Things are rather quiet in the world of Creighton sports. Sure, the men’s soccer program doesn’t have a coach, but they’ve got a schedule! And who could blame a potential candidate for being a little weary about tackling Creighton’s 2010 slate? The Jays have games against five teams that finished in the top 20 last season, including Akron (#2), Tulsa (#7), Drake (#8), UC Santa Barbara (#10), and Indiana (#20). Plus, they play games against familiar rivals SMU and Bradley.
Let’s take a quick look at the schedules for Creighton’s men’s and women’s soccer squads and the volleyball team.
Men’s footballers face daunting slate
The Bluejays again have a few exhibition matches scheduled in late August before regular season play begins shortly before Labor Day. The Jays’ first friendly takes place in Colorado against Denver (August 21), in a rematch of a 2-1 CU win against the Pioneers in spring soccer in Omaha. After catching their breaths and getting back to classes, the Jays will host an exhibition against an opponent to be determined (August 27).
Creighton opens the regular season on the road as the Jays head to the Windy City to challenge Loyola Chicago (September 1). A few days later, during Labor Day weekend, the Bluejays will host UNC Greensboro in CU’s home opener at Morrison Stadium (September 4).
The next week offers the Jays a quick trip to California to take on UC Santa Barbara (September 7), and a home game against another Chicago school (DePaul, September 11).
The Jays finish Valley play at home in November against Bradley, but they take a trip to Peoria in mid-September to participate in the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic. There, Creighton will face SMU (September 17) and Dartmouth (September 19).
The Bluejays play their next four matches at Morrison Stadium, beginning with a trip by the Wisconsin Badgers to Omaha (September 24). Then Valley conference play begins, with Eastern Illinois coming to Morrison for Creighton’s MVC opener (October 1). A midweek game against Tulsa (October 5) and a Saturday night showdown against national power Indiana (October 9) precede Creighton’s most challenging stretch of the schedule.
CU hits the road in mid-October for four consecutive away games, including conference matches at Evansville (October 16), Drake (October 20), and Central Arkansas (October 23).
(That’s right – all this talk of conference expansion, and Creighton’s already been a part of one. Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville join the Valley for soccer in 2010.)
The road trip finishes with a game against national runner-up Akron (October 27). But after a challenging match against the Zips, the Jays are in Omaha for the home stretch. They’ll host SIU Edwardsville (October 30), Missouri State (November 3), and Bradley (November 6) before heading to Peoria (again) for the Valley tournament.
Women’s soccer staying put, for the most part
Bruce Erickson wont’ have to worry about frequent flyer miles this fall. His Creighton women’s soccer team won’t travel too far during the regular season; a September 11 match at Weber State in Ogden, Utah seems the furthest the Jays will fly
Exhibition matches against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (August 8 ) and at Kansas (August 15) open the fall for the Jays, who then start the regular season against South Dakota State (August 20). A road trip to Northern Illinois occurs a few days later (August 23), and then the Bluejays participate in an invite in Lincoln. At the adidas Husker Classic, Creighton will face two fellow Jesuit universities: Loyola Maryland (August 27) and Loyola Chicago (August 29).
Home games against Iowa State (September 3) and North Dakota State (September 7) precede roadies at South Dakota (September 9) and Weber State (September 11). The Jays host three more non-conference matches – Wyoming (September 17), Cal State Fullerton (September 19), and Missouri-Kansas City (September 22) – before beginning Valley conference play at Indiana State (September 26).
Erickson’s squad squares off against Northern Iowa on the road (October 2), then comes back to Omaha for conference matches against Evansville (October 9) and Drake (October 14). A non-conference game against Cal State Bakersfield (October 16) breaks up the Valley stretch, which finishes with a roadie at Missouri State (October 22) and a home finale against Illinois State (October 28).
Halloween brings first round MVC Tournament games at campus sites, but then the Bluejays will host the semifinals (November 5) and finals (November 7) of the Valley championship at Morrison Stadium. Erickson’s Jays hope their season is still going when the Valley comes to Omaha in early November.
Volleyball looks to upset Huskers at home
Creighton hosts Nebraska at Sokol Arena.
Let’s just get that out there, first. Sure, the Jays have the Blue-White Scrimmage (August 21) and the Bluejay Invitational featuring Kansas, Lipscomb, and San Francisco (August 27-28). But the big red circle on most Creighton volleyball fans’ calendars is for the Jays’ matchup on campus against the Big Red (August 31).
(Creighton fans, get your tickets as soon as possible for that one. It promises to be an amazing atmosphere, and it would help if most of the crowd were cheering for the home team.)
The home match against the Huskers better be fun, because it will be Creighton’s last contest at Sokol Arena for the better part of a month. CU heads to the Active Ankle Challenge in Saint Louis (SLU, Iowa, and Wake Forest, September 3-4) and the Marquette Invitational in Milwaukee (Toledo, Marquette, and Central Michigan, September 10-11) in September, and the Jays won’t play a home match until they host league leader Northern Iowa (September 24) and Bradley (September 25).
The Jays will alternate home-away weekends — at Illinois State and Indiana State, at home against Missouri State and Wichita State – the first two weekends of October. Then, CU will head to Drake (October 16), Bradley (October 22), and Northern Iowa (October 23) before coming home for matches against Indiana State (October 29) and Illinois State (October 30). The match against the Sycamores marks Creighton’s annual Breast Cancer Awareness Night. Wear your pink!
Creighton will spend the first weekend of November at Wichita State (November 5) and Missouri State (November 6) before coming home to finish the Valley schedule. The Jays play Drake (November 12), Evansville (November 19), and Southern Illinois (November 20) ahead of traveling to Cedar Falls for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (November 25-27).
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Looking forward to any home matches? Hitting the road for any away games? Let us know in the comments.