Win vs. #24 Washington Caps 9-3 Week in The Valley -- In Missouri Valley Conference men’s action last week, the league went a collective 9-3 as Creighton downed No. 24 Washington to give the league its third victory against a top-25 team this year.  In addition to the Bluejays (1-0), Drake (2-0), Evansville (2-0) and Missouri State (2-0) had perfect weeks in non-league play.

Brine / Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Mike Luttrull, Evansville, Fr., F, Indianapolis, Ind.
 Luttrull came back from a knee injury that forced him to miss three matches, and scored two goals in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Butler.  His second goal of the day was the overtime game-winner, giving UE its second consecutive victory on the opponent’s home field for the first time since 2002.

Brine / Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week
Lance Parker, Missouri State, Sr., GK, Oklahoma City, Okla.
 Parker anchored the Bears’ defensive effort in two wins at the Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic.  Parker saved 14-of-15 (.933 save percentage) shots on goal and was named the tournament’s MVP.   Parker has 65 saves (.867 save percentage) thus far this season.

OTHER STARS LAST WEEK:
Offense:
Thomas Gjoesund, D/F, Creighton
 • His first career goal was the game-winning overtime tally against No. 24 Washington last Saturday.
 • It gave CU its second win against a top-25 foe in 07.
Yanik Joseph, Missouri State
 • Scored two second-half goals in 2-1 win against UIC, ending an MSU scoreless streak that stretched 3 ½ games and were his first and second of the season.
 • All-Tournament team at the Busey/BU Classic.
Michael Noonan, F, Drake
 • Scored two goals, including the winning goal vs. NIU.
 • Is tied for second on the team with three goals and has taken only seven shots this season.

Defense:
Kipp Erskine, D, Evansville
 • Helped UE shut out UMKC, 1-0, in overtime.
 • Scored the tying goal in the final minute of regulation Sunday at Butler, leading to the Aces’ overtime victory. 
Luke Frieberg, D, Drake
 • Drake went 2-0 last week, including shut win over Northern Illinois and 3-2 OT win against ORU.
 • Assisted on Drake’s second goal against ORU.
Ben Friesen, D/M, Eastern Illinois
 • Scored the game-winning goal in 2-0 win over IPFW.
 • The goal was the first of his career.
Chris Schuler, D, Creighton
 • Shut down National Player of the Year candidate and 2006 Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Forrest in CU’s 2-1 win over No. 24 Washington last Saturday.  Forrest, who notched a hat trick against CU last year, was limited to just one shot – not on goal – in 98 minutes.

Against the Rest
 Valley teams are 33-24-8 (.569) in non-conference play so far this year, including a 3-2-2 record against top-25 opponents.   The Valley has had winning non-MVC records every year since 1992 and in 15 of its first 16 seasons.  The league was 39-32-9 (.544) in 2006.   The league’s all-time best was in 1993, when Valley schools combined for a 49-24-2 (.667) record against non-conference schools.

Valley Opener on National TV
 Bradley and Creighton, defending regular-season co-champs, will open their six-game Valley schedules on Oct. 10 in Omaha.  The game will be televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel.  Creighton has the better of it in the all-time series, winning 18 of 22 previous matches, including all eight in Omaha.

BU .. Successful Bounce Backs
 Bradley will be attempting to bounce back from Saturday night’s 1-0 overtime loss to Illinois-Chicago when it returns to the field Wednesday.  So far in 2007 BU is 2-0-0 in its first games after a loss, responding to a 3-0 loss at #1 Wake Forest with a 3-0 victory at Western Illinois and a 2-0 loss to #9 Saint Louis with another 3-0 victory against IUPUI.  Going back to last season, Bradley has won its next game after each of its last seven losses.

BU .. Final Non-MVC Tune-up
 Although Bradley still will have four non-conference games remaining after visiting UMKC Wednesday afternoon, the Braves will play their final pre-conference tune-up when they take on the Kangaroos at Swope Park.  Taking a 5-3-1 record to UMKC, Bradley already has topped last year’s non-conference victory total as the Braves were just 4-6-2 outside the Missouri Valley Conference in 2006.

BU .. Climbing the Summit
 Wednesday’s game at UMKC will be Bradley’s third of four games against Summit League (formerly Mid-Continent Conference) members in 2007.  Thus far the Braves are 2-0-0 against Summit League teams with a pair of shutout victories:  3-0 Sept. 13 at Western Illinois and 2-0 Friday night against IUPUI.  Following Wednesday’s game at UMKC, Bradley will visit Oral Roberts Oct. 22 in the final game against the Summit League this year.

CU .. G.I. Gjoesund
 Thomas Gjoesund’s first career goal was a memorable one vs. No. 24 Washington.  The defender-turned-attacker scored the game-winner in OT, as his direct free kick was blasted past the UW keeper to give CU a 2-1 win in the 98th minute.  Gjoesund had played just 18 minutes off the bench in the match, while playing out of position due to several Bluejay injuries.

CU .. Top-25 Foes
 Three of Creighton’s last five matches have come against the NSCAA top 25, with the Bluejays posting a 2-0-1 mark against nationally-ranked foes this year.  After tying No. 11 UCLA, 0-0, the Jays have defeated both No. 2 Indiana and No. 24 Washington by the same 2-1 score.  Creighton is now 46-37-9 all-time against the top 25, 18-8-2 all-time against top 25 foes at home and an impressive 8-1-1 against nationally-ranked opponents at Morrison Stadium.

CU .. Say What?
 Creighton hosts Western Illinois on Friday.  The Leathernecks are the only team on Creighton’s schedule this season that has a winning record against the Bluejays all-time, as WIU has won all three meetings.  This distinction may deserve as asterisk however, as the teams have not met since the CU program was restarted in 1990.  WIU won one-goal games in 1982, 1983 and 1985 – CU’s final year of competition before a four-year hiatus.

DU .. Elusive Overtime Win
 Drake’s overtime win over Oral Roberts is the first OT win Drake has captured since exactly four years prior on Sept. 28, 2003 when the Bulldogs beat Valparaiso, 1-0.

DU .. Freshman Flare
 Freshmen Michael Noonan, Nick Foster and Matt Kuhn have injected some life and flare into the Bulldog lineup. Noonan is tied for second on the team with three goals. Kuhn and Foster have each contributed four assists while starting in all ten matches this season, Kuhn has two goals and Foster has one.

DU .. Best Since 2003
 The Bulldogs are off to their best start since the 2003 season, winning six matches before Oct. 1.  In 2003, the Bulldogs achieved the same record and went on to post a 10-6-3 record and a No. 22 ranking by the NSCAA.

EIU .. Friesen Finds Net
 Ben Friesen scored the game-winning goal in EIU’s 2-0 victory against IPFW Friday, joining Alex Harrison as EIU freshmen to find the back of the net this season. Current teammate Joel Del Toro was the last Panther whose first career goal proved to be the game-winner in an EIU home victory. Del Toro accomplished the feat in the 2004 season opener against Butler.

EIU .. Galeski Assists Both
 Mick Galeski assisted on both EIU goals in the win over IPFW, recording the second multi-assist effort of his career and first since his freshman campaign. He played all 90 minutes of both games this past week and now currently leads the team in minutes (921 of 961) for the year. He overtook Jeremy Maubach in that category Friday after Maubach did not suit up, ending his consecutive minutes played streak at 1,811 dating back to last season.

EIU .. Back in the Mix
 Goalkeeper Nick Alexander made his first start since 2005 and recorded his second career shutout in Friday’s 2-0 victory. The Omaha native redshirted last season. Alexander has played in all three of EIU home games this season, relieving starter Mark Hansen in the second half versus IUPUI and Western Illinois. Eastern’s six shutouts this season are just one shy of last year’s total, which was a team high in the program’s MVC era (1996-present).

UE .. Solid Homecoming
 Evansville freshman forward Mike Luttrull came back just in time in his hometown of Indianapolis to help the Aces win Sunday at Butler.  Luttrull missed the previous three matches with a knee injury, but he came off the bench Sunday to score two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as Evansville came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2.  The Aces have won their last three overtime matches.

UE .. Senior Leadership
 Evansville seniors Ian McAuley and Cory Elenio have now combined for 87 career points.  McAuley has 19 goals and 8 assists for 46 career points, while Elenio has 13 and 15 for 41.  Elenio’s five assists this season are more than in any of his previous three years.  Both are now in the top 30 in UE career scoring.

UE .. Long Layoff
 Evansville has its longest layoff of the season – 10 days – in preparation for the Missouri Valley opener at home on Wednesday, Oct. 10, against Western Kentucky. The road team has won the last three UE-WKU matches, most recently a 2-1 Evansville victory at Bowling Green last year.

MSU .. Joseph a Spark
 Yanik Joseph sparked Missouri State to a 2-1 victory over Illinois-Chicago, Friday, in the Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic. Joseph’s two second half goals ended an MSU scoreless streak that stretched 3 ½ games and were his first and second of the season. MSU won the Classic, going 2-0, and Joseph was named to the All-Tournament Team.

MSU .. Road Warriors
 Just one more road game remains of a nearly month-long seven-game stretch for Missouri State. The Bears, winners of two straight contests, play at Southern Methodist on Wednesday. Missouri State will host Alabama A&M on Oct. 6 at Plaster Field.

MSU .. Scoring Drought
 Missouri State scored three goals in two wins at the Busey/Bradley Homecoming Classic this past weekend.  The Bears had scored just three times in its previous six contests though, going 0-5-1. However, MSU has outscored its opponents 13-10 on the season.

WKU .. Masteller Finds Net
 Freshman Andy Masteller scored the first goal of his career Friday night against Kentucky. The goal put the Hilltoppers up 1-0 in the 20th minute. With the goal, Masteller moved into the team lead for points as he has also collected two assists on the year.

WKU .. Familiar Foes
 The Hilltoppers will have two non-conference matches this week before Valley action gets underway as WKU faces two familiar foes. On Monday, the Toppers will play Lipscomb for the seventh straight season and on Saturday, WKU will head to Cincinnati, Ohio, and face Xavier for the 12th time.

WKU .. Successful History
 Western Kentucky has a three match win streak against Xavier and won two of the last three matches against Lipscomb.