OMAHA, Neb. – For the fifth time in the last nine years, the Creighton men’s soccer team opened the season with a tie, playing to a 0-0 draw with Loyola (Ill.) at Morrison Stadium Tuesday night.  The first Tuesday opener in school history witnessed the sixth-ranked Bluejays out-shoot the Ramblers 22-10, including a 17-5 clip after halftime.  The Creighton defense picked up right where it left off last season, following its record-setting 13 shutouts in 2008, with a clean sheet to begin 2009.

After an evenly played first half to the season, with both sides attempting five shots and splitting possession, the Bluejays came out on the attack in the second half.  Creighton dominated possession after halftime, unloaded 11 shots in the second half, to just three by the Ramblers.  Loyola was held without a shot for the final 33 minutes of regulation.

“I think we're ahead of this time last year,” said head coach Bob Warming after moving his mark to 8-1-5 in season-openers at Creighton.  “But we need to have someone emerge on our set pieces.  Last year we relied so much on Andrei (Gotsmanov) and what he could do in those situations.  We'll get better at that.  There were some exciting moments in the match, and I feel like we deserved better than a tie.”

The Bluejays' first shot on goal of the season didn’t come until the 51st minute, when Seth Sinovic's shot made its way to Loyola keeper Peter McKeown.  While McKeown made five saves, it was two saves by his teammates which prevented the Ramblers from leaving Omaha with a loss.  The first team save for Loyola came when Chris Schuler’s shot in the 60th minute was cleared off the line by a defender.  

McKeown's diving saving of Ethan Finlay’s shot in the 88th minute kept the game scoreless on one of CU's best scoring opportunities of the night.  Finlay sprinted past the LU defense with the help of a fantastic pass from Greg Jordan.  He unloaded from 12 yards out, but McKeown sprawled to his right and got his finger tips on the ball enough to deflect it past the left goal post and keep the score tied at zero.

The Jays nearly scored on a set play in the third minute of overtime, when Sinovic’s free kick from just outside the corner of the 18-yard box found it's way to Jordan.  Jordan flicked the ball on goal and the large student crowd behind the net reacted as if it would be the game-winner, only to see another LU defender help McKeown out by clearing the ball off the line just inches from going in.

Bluejay keeper Brian Holt was tested early, making three stops in the first half and finishing with four saves in the shutout.  The sophomore now has 13 career shutouts in 20 career starts.

Starting Bluejay forwards Finlay and Byron Dacy each finished with four shots to pace the Jays.  Seven different Bluejays put one shot on goal in the contest.

Creighton returns to action on Saturday night, when they welcome 23rd-ranked Cal Poly to Morrison Stadium.  Kick off for the top-25 contest is set for 7 p.m.