Women's Soccer Returns Home to Battle Creighton

Creighton Blue Jays (0-1-0) vs. Air Force Falcons (0-2-0)
Friday, Aug. 24, 6 p.m.
Cadet Soccer Stadium - USAF Academy, Colo.

Broadcast Information
- Video Stream: Mountain West Network
- Live Statistics: Statbroadcast (airforcestats.com)
- Twitter updates at @AF_wsoccer

Series History vs. Creighton (Full Series Info on Page 9 of Notes):
- Air Force is 1-1 all-time vs. Creighton
- The series began in 1997. First meeting since 1999
- Air Force lost the first meeting at home, 2-1, but won on the road in Omaha in 1999, 1-0

2017 Records:
Air Force - 7-9-3 overall, 4-4-3 in MW (T-6th)
Creighton - 4-11-3 overall, 2-5-2 in Big East (8th)

Air Force Returns Home to Battle Creighton
Air Force women's soccer continues its 2018 campaign back at the comforts of home as it hosts Creighton University in non-conference action, Friday evening, August 24, at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The match against the Blue Jays serves as AF's next opportunity to get in the win column before taking a 14-day hiatus from regular season competition. The Falcons will have an exhibition coinciding with Parents Weekend, Aug. 31, but don't play an actual game until their first regular season trip outside the state at Army West Point, Sept. 7.

Hiddink The Brick Wall
Despite the 3-1 setback to Northern Colorado, Aug. 19, senior goalie Jennifer Hiddink managed to keep the match within striking distance as she recorded a career-high 13 saves on the day. The 13 stops were the most in a match for AF since 2004, when Jennifer Drew recorded 15 saves against BYU. In all, the 13 saves are tied for the fifth-most in a single game in program history. The veteran netminder is fourth in Air Force history in career saves with 264. She is 23 saves behind Kristy Kuhlman for third place all-time, and 101 away from breaking the program record of 364 set by Steph Jardine.

Rookies Racking Up The Minutes
With nine freshmen joining the roster entering the season, and thanks to some injuries to key upperclassmen, rookies have seen plenty of action over the first two games. Four freshmen have combined to make seven starts so far, while freshmen have accounted for 565 of the teams 1,950 combined minutes (29 percent). In addition, freshman Micah Larkin accounted for the team's lone goal thus far with an unassisted tally against Northern Colorado.

Scouting Creighton
The Blue Jays enter the weekend with just one regular season match under its belt, a 2-0 defeat to Iowa, Aug. 19. In that match, CU notched 10 shots, five on net, but could not get on the board. Redshirt freshman Katie Sullivan made the start in goal and played all 90 minutes, tallying a pair of saves. Creighton returns eight starters and 12 letterwinners from a team that went 4-11-3 last season, including eighth place finish in the Big East Conference. Head Coach Ross Paule enters his fourth season at the helm. He has led Creighton to a 23-28-5 record.

Opponent Connections
Creighton has a trio of players that hail from Colorado in Emily Goodson and Morgan Szarka from Aurora, and Haylee Blach from Centennial. Goodson attended Smoky Hill High School, Szarka Grandview High School, and Blach went to Regis Jesuit. Meanwhile, Air Force sophomore Emma Nelson is a native of Omaha and attended Marian High School.

Up Next
The Falcons' next event is the Blue/Silver exhibition, which will coincide with Parents Weekend, Friday, Aug. 31. The next regular season match is on the road at Army West Point, Friday, Sept. 7

Women's Soccer Returns Home to Battle Creighton

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Players Mentioned

Jennifer Hiddink

Micah Larkin

Emma Nelson

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