Creighton University
Missouri State
Men's Soccer Deals No. 9 Missouri State First Loss
10/12/2005 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. Byron Dacy scored his second straight game-winning goal and the Creighton defense locked down on the highest-scoring offense in the league, topping ninth-ranked Missouri State 2-0 Wednesday night at Morrison Stadium. The Bears (8-1-2, 1-1-0 MVC) did not log a shot on goal in the match and the Bluejays improved to 6-2-3, 2-0-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play with the shutout victory.
The Jays and Bears played nearly even through a scoreless first half of play, with CU holding a shots advantage 8-3 after 45 minutes.
CU did not wait long to find the back of the net in the second half. The Jays were awarded a free kick just to the side of the goalkeeper box. Tony Schmitz lofted the kick to the middle and Dacy knocked in his team-leading fifth goal of the year on a header. The tally at 49:46 proved to be the game-winner.
MSU did not mount many attacking plays during the match, as the Jays out-shot the Bears 14-8. MSU entered the match with a league-best 26 goals and 77 points, but the Bears were stifled by the Bluejay defense and did not attempt a shot on goal in the match.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Allen was the beneficiary of stellar CU defensive play, as he is credited with the shutout, while not making a save.
'I think Richard Perdomo has really come in and made a huge difference for our defense,' said head coach Bob Warming after the win. 'All four of our backs played outstanding tonight to not even allow a shot on goal to that team. I credit Missouri State, they are a very athletic team, they play hard and didn't give up. I expect we'll see them again at the conference tournament next month.'
Perdomo made his second straight start, only the second of his career, for the Jays in the back. Ryan Junge, Andrew Peterson and Schmitz also started in the back and played standout defense to shutout MSU.
Danny Minutillo added an insurance goal in the 85th minute when he found himself alone in front of the net for a one-timer feed from Michael Kraus. Brian Biggerstaff was also credited with an assist on the Minutillo's second goal of the season.
The Jays are now in sole possession of first-place in the MVC at 2-0-0. CU welcomes Bradley (8-3-1, 1-0-1 MVC) to Morrison Stadium on Saturday for the Jays final home game in October. Creighton has won six straight meetings with BU and the Braves have never won in Omaha (0-7-0).
NOTES: CU is now 2-0 against ranked opponents this year, after topping No. 23 Memphis 3-1 on Sept. 16 ... No. 9 MSU was the highest-ranked opponent the Jays have faced at Morrison Stadium ... MSU was also ranked as the No. 1 team in the NSCAA Midwest Region poll ... The Jays played as an unranked (NSCAA) team for the first time since 2003.
