Creighton University – Women’s Soccer College Spotlight

Although it is rarely covered by the traditional media giants of the state, Nebraska is filled with exciting and competitive collegiate soccer programs. In fact, Nebraska contains a grand total of THIRTY programs for men and women. Those thirty programs compete across a wide variety of collegiate levels including Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and junior college.

Nebraska Soccer Talk is here to examine, cover, and promote all of these teams. This task has been made a bit more challenging by the circumstances created by COVID-19. Depending on the playing level, conference, and school, the season outlook changes drastically. Roster information can also be in flux, depending on the school. Despite these challenges, our staff attempted to put together the best program summaries possible. To our knowledge, we are the only outlet providing such coverage to our state’s college programs.

Just like Nebraska Soccer Talk, this column will grow and become more in depth as the years pass. In the future, we hope to provide sideline coverage of games, facility features, coach and player interviews. We look forward to the journey ahead. Thank you for being a part of our community. The sport of soccer is growing in Nebraska, and we intend to see it thrive.

Disclaimer – In the making of this article, team websites and other research sources were utilized. Although we attempt to avoid them whenever possible, errors can occur. Please contact us directly with corrections.

Creighton University

Head Coach – Ross Paule

After a highly successful playing career for the Creighton men’s program, Coach Paule returned to Creighton to coach the women’s side in 2014. Since that time, the Bluejays have posted three winning seasons.

Assistant Coaches – Lisa-Marie Woods, Karli Kopietz, Josue Rivas

Mascot – Bluejays

Year Regular Season Record Big East Conference Record
2019 8-7-3 2-4-3
2018 6-10-1 3-5-1
2017 4-11-3 2-5-2
2016 9-6-2 4-5

Nebraska Homegrown Players On Roster – 

  • #12 Emma Paule – So – Omaha Marian – Mid
  • #20 Skylar Heinrich – So – Elkhorn High – F

2/32 = 6%

Known Recruiting Class

  • Hitami Yamaue – Tyler JC / Okayama, Japan – D
  • Greta Betz – Cincinnati, OH – M
  • Taylor Daffer – Gretna High School – D
  • Bailey Laplante – De Soto, KS – GK
  • Hailey Rothwell – Madison, WI – F
  • Kennedy Ruark – Overland Park, KS – D

NEST Analysis – Nebraska has three Division I women’s soccer programs; all of which seem to be at the same point in terms of recent records and trajectory. Creighton has a big opportunity to establish itself as the flagship women’s soccer program for the state. Located in the state’s most populous and talent rich city, Creighton must take the next step and begin to compete in the Big East. All of the pieces are in place; it is time to put the puzzle together. 2021 Signee Taylor Daffer is an excellent in-state addition, on what seems to be a more national and international roster. In the next few years, a dominant women’s program needs to arise from Nebraska. Will Creighton fill that role?

 

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through multiple different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on TwitterInstagram, or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

 

Bellevue East – Class A Team Preview (Boys)

Previewing an upcoming season is never an easy task. To do so properly takes countless hours of emails, observations, statistical research, conversation, and reflection. Adding onto that difficulty are challenges, such as a cancelled 2020 season and lingering COVID restrictions, making our preview preparation feel almost impossible. 

Despite these obstacles, the approaching 2021 season and its participants – whether that be players, coaches, fans, or families – deserve some semblance of normalcy. Soccer in Nebraska and all those who participate deserve to be promoted. Over the course of the next several weeks, the NEST will overview EVERY high school soccer program in our state. This was done to the best of our ability using all of the information we could collect. 

Nebraska Soccer Talk is here to support many fantastic teams, coaches, players, fans, and referees that make our game possible. One mission of this venture is to discover and centralize newsworthy information. This can only be done in collaboration with individual programs. As a whole, our sport must better promote itself in order to grow the player and supporter pool. We encourage every team to proudly and consistently advertise itself to us and the general public. The more information available, the more our game will grow. Soccer is a game historically left behind to linger in the background in the United States. That circumstance is changing, but that change will not happen automatically. Growing and covering all aspects of our sport will take effort from all of those who love it. 

Disclaimer – To prepare for these articles, a questionnaire was sent to every school’s head coach and athletic director. Many of these questionnaires were returned in a timely fashion, others were not. Nebraska Soccer Talk prides itself on equal and in-depth coverage but cooperation is needed to meet that goal. Please consider this to be our reasoning when it comes to article length and accuracy.

Bellevue East Boy’s Soccer Team

Head Coach – Luis Vazquez

Previous Records:

Year Record
2019 4-13
2018 4-13

Players to Watch – Schyler Smeby

State Status – Front Runner, Contender, Dark Horse, Up-And-Coming, Building, Too Early To Tell

NEST Analysis – Bellevue East is a program searching for an identity and momentum. In 2019, the Chieftains struggled against high level programs, but were able to win against other struggling squads. With the cancellation of the 2020 season, a dramatic turnaround is not out of the realm of possibility. Look for Schyler Smeby to lead this team during the 2021 campaign, as Smeby impressed many throughout the recent club season. 

Being situated in an open district is both a blessing and a curse. If results are going your way, players flock to your program. However, in challenging times, aspects such as player retention and morale can struggle at all levels. Under these circumstances, developing relationships at the youth level should be a priority.

 

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter or listen to our podcast on Spotify.