Men's Soccer Travels To Caniglia Field To Play UNO On Tuesday Night

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Tuesday, Sept. 26 | Creighton at Nebraska-Omaha | Omaha, Neb. (Caniglia Field) | 7:00 p.m. (CST)

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Creighton makes the short journey down Dodge Street to face crosstown foe Nebraska-Omaha on Tuesday night at Caniglia Field.

Follow The Match
A video stream for Tuesday's match can be found at OMavs.com/Watch.

The match will also feature a Spanish radio broadcast on La Nueva (99.5 FM & 1020 AM in the Omaha area and online: http://player.listenlive.co/49031/es).

Live stats for the contest can be found at Creighton.Statbroadcast.com.

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

Scouting Creighton (5-3-0)
The Bluejays enter Tuesday's match following a 2-0 week which included the first BIG EAST victory of the season. Creighton has won four of its past five matches.

Senior forward Ricky Lopez-Espin leads the Bluejays and is tied for sixth in the BIG EAST with four goals. He also owns two assists to pace the squad with 10 points.

Joel Rydstrand leads the team and is tied for fifth in the BIG EAST with three assists.

Luke Haakenson paces the squad with two game-winning goals, and three goals overall.

Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Michael Kluver owns three shutouts and one combined shutout through his first eight career starts as a Bluejay.

Creighton ranks 17th in Division I with 15.10 shots per match and is 12th with 6.75 corner kicks per contest.

Last Time Out
The Creighton men's soccer team defeated Villanova 2-0 with goals during each half, as the Bluejays earned their first BIG EAST victory of the season on Saturday night at Morrison Stadium.

Head coach Elmar Bolowich also claimed his 100th victory as head coach at Creighton.

Senior Noah Franke opened the scoring with a goal during the 15th minute. Franke received a pass from Kuba Polat and rushed towards the middle of the field about 25 yards away from the end line. The Orlando, Florida, native fired a shot from distance and beat the Villanova goalkeeper to give Creighton an early 1-0 lead.

The Bluejays controlled possession for the majority of the first half and held an 11-4 advantage in shots and 4-0 edge in corner kicks after the opening 45 minutes.

Fellow senior Lucas Stauffer found the back of the net during the 52nd minute to extend the Bluejays' lead. Stauffer recovered a loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box before sending the ball inside the far post for his first goal of the season, making it 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the second half.

Scouting Nebraska-Omaha (7-1-1)
The Mavericks started the season with six consecutive wins, which included a dominating 5-1 win over then-No. 17 Virginia Tech.

Elvir Ibisevic leads the Summit League with 13 points and is tied for the lead in goals with six. Xavier Gomez paces the conference with four assists.

Emmanuel Hamzat also has five goals this season for the Mavs.

Goalkeeper Joseph Ghitits ranks 22nd in Division I with a 0.61 goals against average (five goals allowed in eight matches) and owns three shutouts.

As a team, UNO has outscored its oppenents 15-5 and averages 11.2 shots per match.

Head coach Jason Mims is in his seventh season at UNO.

Series History vs. Mavericks
Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha matched up for the first time during the regular season as Division I opponents on Sept. 5, 2016 at Morrison Stadium.

The Mavericks and Bluejays played to a 1-1 draw after two 10-minute overtime periods.

UNO scored early in the first half before Creighton's Ricardo Perez tied the match during the opening stages of the second half.

The Bluejays lead the all-time series against the Mavericks 4-3-1, as two teams played seven matches from 1979-1982 when UNO was not a Division I program.

Bolowich Earns 100th Win At Creighton
Head coach Elmar Bolowich won his 100th match at Creighton on Saturday against Villanova.

He is the second head coach in program history to achieve 100 or more wins.

Bolowich moved into second place on Creighton's all-time wins list with a 3-0 victory over Cal on Sept. 3, and is currently 100-32-12 as head man of the Bluejays since taking over before the 2011 season.

Bolowich passed Bret Simon, who coached at Creighton from 1995-2000 and was inducted into the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame on April 23, 2017.

Bolowich now trails only Bob Warming on Creighton's all-time wins list.

Coach   W-L-T   Years with program
Bob Warming   190-61-34   1990-94, 2001-09
Elmar Bolowich 100-32-12   2011-Present
Bret Simon   96-26-8   1995-2000

Slow Starting Jays Heating Up
Creighton opened the season by scoring only one goal during its first three matches, but has scored 11 during the past five.

The Bluejays started 1-2 and have responded by winning four of their last five matches to enter Tuesday night with a 5-3 record.

Creighton has outscored its opponents 11-4 during its last five matches.

Goalkeeper Assists
Creighton goalkeeper Michael Kluver became the third goalie since Creighton reinstated its program in 1990 to record an assist when he earned an assist on the tying goal during the Bluejays' overtime victory against Tulsa (Sept. 19).

Kluver joins Matt Allen (2005) and Kevin Doyle (1992) as the only Bluejay goalkeepers to record assists. Doyle recorded two assists for the Bluejays during the 1992 season.

Overtime Victory
The Bluejays are 2-1 this season during overtime matches following their 2-1 win against Tulsa (Sept. 19).

Creighton's 1-0 victory over Grand Canyon (Aug. 27) in double overtime marked the Bluejays' first win during a match that went extra time since Sept. 21, 2013 against No. 7 St. John's (1-0, 2OT).

Creighton's previous 13 overtime matches prior to Aug. 27 had resulted in either a draw or loss (eight draws, five losses).

The Bluejays are 10-6-12 during matches that needed extra time under the direction of Elmar Bolowich (since start of 2011).

Creighton recorded three wins in matches that required extra time during the 2012 season, the most during a single year during the Bolowich era.

Iron Men Stauffer and Franke
Seniors Lucas Stauffer and Noah Franke rank first and second in Division I Men's Soccer for matches played among active players.

Stauffer has played in 76 matches, while Franke currently owns 75 appearances.

Stauffer also played in his 47th match at Morrison Stadium on Saturday, which is tied for third-most in program history. Ricardo Perez holds the record for matches played at Morrison Stadium with 52 appearances (2013-16).

The Creighton record for matches played in a career is 90, set by David Wagenfuhr (2000-2003).

The Bluejays have nine matches remaining (including Tuesday) during the 2017 regular-season, including four scheduled to be played at Morrison Stadium.

Creighton vs. Top 25
The Bluejays are 77-54-15 all-time against United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) Top-25 opponents, and are 0-2-0 so far this season.

Creighton is 28-25-10 on the road against Top-25 competition, including 0-1-0 during 2017.

Nebraska-Omaha entered the week ranked No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches poll (new poll released Sept. 26).

The Bluejays went 5-2-1 against the Top 25 during the 2016 season.

Brothers Valdivia
Freshman Dominic Valdivia made his Creighton debut during the second half of the Bluejays' overtime victory against Tulsa on Tuesday.

Dominic is the brother of sophomore goalkeeper Collin Valdivia, who made his Bluejay debut earlier this season against Cal (Sept. 3, 2017).

Dominic and Collin are the first set of brothers to appear in at least one match for Creighton during the same season since Joe Wieland and Matt Wieland in 2002.

Vince Odorisio and Tony Odorisio both played during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, but Vince and Tony were cousins.

Men's Soccer Travels To Caniglia Field To Play UNO On Tuesday Night

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Players Mentioned

Noah Franke

Luke Haakenson

Michael Kluver

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Ricardo Perez

Kuba Polat

Joel Rydstrand

Lucas Stauffer

Collin Valdivia

Dominic Valdivia