Creighton University
Virginia
Men's Soccer Advances to NCAA Elite Eight With 3-1 Win at Virginia
11/30/2003 2:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Charlottesville, Va. - Senior Damien Westfield scored the game-tying and game-winning goals late in the second half, both assisted by Michael Kraus, to lead the Creighton men's soccer team past Virginia 3-1 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The win moves the Bluejays on to the quarterfinals where they will face St. John's.
After a scoreless first half, the Cavaliers broke through first at the 62:27 mark. As Creighton was attempting to draw Adam Cristman offside, he broke through the trap and took a pass from Joe Vide and beat CU keeper Andrew Brown one-on-one.
It was not until 74:42 that Creighton evened the score. Kraus took a ball on the left side near the endline and crossed the ball to Westfield, who headed in the low-driven cross just inside the near post. The duo hooked up again exactly two minutes later for the game-winner when from about 30 yards out, Kraus fed a through ball to Westfield, who spun twice to free himself from his defender, and then buried a shot in the lower left corner of the goal from about eight yards out. The goals were Westfield's second and third of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays added some insurance with under five minutes to play when Jered Turner received a pass from Julian Nash on the right side inside the box as he was making a run toward the goal and on his first touch of the game, shot it diagonally and put it inside the far post for his first goal of the year.
“I think both teams played a cautious first half as we kind felt each other out, which resulted in few chances,” said Creighton coach Bob Warming. “In the second half we started passing the ball better and put relentless pressure on them after they scored their goal.”
Brown made four saves for Creighton, who outshot the Cavaliers 12-9, including 10-7 in the second half after both teams had just two shots apiece in the first half. Ryan Burke made three saves for Virginia, who won the ACC Tournament Championship two weeks ago. The Jays are now 2-1-1 all-time against Virginia, with both wins coming in the NCAA Tournament, the last in 2000 on their way to the College Cup.
Creighton will now meet the #6 seed St. John's Red Storm, a 3-2 double overtime winner over UC-Santa Barbara, on Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Jamaica, New York with a trip to the NCAA College Cup on the line. The Bluejays defeated St. John's last year in the round of 16 on their way to the College Cup, in a game that was also played in New York.
