• 2009 Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic

• Cummlative Statistics 

• Summer Camp Info

• Soccer Times Top 25 Poll

• NSCAA Top 25 Poll

• U.S. Soccer Federation

Aug. 27, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

BULLDOGS JUMP RIGHT INTO FIRE: For the second straight season Gonzaga University won't waste any time jumping into the collegiate soccer fire. Last year the Bulldogs faced defending College Cup champion and top-ranked UC Santa Barbara in the second match of the season, topping the Gauchos 1-0 on the road. This Friday the Bulldogs travel to Omaha, Neb., to open the season against Creighton University in a Battle of the Jesuits. The Bluejays are ranked in the Top 10 in all four major pre-season polls - 6th in the NSCAA/adidas coaches poll, 7th by College Soccer News, 8th by SoccerTimes and 9th by Soccer America.

NINE MONTHS LATE: Gonzaga University might think Friday's meeting between the Bulldogs and Creighton University is about nine months too late. Had the Bulldogs defeated SMU last November in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament the Bulldogs would have headed to Creighton for the second round of the tourney. Gonzaga suffered a 1-0 road setback at SMU in the opening round, the goal coming on a late penalty kick. Creighton was seeded into the second round and downed SMU 3-0 before losing to the University of Illinois-Chicago 2-0 in the third round.

BLUEJAYS HAVE NCAA HISTORY: While Gonzaga University made just its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season, Creighton University headed to the post-season for their 16th straight NCAA Tournament sojourn. Creighton returns seven starters from last season, including a pair of players on the 2008 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list. Junior forward Byron Dacy and senior midfielder Andrei Gotsmanov are up for national Player of the Year honors. Dacy played just two matches last year prior to being sidelined with a torn ACL. He had nine goals and nine assists as a freshman in 2005. Gotsmanov more than picked up the slack in Dacy's absence a year ago, scoring 6 goals and scoring 17 points.

SECOND MEETING: Friday will be the second meeting between Gonzaga University and Creighton University, and the Bulldogs would like to duplicate the first match-up between the Jesuit institutions. Gonzaga upset top-ranked Creighton 1-0 Sept. 26, 1999, on the final day of the Diadora Classic hosted by the Bluejays. Brett Fink scored the lone goal on an assist by Jason Kuska.

GET THAT MONKEY... Don't be surprised if Gonzaga University does a little extra celebrating when the Bulldogs score their first goal of 2008. The Bulldog offense struggled late in the 2007 season, Gonzaga going the final 548:13 of the season without a goal after a 1-0 win over the University of San Francisco Nov. 2, 2007. Departed senior John Reha scored that goal. Gonzaga went scoreless in its last five matches following the USF match with just a 0-0 tie against Saint Mary's College to show for its efforts. Included in the drought was the 1-0 NCAA Tournament setback at SMU.

THREE SENIORS: After losing 10 seniors from last year's team, Gonzaga University has just three seniors in the fold this year in midfielders Nick Heinrichs, Conor Baranski and Bryan Mullaney. Heinrichs saw the most playing time of the trio last season, 15 of his 16 appearances in a starting role. Baranski had a pair of starts in 12 appearances and Mullaney came off the bench in all 13 of his matches.

PERDIDO OFFENSIVE THREAT: Tye Perdido is the top returning scorer for Gonzaga University, netting three goals and an assist for seven points. The native of Kula, Hawai'i was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection a year ago.

DEFENSE SHOULD BE STRONG: Junior defenders Nick Barclay and Tim Muravez were two of five players to start all 20 matches a year ago for Gonzaga University, their defensive play helping the Bulldogs post a 0.71 goals-against-average which was just shy of the single-season school record of 0.68. Gonzaga recorded six shutouts in '07. Head coach Einar Thorarinsson is looking for defense to be a strong staple again.

KEEPER BATTLE: The last line of defense - the keeper - has come down to a two-man battle between 2007 freshman redshirt Andrew Hickman and Scott Barnum, a junior transfer last spring from Spokane's Whitworth College. While Hickman was redshirting at Gonzaga last season, Barnum started all 20 matches while posting a 15-4-1 record, 0.68 GAA and 10 shutouts for Whitworth, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III men's soccer championship. Hickman played all of last Sunday's 3-0 exhibition win over Trinity Western University of Langley, British Columbia. Barnum has been nursing a sore shoulder throughout much of summer camp.

GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE: Gametracker, a function of web site provider CBS Collegesports, will be available for all Gonzaga University home matches and select Bulldog road contests this season. To follow Gonzaga University via Gametracker log on to http://wwww.gozags.com and go the Gametracker link in the schedule portion of the site.

THE THORARINSSON TALE OF THE TAPE: Gonzaga University head coach Einar Thorarinsson is 110-102-20 in his 14th season with the Bulldogs. His overall record is 229-154-33 that includes nine seasons across town at Whitworth College. He picked up his 100th Gonzaga win in 2006 with a 3-0 home win at Saint Mary's College. After going 3-10-2 in his first season of 1995, the Bulldogs have had winning seasons in six of the last 10 seasons under Thorarinsson. His teams led the West Coast Conference in wins with a 14-4-0 record in 1997 and 12-4-2 mark in 1998, capturing WCC co-championships in each of those seasons. The Bulldogs were 9-5-2 in 2001, making their inaugural College Cup appearance. In 2005 Gonzaga went to the final match of the season with a chance to win the WCC title. He was accorded his third WCC Coach of the Year honor in 2005 to go with similar honors won in 1996-97 as he was the first coach in Gonzaga history to receive back-to-back WCC Coach of the Year accolades. He is the fourth winningest coach overall in WCC contests with 46 wins and is second among active coaches, Seamus McFadden of the University of San Diego atop both lists with 73 wins.