Sport in world

Western kicks off road trip with No. 10 Creighton

October 10, 2007 on 9:31 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. The Western Illinois men’s soccer team starts a three-game road trip with No. 10 Creighton, at 7:30 p.m., Friday.

The Leathernecks (4-5-1) are looking to bounce back from a 1-0 loss at the hands of Oakland to open Summit League play. It was the first time since 2002 that they opened conference play with a loss. Tuesday, Western was victorious over in-state rival Eastern Illinois, 3-0. Preston Bernardi (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) scored two first-half goals, while Martin Browne, Jr. (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo) added the third goal of the game for Western.

The Bluejays
Creighton (4-1-2) is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 24 Washington. The Bluejays are led by senior Tony Schmitz and junior Tim Walters, who each have two goals and two assists this season. Matt Allen has been solid in the net with 18 saves and a 0.93 goals against average. In games against ranked teams, Creighton has a mark of 2-0-1, with a win over No. 2 Indiana in addition to their defeat of No. 24 Washington.

Series
Friday’s contest marks the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools. Western has a 3-0-0 edge in the series, with their last win from October 13, 1985.

The Valley
This will mark the fifth and final match up for the Leathernecks with a team from the Missouri Valley Conference. In those games they have posted a record of 2-1-1. Western has been victorious over Eastern Illinois and Drake, while falling to Bradley, and earning a tie with Missouri State.

Back on the Road
After playing four out of six games at MacKenzie Alumni Field, Western hits the road for three straight games. After their match up with Creighton, they travel to DeKalb, Sunday, to take on Northern Illinois, and next weekend return to Summit League play at UMKC. Western has posted a record of 4-1-1 on the road this season.

Live Stats
Friday’s game will have live stats, which can be accessed through the schedule portion of the soccer page. The game will also be carried with live video and audio for a fee to non-Rocky Vision subscribers.

Originaly from Source