After weeks of anticipation, momentous and long-awaited news has finally come. People across Omaha and, indeed, across the world can now celebrate and rejoice — no, I’m not talking about the installation of Pope Francis. I’m talking about Creighton’s move to the re-formed Big East Conference.
While the move is generally regarded as a basketball-centric one, the fact remains that fans of every Bluejays team now has a brand-new set of conference rivals to study and watch.
Here’s a very preliminary look at the men’s soccer teams of the Big East. We’ll keep a close eye on spring results and recruiting releases in order to provide you with the best Creighton Bluejays soccer coverage over the coming months.
2012 Results: 5-8-5, 9th in Atlantic 10
Postseason: did not compete
Head Coach: Paul Snape, third year
Twitter: @ButlerMenSoccer
In 2010, head coach Kelly Findley guided Butler to a #5 national ranking and an undefeated regular season. He moved on to greener pastures at N.C. State the next year. Since then, head coach Paul Snape has struggled to find the magic touch to get his club back on track. Snape has a reputation as a great recruiter, but with only a football field to play on and regional powers Indiana and Notre Dame down the road, Butler can be a tough sell for top recruits. Midfielder Zach Steinberger, a product of Bradenton’s IMG Academy, earned All A-10 Second Team honors last season, and Butler will rely on his leadership this fall. BU has its work cut out as it enters a Big East that promises to be fiercely competitive from day one.
2012 Results: 4-10-3, 8th in Big East Red Division
Postseason: did not compete
Head Coach: Craig Blazer, thirteenth year
Twitter: @BlueDemonsMSoc
The Blue Demons have one NCAA Tournament appearance in their history and, last year, had a pitiful home attendance average of 307. Yes, three-hundred-seven. In fact, their home field is so awful — bumpy, narrow, and bordered on one side by a train track — that one Creighton staff member told me after the Jays’ 2011 road match that he hoped to never play a game there again. To put DePaul’s struggles in perspective, DePaul went 1-5-1 against Missouri Valley opponents in the last three years. Head coach Craig Blazer’s bio lists losing to Creighton as a high point of the 2011 season. DePaul has traditionally been a bottom-feeder in the Big East, and that doesn’t seem likely to change this year.
2012 Results: 19-4-3, 1st in Big East Blue Division
Postseason: Big East championship runners-up, NCAA College Cup runners-up
Head Coach: Brian Wiese, eighth year
Twitter: @GUHoyasMSoccer
Georgetown is the team that needs the least introduction this year, having lost a heartbreaker to Indiana in the College Cup finals. GU loses a few stars to graduation, most notably Ian Christensen and Andy Riemer, and will have to replace them in short order. On the other hand, the Hoyas scored a top-ten recruiting class in 2012 and look to have another top-flight group coming in this year. The recruiting class of 2013 is headlined by Josh Yaro and Alex Muyl, who are expected to contribute immediately and make Georgetown one of the most dynamic attacking teams in America. The Hoyas face a tough spring schedule this year, highlighted by an away date with USL’s Richmond Kickers. Things have never been so good on the Hilltop, and head coach Brian Wiese will doubtless have the Hoyas ready for another postseason run. There’s a terrific program on the rise in Georgetown, and they’ll enter the 2013 season as the favorite to win the league.
2012 Results: 16-4-1, 4th in Big East Blue Division
Postseason: Big East Tournament semifinals, NCAA Tournament second round
Head Coach: Louis Bennett, eighth year
Twitter: @MarquetteSoccer
Marquette enters the reformed Big East coming off one of the best seasons in program history. A quick look at the Eagles’ roster shows that head coach Louis Bennett has done incredibly well recruiting the upper Midwest, with 19 of last season’s 24 players hailing from Illinois or Wisconsin. I imagine that Creighton may go head-to-head in recruiting battles with Marquette in the coming years, which will only add to the natural rivalry that should develop from MU being Creighton’s geographically-closest conference opponent. Defender Axel Sjoberg was named to last season’s Top Drawer Soccer All-Freshmen Team and returns this year to anchor a back line known for its physicality. Marquette will build on last season’s success and should be in the race for a Big East title this year.
2012 Results: 4-10-2, 6th in Big East Blue Division
Postseason: did not compete
Head Coach: Craig Stewart, second year
Twitter: @PVDMensSoccer
Providence suffered a “down year” in 2012, following the loss of head coach Chaka Daley to the University of Michigan. His successor, Craig Stewart, inherited a team returning eight starters, of whom one was selected in January’s MLS Draft. Despite serious preseason hype, the season was a long one for Friars supporters, though it ended on a bright note with a Senior Day home win over #3 Connecticut. The Friars will be led this season by All-Big East Third Team midfielder Wilber Arboleda. Despite last year’s struggles, Providence can be proud of a winning tradition and did manage to end last season on a bright note with a win over #3 Connecticut on Senior Day. The Friars shouldn’t be overlooked, but I don’t see them finishing in the top half of the table in 2013.
2012 Results: 6-12-0, 5th in Big East Blue Division
Postseason: Big East Tournament first round
Head Coach: Gerson Echeverry, second year
Twitter: @SHUMSOC
In November 2011, Manfred Schellscheidt resigned the Seton Hall soccer program after twenty-two years at the helm, and closed the book on a career in which he coached the U.S. National Team and Olympic team, produced current U.S. national star Sacha Kliejstan, and led the SHU Pirates to eighteen winning seasons and a Sweet 16. Talk about big shoes to fill. Yet in Schellscheidt’s last four years, the Pirates had not compiled a winning record, and in the 2011 season they allowed a whopping 41 goals. His successor, Seton Hall legend Gerson Echeverry, failed to turn things around in his first year as the Pirates finished 2012 with a 6-12 record and a -22 goal differential. They lose only two players to graduation and should have an experienced squad in 2013, ready to return SHU to their winning ways.
2012 Results: 10-5-4, 3rd in Big East Red Division
Postseason: Big East Tournament first round, NCAA Tournament first round
Head Coach: Dr. Dave Masur, twenty-second year
Twitter: @STJ_MSoccer
St. John’s has earned the title “perennial power” under the leadership of Dr. Dave Masur. The doctorate was in “Education Administration and Supervision and Leadership,” in case you were wondering. Anyway, Belson Stadium is one of the best home pitches in the nation, and the Red Storm have enjoyed nearly unparalleled success both in the Big East and nationally since the mid-90s. 2012 was a disappointment by their standards, All-Big East First Team goalkeeper Rafael Diaz returns for his fifth year in 2013, and will anchor an experienced defense that allowed only 11 goals during a brutal conference season. The Johnnies will be competing for another Big East title in 2013 if they can boost their offensive production.
2012 Results: 12-6-2, 4th in Big East Red Division
Postseason: Big East Tournament first round
Head Coach: Tom Carlin, sixth year
Twitter: @NovaMSoccer
No matter which recruits show up on campus this year, the Wildcats’ biggest addition for the 2013 season may be new assistant coach Zach Thornton, a pro soccer standout (and my childhood soccer idol) with MLS’s Chicago Fire and Portugal’s Benfica. Hopefully, Thornton will bring new energy and a bit of swagger to a club seemingly summed up by the cover of last year’s media guide: four players in practice gear, sheepishly standing near a fence. It’s a little confusing, but then, so is VU’s failure to get results on a big stage or reach the elite level of college soccer. Last year’s 12-6-2 record is nothing to sneeze at, but Villanova has the resources to perform better and go farther than they have in recent years. Junior midfielder Oscar Umar, a Ghanaian native, earned All-Big East Second Team honors last year and could be the one to take the Wildcats to the next level.
2012 Results: 14-3-5, 3rd in Atlantic 10
Postseason: semifinals of A-10 Tournament, second round of NCAA Tournament
Head Coach: Andy Fleming, fourth year
Twitter: @XavierSoccer
Xavier’s entry to the Big East comes on the heels of the best season in program history. Last year’s fourteen wins broke a school record, and the Musketeers missed first place in the A-10 by one measly point. Defender Nick Hagglund, who’ll be a senior for the 2013 season, is the team’s most celebrated player (A-10 Defender of the Year, MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, two All-America preseason teams, All A-10 First Team, NSCAA All-Region First Team, Second Team All-American) and will want to improve on last year’s success in a new conference. Xavier signed the #18 recruiting class in the nation in 2012, according to College Soccer News, and this year have signed four of CSN’s Top 150 recruits for the class of 2013. Andy Fleming has done a tremendous job building the XU program, and they will be a strong addition to the new Big East.
