August 22nd, 2011
Bluejays Soccer Ranked Preseason No. 6
Creighton men's squad earns Soccer America D-I recognition
The Creighton men's soccer team is ranked sixth in the Soccer America preseason top 25 released Monday morning.
The ranking equals the Bluejays' highest rank in any preseason poll this season, as the Jays are also ranked sixth in the College Soccer News preseason poll.
Creighton returns 13 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's team, which captured its Missouri Valley Conference record 10th regular-season championship. The Bluejays appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in 19 seasons last fall, advancing to the second round of the event and ending the season with a 13-5-2 record.
The top-six scorers from last year's team are back for the Bluejays, including 2010 MVC Player of the Year and MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist Ethan Finlay. Finlay led a Bluejay offense which ranked 15th in the NCAA in scoring with 2.0 goals per game. The senior forward led the MVC and ranked in the NCAA top-10 with 15 goals and 34 points last year.
The Jays also return fifth-year senior Brian Holt, back for his fourth year starting in goal. Holt already owns the school record with 27 career shutouts and ranks second in school and league history with a 0.79 career goals against average.
Finlay and Holt are among the six Bluejays tabbed preseason all-MVC, as the pair of seniors are joined by juniors Dion Acoff, Jose Gomez, Greg Jordan and sophomore Tyler Polak. The reigning MVC champions are the preseason favorites to win the title again this fall. The Bluejays play at Notre Dame tonight in their final exhibition match before starting regular-season play at Denver this Saturday.
Notre Dame is ranked ninth in the Soccer America preseason poll.
The Bluejays and Fighting Irish kick off at 6 pm (CST) tonight.
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