Creighton University
Missouri State
SMS Upsets Top-Seeded Bluejays, 1-0, in Men's Soccer
11/8/2003 2:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. - Southwest Missouri State upset the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion Creighton men's soccer team with a 1-0 win over the Bluejays in the first round of the MVC Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Creighton Soccer Field. The loss means the Jays will not appear in the MVC Tournament championship match for the first time since 1999.
The 19th-ranked Bluejays (10-5-3) and Bears (9-7-2) played even throughout a scoreless first half. Both teams each logged five shots, three corner kicks and one shot on goal in the first 45 minutes of the match.
SMS, the tournament's eighth-seed, scored the game-winning goal early in the second half. Evan Keeling was able to bang home a shot into the top corner of the Bluejay net for the only tally of the day. The score was Keeling's first goal of the year and it was set up by Jon Watson and Doug Lascody at 48:44.
Creighton poured on offensive pressure in the final 20 minutes of the match, but to no avail. Several near misses included a David Wagenfuhr free kick from about 25 yards out sailing just wide, an Andrew Peterson shot crossing through the box on the ground wide and a Damien Westfield shot inside the box which appeared to be touched by an SMS defender's hand, but no call was made.
Matt Thomas had a shot turned away late in the game as SMS' keeper, Matt Pickens, jumped and punched the ball over the crossbar to hold the SMS lead.
Andrew Brown started in net for the Bluejays and played solid in goal. His leaping save on an SMS shot in the first half kept the game scoreless.
With the win, SMS advances to the tournament semifinals where it will meet up with the No. 4-seeded Bradley Braves next Friday in St. Louis.
The 10-5-3 Bluejays now must wait and hope for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament when the NCAA bracket is announced on Monday, Nov. 17. CU owns an impressive resume which includes a 2-1-0 mark against Top-25 teams, playing 10 of 18 games against teams which appeared in the Top-25 this year and the MVC regular-season championship at 7-1-1. Creighton is one of five teams in the nation to appear in the last 11 NCAA tournaments.
