Soccer Coaches Convention.

The Bluejays enter the 2017 campaign following its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 25 seasons. Creighton earned its fourth straight at-large bid into the NCAAs during 2016 and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive season before falling to Providence. The Bluejays were ranked No. 15 in the year-end NSCAA Top 25 after posting a 13-7-3 record.

Creighton returns eight starters from last season's squad that tied for third in the BIG EAST (5-3-1). Head coach Elmar Bolowich is in his seventh season at the helm of the Bluejays and needs two victories to move into second place for most victories by a Creighton head coach. 2016 All-BIG EAST performers Lucas Stauffer, Ricky Lopez-Espin and Mitch LaGro will look to guide the Bluejays to their first conference title since 2014.

Creighton is one of three BIG EAST schools in the preseason poll. Defending BIG EAST regular-season champion and NCAA quarterfinalist Providence sits at No. 12, and 2016 BIG EAST tournament champion Butler is No. 25.

The Bluejays open the 2017 regular-season against preseason No. 17 Virginia Tech on Aug. 25 at Morrison Stadium. Creighton's first road match of the season is Sept. 1 against two-time defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Stanford.

Creighton will play three exhibition matches, including home contests against SIU Edwardsville (Aug. 12) and Ohio State (Aug. 19).

Season-tickets and single-game tickets for each of Creighton's 11 matches at Morrison Stadium are currently on sale.

United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division 1 Men - Preseason - Aug. 3, 2017

Rank	School	Prev.	W-L-T
1	Stanford University	1	15-3-5
2	Wake Forest University	2	19-3-3
3	University Of Denver	3	20-1-3
4	University Of North Carolina	4	14-3-4
5	Clemson University	5	14-4-5
6	University Of Maryland	7	18-1-2
7	Indiana University	9	12-2-7
8	Syracuse University	11	12-4-4
9	University Of Louisville	6	14-6-2
10	University of Notre Dame	14	12-7-2
11	University Of Washington	12	14-7-0
12	Providence College	10	15-7-0
13	University Of Virginia	13	11-4-5
14	Creighton University	15	13-7-3
15	Charlotte	16	12-4-2
16	University Of Akron	24	13-6-3
17	Virginia Tech	8	13-5-4
18	University Of Massachusetts-Lowell	19	13-1-2
19	Coastal Carolina University	RV	10-7-3
20	University Of New Mexico	RV	12-7-3
21	UCLA	RV	10-8-2
22	Michigan State University	25	13-5-2
23	Florida Gulf Coast University	20	14-4-3
24	University of Connecticut	NR	10-5-1
25	Butler University	18	13-5-2

Men's Soccer Ranked 14th in Preseason United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll

Players Mentioned

Mitch LaGro

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Lucas Stauffer

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