National title talk isn’t thrown around lightly on the Creighton campus. But with the start of the 2015 men’s soccer season upon us it has been whispered on at least a few occasions. Sporting a No. 6 preseason ranking in the NSCAA Poll and a roster that returns eight players who played in every single match during a nation-best 16-3-3 season a year ago, the Creighton men’s soccer team has sky high expectations for themselves this year.
An offseason trip to Germany helped to sharpen the team chemistry from a unit that already has a lot of experienced players returning to the pitch. The Bluejays are also healthy again after watching key injuries diminish the attacking third of the field at the worst time last year. Now reloaded and fresh off a season in which they won the Big East regular-season title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, Creighton returns a ton of fire power and an experienced defensive unit that expects to be playing for a national championship in Kansas City, Kansas at the end of the season.
Attacking Third Leads The Way for Bluejays
Creighton put up some gaudy offensive numbers during the preseason. They registered 33 shots in a 3-0 win against Bradley, then banged home five goals on 19 shots in a throttling of Northwestern. With the healthy returns of sophomore Ricky Lopez-Espin and junior Myles Englis added to First Team All-American and Big East Offensive Player of the Year in junior Fabian Herbers, the results have been spectacular. Herbers led the Big East with 28 points a season ago after scoring 10 goals and distributing eight assists. He picked up where he left off in the preseason by scoring two goals and adding four assists in the series of exhibitions.
Fabian Herbers (WBR/Mike Spomer) CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY
A MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist last season, Herbers is on the preseason watch list for 2015 as one of the nation’s top players and he’s in position to have another strong season leading the Creighton attack.
Oh, and by the way, senior midfielder, fellow MAC Hermann Trophy watch list member, Timo Pitter adds a dangerous playmaker to attack along with Herbers, Lopez-Espin, Englis, and senior Fernando Castellanos.
Timo Pitter (WBR/Mike Spomer) CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY
Pitter played and started in all 22 matches a season ago, leading the Big East in shots with 75 and assists with nine, which also ranked him eighth in the entire country. Named the Big East Midfielder of the Year in 2014, Pitter’s experience and ability adds to a dynamic mix of talent when combined with the play of Herbers and Lopez-Espin up top.
“It looks better now,” Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich said of the trio’s collective performance on the field. “They’re a little bit calmer. They were a little bit calmer in the Northwestern game compared to the Bradley game where we were still very hectic in our attack. They seem to look for one another more and have started to combine a little bit more with one another, creating space for each other, so all of that is going in the right direction.”
Creighton’s Defensive Midfield Playing Catch Up
An area with a lot of experience coming back doesn’t normally create concern for a head coach prior to the start of the regular season, but with an injury to junior midfielder Ricardo Perez and the fact that senior midfielder Mike Paye missed the Germany trip have put the pair a little bit behind the rest of the unit around them.
Mike Paye (WBR/Mike Spomer) CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY
“It’s little details that could make a big difference,” Bolowich said. “I think so far we haven’t been punished for our mistakes, we haven’t been exposed yet. We need to sort out our runs, we need to protect ourselves against the counter. We need to press a little bit more effectively. Sometimes we let other teams off the hook too easy. Those will be the things right now that I will have my major focus on.”
Bolowich believes that both Paye and Perez will get things sorted out eventually. Right now it’s just a matter of finding their rhythm within the game.
“Right now it’s less about experience, more about sharpness,” he said. “They haven’t played all summer and the last three games — the Blue/White and the two scrimmages — were the only games they played, so obviously they’re not 100% on their game yet in terms of timing and in terms of recognizing situations. That’s where we see some mistakes and we hope we are just not getting exposed at this point, but they’re going to get better.”
Bluejays Back Line Steady and Strong
Lucas Stauffer (WBR/Mike Spomer) CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY
Vincent Keller (WBR/Mike Spomer) CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY
Sophomore Lucas Stauffer and freshman Joel Rydstrand make up the outside backs, while senior captains Vincent Keller and Eric DeJulio anchor the defense in front of senior goalkeeper Connor Sparrow.
As a freshman Stauffer scored four goals and tallied two assists in 22 matches last season. He made 11 starts and scored game-winning goals against Villanova, Seton Hall, and in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against No. 25 Oregon State.
Keller and DeJulio lead the defense from the center back position, bridging the gap between Sparrow and the midfield. DeJulio played every minute of every match last season, while Keller played all but one half’s worth of the total minutes.
To start the year they will be relied upon to keep things organized while the defensive midfield gets up to speed.
“They have the game in front of them, so they can fix a lot of things that are going wrong already just with communication towards the players in front of them like Mike Paye, like Perez, like Castellanos,” Bolowich said. “So there is a little bit of coaching going on on the field, and that’s mainly what I look for them to do. They’re comfortable doing that and yet they can still play their part and perform well when they are getting tested.”
In goal is one of the surprise stars of the 2014 season, Connor Sparrow. Thrust into the starting keeper role when Alex Bolowich was injured, Sparrow posted four consecutive clean sheets to begin the season and never looked back. He played all but about five minutes in goal for the Bluejays and finished second in the nation with a .485 goals against average after posting 11 shutouts in 22 matches.
“What you look for in a goalkeeper is always consistency,” Sparrow’s head coach said. “You don’t want ups and downs, you don’t want good and bad. Even goalkeepers here and there have a bad day that can happen, but you don’t want it on a consistent level. You want here and there that he has a bad day and hopefully we get away with it and still be able to win a game, but on the other hand you’re looking for him to be steady.
Connor Sparrow (WBR) CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY
“He’s a good presence. I think he’s very good coming off of his line. He’s very good on crosses. He’s safe, he knows when to punch, he knows when to catch. He doesn’t take unnecessary risks, and he manages the game really well from his position.”