No. 23 Men's Soccer Faces No. 1 Stanford and California During Trip to Bay Area

Friday, Sept. 1 | No. 23 Creighton at No. 1 Stanford | Palo Alto, Calif. | 9:00 p.m. (CST)

Sunday, Sept. 3 | No. 23 Creighton at California | Berkeley, Calif. | 3:00 p.m. (CST)

Up Next
The Creighton men's soccer team embarks on its first road trip of the 2017 season with a journey to California. The Bluejays will play No. 1 Stanford on Friday before
matching up with California on Sunday.

Follow The Match
Friday's match at Stanford will be broadcast on Pac-12 Bay Area and streaming at Pac-12.com/live.

Viewers in the Omaha area will be able to watch Friday's match on television with a proper subscription to CenturyLink (Ch. 1684) or Sling TV.

Sunday's match at California will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network and streaming online at Pac-12.com/live.

Omaha area cable subscribers to CenturyLink (Ch. 1682), Cox (Ch. 1217) and DISH (Ch. 406) will be able to watch Sunday's match on television.

Proper subscriptions may also be required to watch the matches online.

Live stats for the each of the contests can be found on Creighton's schedule page.

Bluejay fans can also stay updated through the Creighton men's soccer Twitter feed: Twitter.com/CreightonMSoc.

Scouting No. 23 Creighton
The Bluejays opened the season with a 1-1 showing this past weekend. Creighton fell to No. 17 Virginia Tech 2-0 before defeating Grand Canyon 1-0 in 2OT.

Marios Lomis provided the golden goal for Creighton during the 106th minute against the Lopes.

The Bluejays held significant advantages in shots (42-12) and corner kicks (23-6) during the first two games, but managed only one goal during 195 minutes of game time.

Creighton returned eight starters, including 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list forward Ricky Lopez-Espin, following a third consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Lopez-Espin, a 2016 NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team selection, owns 18 career goals, the most of any active Bluejay.

Midfielders Noah Franke and Joel Rydstrand and defenders Mitch LaGro, Peter Prescott, and Lucas Stauffer also return after starting all 23 matches last season.

Last Time Out
Marios Lomis scored a golden goal during the 106th minute to help the No. 14 Creighton men's soccer team defeat Grand Canyon 1-0 on Sunday night at Morrison Stadium.

Joel Rydstrand sent a corner kick towards the far post where Lomis headed the ball into the back of the net for the game-ending goal to lift the Bluejays to their first victory of the 2017 season.

Creighton ended the match with a 23-5 edge in shots and 12-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Scouting No. 1 Stanford
The two-time defending national champion Cardinal opened the season with a 4-0 victory over San Jose State to start the season.

Foster Langsdorf scored a pair of goals for Stanford during the season-opening match. Langsdorf, a 2016 Second Team All-American and the Co-Pac-12 Player of the Year, led the team with 15 goals last season.

Senior Tomas Hilliard-Arce, a 2016 First Team All-American, will lead Stanford's back line.

The Cardinal returned nine starters and 100 percent of their goal scoring from last season's national championship squad.

Series History vs. Cardinal
Creighton is 4-2-0 all-time against Stanford, including 1-1-0 in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Bluejays and Cardinal last met during the 2014 season-opener. Creighton defeated Stanford 2-0 during that match. Ricky Lopez-Espin scored the game-winning goal and added an assist against the Cardinal during his Bluejay debut.

Scouting California
The Golden Bears outshot West Virginia 14-3, but dropped their season-opener 1-0 on Friday night.

Cal returns seven starters from a season ago after finishing 5-10-2 during the 2016 campaign. The Golden Bears started the year 4-2-1 before finishing with only one conference victory.

Preseason All-Pac-12 honoree Jose Carrera-Garcia had six goals and led the team with five assists last season. His efforts helped him make the 2016 All-Pac-12 First Team.

Series History vs. Golden Bears
Creighton leads the all-time series against California 2-0-0.

The Bluejays defeated the Golden Bears 2-0 on Sept. 21, 2008 during the only meeting between the two programs in Berkeley, Calif.

Creighton's Dominance Against State of California
When playing Stanford and California, Creighton will look to improve upon its 20-0-3 record against California-based schools in its last 23 matches, including 18 straight victories.

The Jays won both matches against teams from the Golden State in 2015 defeating both CSUN (2-1) and No. 13 UC Irvine (4-0).

The streak includes matches against 13 different California-based schools and a 9-0-1 mark against ranked teams.

Creighton has outscored teams 38-9 during the 23-game unbeaten spell, including a 30-4 margin during the 18-match win streak.

Creighton's last loss to a team from California came on Sept. 7, 2003 a 2-1 loss at Loyola Marymount when the Lions scored in the final five seconds of the second overtime.

Last 23 Games vs. California Teams
Date   Opponent   Score
11/26/03   at San Diego   T 1-1 (2 OT)
9/5/04   Loyola Marymount   W 2-1
9/10/04   vs. #6 UCLA   W 3-2
8/31/07   San Diego State   T 2-2 (2OT)
9/6/07   #11 UCLA   T 0-0 (2OT)
9/15/07   vs. Loyola Marymount   W 1-0 (OT)
9/7/08   UC Riverside   W 2-0
9/19/8   at Stanford   W 1-0
9/21/08   at #6 California   W 2-0
10/01/08   CSUN   W 1-0 (2OT)
9/5/09   #23 Cal Poly   W 1-0
10/31/09   #7 UCLA   W 1-0
9/7/10   at #21 UCSB   W 1-0
9/24/11   Saint Mary's   W 1-0
10/15/11   #7 UC Irvine   W 3-1
11/27/11   #13 UCSB   W 2-1
9/7/12   at Santa Clara   W 1-0
9/9/12   at Saint Mary's   W 1-0
9/1/13   Cal Poly   W 3-0
8/29/14   #20 Stanford   W 2-0
8/31/14   Santa Clara   W 1-0
9/4/15   CSUN   W 2-1
9/6/15   #13 UC Irvine   W 4-0

Bolowich Seeking Milestone
Head coach Elmar Bolowich is one win away from taking over sole possession for second on Creighton's all-time wins list. The Bluejays' next win would be Bolowich's 97th victory during seven seasons at Creighton.

Creighton's victory over Grand Canyon on Sunday (1-0 in 2OT) put Bolowich in a tie for second on the list with Bret Simon. Simon coached at Creighton from 1995-2000 before coaching 11 years at Stanford (2001-2011). Simon was also inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame on April 23, 2017.

Below is a list of the winningest coaches in Bluejay soccer history.

Coach   W-L-T   Years with program
Bob Warming   190-61-34   1990-94, 2001-09
Bret Simon   96-26-8   1995-2000
Elmar Bolowich   96-30-12 2011-Present

Creighton vs. No. 1
Friday marks Creighton's sixth match against a team ranked No. 1 in the ISAA/NSCAA/United Soccer Coaches Poll.

The Bluejays are 0-4-1 in their previous five matches against teams ranked No. 1 at the time of the match. Creighton did advance to the 2010 Elite Eight after knocking off No. 1 Akron 5-4 in PKs following a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes.

Creighton vs. No. 1 ranked teams
Date   Opponent   Score
11/27/94   at #1 Indiana   L 0-1
10/14/01   at #1 SMU   L 2-4
11/18/01   vs. #1 SMU   L 1-2 (4OT)
10/27/10   at #1 Akron   L 0-1
11/25/12   * at #1 Akron   T 1-1 (2OT)
   *Creighton advances on PK's

Across the Creighton sports landscape, the last time the Bluejays beat a No. 1-ranked team in any sport was April 24, 2001. On that night, the Creighton baseball team beat No. 1 Nebraska, in Lincoln, with an 11-8 win in 10 innings at Buck Beltzer Field.

Bluejays vs. Defending Champs
Creighton has played four matches previously against the defending national champion, including two regular season matches.

The Bluejays are 3-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 during regular-season matches against defending national champions.

Creighton vs. Defending Champions
Date   Opponent   Score
9/20/96   at #8 Wisconsin   T 0-0 (OT)
11/29/98   * at #6 UCLA   W 2-0
9/15/00   vs. #6 Indiana   W 4-1
12/8/00   * at #16 Indiana   W 2-1 (3OT)
9/1/17   at #1 Stanford   ???
* NCAA Tournament match

Rare Season-Opening Loss
Creighton dropped its season-opener (Aug. 25) for the first time since 2006. The Bluejays fell 2-0 to No. 17 Virginia Tech.

The Bluejays entered 2017 unbeaten in their last 10 lid-lifters (8-0-2). The program's last season-opening loss came against No. 12 Indiana (Aug. 25, 2006), 1-0 in double overtime during the Berticelli Memorial in South Bend, Ind.

The Bluejays are 19-3-6 during their first match of the season since Creighton restarted its men's soccer program in 1990.

In 34 overall seasons, the Bluejays are 23-6-6 during season-opening matches.

Home-Opener Success Too
Friday also marked Creighton's first loss in a home-opening match at Morrison Stadium (previously 10-0-4) and first home-opener loss at any venue since 1995 (3-1 vs. No. 20 Duke).

Creighton is 26-4-5 all-time in home-opening matches.

First True Road Match of the Season
The Bluejays are unbeaten in the past 10 years during their first true road match of the season (9-0-1). The squad's last loss in the first true road match of the season came at No. 15 Notre Dame (4-1) on Aug. 27, 2006.

Creighton is 19-4-3 since 1990 in its first true road match of the season, including 1-0-0 against Stanford.

No. 23 Men's Soccer Faces No. 1 Stanford and California During Trip to Bay Area

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Players Mentioned

Noah Franke

Mitch LaGro

Marios Lomis

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Peter Prescott

Joel Rydstrand

Lucas Stauffer