Creighton University
SMU
Men's Soccer Wins MVC Regular Season Title With 2-0 Victory
10/31/2003 2:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
DALLAS, Texas - Creighton's men's soccer team clinched the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a 2-0 victory at Southern Methodist on Friday night. The Jays' sixth shutout in eight MVC contests earns them their sixth regular-season championship, and first since 1996.
Creighton (10-3-3, 7-0-1 MVC) had to go through three-time defending champion SMU (10-6-1, 3-5-0 MVC) to earn the title. The win was the seventh consecutive for the Bluejays, moving their current undefeated streak to nine games.
Vince Odorisio scored the game-winning goal in the 33rd minute of play. The sophomore came off the bench and scored on a blast which deflected off an SMU defender and into the net at 32:19.
Guido Leon came up huge for the Bluejays in net. The senior goalkeeper had a career night, stopping a career best 12 shots in the shutout. Leon now has seven solo shutouts on the year and lowered his goals against average to 0.60. The Bluejays have kept opponents scoreless in eight matches this season, including six of eight MVC contests for a 0.24 GAA in conference play.
Leon's 12 saves are the most by a CU goalkeeper since Mike Gabb made nine stops at Virginia on Dec. 2, 2000.
Freshman Michael Kraus scored an insurance goal in the 78th minute. Kraus took a feed from senior David Wagenfuhr on a break away. Kraus then beat the SMU goalkeeper one-on-one and put the ball into the side of the net at 77:09 for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. With the assist, Wagenfuhr moved into sole possesion of seventh place on the CU career assists chart with 25 helpers.
The Jays weathered an offensive attack from SMU, as the Mustangs attempted 20 shots to CU's six on the night. The Mustangs also owned a 9-0 edge in corner kicks.
CU can now relax and enjoy its final contest of the regular-season on Sunday at Tulsa. The Jays and Golden Hurricane will battle it out at 1:35 p.m. in Tulsa to conclude the Valley schedule.
Creighton will play host to the first round of the MVC Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. at the Creighton Soccer Field.
