The Creighton Men’s Soccer team makes another return to the NCAA Tournament, their 19th out of the last 20 years on the pitch. On Thursday, they found out about their first opponent, Northern Illinois after the Huskies defeated Western Illinois 3-0.
The Bluejays lead the all-time series 5-1-0, but have not played since the year 2000 in Tranquility Park before Morrison Stadium existed. The Bluejays won that one 2-1. Northern Illinois will make a return to Omaha next season as it is part of the 2012 regular season schedule.
But now the focus is the drive to get to Birmingham for the College Cup and things begin Sunday afternoon in a 1PM match at Morrison Stadium. As the team prepares for Sunday afternoon, we talked to Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich to get his thoughts on the Bluejays in the NCAA Tournament.
WBR: You will begin tournament play this weekend when you host Northern Illinois. Is there any change to practice knowing you are now in the knockout round of the season?
Elmar Bolowich: There is no change to our practice routine. This is a time that we continue what got us here. We need to focus on our game plan and continue to be smart and sharp on the field. The benefit about tournament time is that the games are only about once a week so there is some time to rest and let the guys recover.
WBR: You will be playing host to Norhtern Illinois on Sunday. What can the fans look forward to in this match up?
EB: They are a very athletic team that will use that athleticism on counter attacks. They will play direct and they will not hold back on us. They have scored a lot of their goals on restarts, so we need to be active on free kicks and corners.
WBR: Were you pleased with the bracket that was set on Monday? Did you find it ironic that the bracket is set for you to play North Carolina if things play out?
EB: I was very pleased with our seeding. It was higher than I thought it would be, so we are happy. It would be funny if it worked out that way, but that is a long way off. To be honest, if we are playing them, it is in the finals, so I don’t care if they are wearing light blue or not. At that point we simply want to win a championship and it doesn’t matter who we play.
Media Menu
If you cannot make it to Morrison Stadium or are an out of town Bluejay fan, there are a few different options to follow today:
- Live Video presented by Creighton for free
- Live Stats to follow
- Creighton Athletics Twitter accounts–CreightonMSoc, GoCreighton