No. 25 Men's Soccer Resumes BIG EAST Play With Match At Seton Hall On Saturday

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Saturday, Sept. 28 | #25 Creighton at Seton Hall | South Orange, N.J. | 12:00 p.m. (CST)

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Creighton resumes BIG EAST play with a match in New Jersey against Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Follow The Match
Saturday's match will feature a live video stream on the Pirate Sports Network (www.SHUPirates.com/PSN) for no charge.

Live stats for the contest can be found at www.sidearmstats.com/setonhall/msoc.

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

Scouting #25 Creighton (6-3-0, 1-1-0 BE)
The Bluejays enter Saturday's match with five wins in their last six matches, including a 1-1 mark in BIG EAST play.

Senior forward Ricky Lopez-Espin leads the Bluejays and is second in the BIG EAST with five goals. He also owns two assists to pace the squad with 12 points.

Joel Rydstrand and Lucas Stauffer each have three assists to lead Creighton.

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

Creighton ranks 26th in Division I with 14.67 shots per match and is 13th with 6.67 corner kicks per contest.

Last Time Out
Ricky Lopez-Espin's goal during the 78th minute proved to be the difference as the No. 25 Creighton men's soccer team defeated the No. 24 Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, 1-0, on Tuesday night at Caniglia Field.

During the 78th minute, Lucas Stauffer raced down the left side of the pitch and found Lopez-Espin near the far post with a cross. Lopez-Espin finished off the play by heading the ball past the UNO goalkeeper to give Creighton a 1-0 lead that stood for the remainder of the match.

The goal marked Lopez-Espin's team-leading fifth of the season. Stauffer also moved into a tie for the team-lead in assists with his third during 2017.

Senior goalkeeper Michael Kluver, an Omaha native, made three saves to preserve the shutout -- his fourth of the season.

The Bluejays and Mavericks combined for only five shots on goal, and Creighton held an 11-10 advantage in overall shots. Both teams ended the match with six corner kicks a piece.

Scouting Seton Hall (3-6-1, 0-2-0 BE)
The Pirates enter the weekend on a four-match losing streak, which includes a 0-2 mark during conference action.

Andres Arcila leads the team with 13 points from five goals and three assists.

Seton Hall is 1-3-1 at home this season.

The Pirates have used two different starting goalkeepers with Elliot Munford and Steven Catudal each starting five matches. Munford owns a 1.90 goals against average and a 3-1-0 record, while Catudal claims a 1.75 goals against average and 0-4-1 win-loss-draw tally.

Series History vs. Pirates
Creighton leads the all-time series against Seton Hall 3-1-0.

The Bluejays defeated the Pirates 4-1 last year during the BIG EAST opener for both schools.

Creighton's lone loss during the series came during the first meeting between the two schools on Oct. 6, 2013 (3-2 SHU win).

The winner of each match during the series has scored at least three goals, and a combined 21 goals have been scored during the previous four meetings.

Senior Contributions
The Bluejays' 2017 roster features six seniors (Noah Franke, Michael Kluver, Marios Lomis, Ricky Lopez-Espin, Lucas Stauffer, Stefan Wutte).

The seniors have scored nine of Creighton's 13 goals and contributed with seven of the team's 13 assists.

Lopez-Espin leads the team with five goals, including four during the past four matches. The Miami, Florida, native, also has two assists.

Franke owns two goals and one assist to rank third on the squad in points with five.

Stauffer is tied for the team lead with three assists, has one goal and is the only non-goalkeeper to play more than 800 minutes this season.

Lomis has one goal, the game-winner during Creighton's 1-0 double overtime victory over Grand Canyon (Aug. 27).

Wutte has played nine minutes this season.

Kluver, during his fifth year with the program, claims four shutouts during nine starts. He also holds a 0.98 goals against average.

Bolowich Earns 100th Win At Creighton
Head coach Elmar Bolowich earned his 100th victory at Creighton on Sept. 23 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 101-32-12 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 101-32-12   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 12 during the past six.

The Bluejays started 1-2 and have responded by winning five of their last six matches to enter Saturday with a 6-3 record.

Creighton has outscored its opponents 12-4 during its last six 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 77 matches, while Franke currently owns 76 appearances.

Stauffer also played in his 47th match at Morrison Stadium against Villanova (Sept. 23), 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 eight matches remaining (including Saturday) during the 2017 regular-season, including four scheduled to be played at Morrison Stadium.

No. 25 Men's Soccer Resumes BIG EAST Play With Match At Seton Hall On Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Noah Franke

Michael Kluver

Marios Lomis

Ricky Lopez-Espin

Ricardo Perez

Joel Rydstrand

Lucas Stauffer

Stefan Wutte