The #12 Loyola Men's Soccer team plays #10 Creighton tonight in Omaha. Creighton has been to 23 out of the past 24 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournaments, and they've reached the Final Four 5 times since 1996. What looked like just a confidence-building chance to try and match up with a perennially ranked team at the beginning of the season now looks like an opportunity to solidify the basis for an at large bid if Loyola doesn't win the MVC tournament. Getting a result (a win or a tie) on the road would go a long way towards that.

The first RPI ranking of the season was released yesterday, and the Ramblers are #4.

Here's a preview of the game from loyolaramblers.com (with a video link):

http://www.loyolaramblers.com/sports/m- ... 16aac.html

Edit: From the Omaha World Herald:

http://www.omaha.com/creighton/mens-soc ... 42b2a.html

Hello from a Creighton fan! Looking forward to the game tonight and hoping you can provide a brief preview of what to expect from the Ramblers. I know you have a title-winning men's volleyball program and I think soccer can be your other nationally competitive men's sport. Of course, you beat us in basketball last year too... trying to forget about that game!

The weather tonight will be fantastic for soccer. I'm guessing a crowd of 1500-2000; if it were a Saturday night with this weather the crowd would be 5000+. Creighton relied on defense early in the season and lately the offense has emerged. The Jays play a ball-control offense and press the entire field. They typically can maintain possession for 2/3 to 3/4 of the game. Creighton's strengths are excellent skill on the ball, tackling, passing, tight back line, defending set pieces, and excellent goalkeeping. Weaknesses are finishing in the offensive third and offensive set pieces, and susceptibility to breakaways and counters on defense when caught too far forward. Creighton is average in the air on headers.

How do you think the Ramblers will match up?

PS. The golden goal you scored to win your last game was stellar!

Hey JayPak. Welcome to the board! To answer your questions... we don't know! But that was a pretty goal.

Impressed that Creighton draws that well for soccer.

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Pretty disappointing. We got smoked on the scoreboard, but played pretty well for the first 25 minutes. After that we didn't play with nearly as much energy. For most of the game we had more shots on goal, six times as many corners, fewer fouls, and more shots overall. But look up at the scoreboard and it's 2-0. We did get a tie there once, several years ago.

Good win for Creighton, who will probably move way up in the RPI and rankings as a result. We did get a tie there once, several years ago. Ramblers probably won't fall that much, because it was against a Top 10 team on the road. Hopefully the team can get back on track with a win against the MVC's last place squad, Central Arkansas, on Saturday.

Game story. http://www.omaha.com/creighton/mens-soccer/creighton-strikes-early-to-deliver-win-over-loyola-chicago/article_f85e26e0-8520-11e6-a3c7-8321af4cb292.html

More photos. http://whiteandbluereview.com/photo-gallery-creighton-mens-soccer-blanks-loyola-chicago-3-0/

It was a competitive match, played before a crowd of 1894. Creighton did something early it hadn't done all season till last weekend, score off a set piece. The Bluejays then were slow to respond, relaxed a bit much, and Loyola exploited the gaps, creating multiple chances over the first 25 minutes of the game. The Ramblers had two point blank shots that the Creighton keeper stopped. If either goes in, it's a different ball game. The way Loyola responded to Creighton's goal showed their quality and talent.

Creighton's second goal was a beauty. There wasn't anything Loyola did wrong on Creighton's first two goals; they were earned goals. The Bluejays settled down after their second goal and made some halftime adjustments that led to holes being plugged. After the third goal, both sides substituted freely and the outcome was essentially decided. Coach Bolowich was very complimentary of Loyola's team. Although the Ramblers didn't come away with the win, playing a good team like Creighton will be a learning experience that will pay dividends in MVC play and particularly NCAA tournament play at season's end. Creighton took a loss early at Clemson and it led to a bunch of adjustments that have all been positive.

Best wishes for a successful season!