Creighton University
Illinois-Chicago
No. 25 Bluejays Burned by Flames in 2-1 Men's Soccer Loss
10/5/2005 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. For the second consecutive match, the 25th-ranked Creighton men's soccer team dominated its opponent, but for the second straight contest, the Bluejays were unable to come away with a result in their favor. CU out-shot Illinois-Chicago 26-6 Wednesday night, but the Flames managed a 2-1 win to upset the Jays at Morrison Stadium.
CU (4-2-3) controlled a scoreless first half, blasting nine shots, including two on goal in the opening 45 minutes. The Jays allowed only two first-half shots and had six corner kicks to none by UIC (5-3-1) in that span.
The Flames broke the scoreless drought in the 59th minute. Tonci Skroce collected a loose ball nearly 30 yards out and launched a shot which went over CU goalkeeper Matt Allen and dropped below the crossbar at the 58:36 mark. The tally was Skroce's third of the year.
CU answered in the 73rd minute when Vince Odorisio found the back of the net for the first time this season. The senior collected a ball which was sent to him on a nice crossing pass by freshman Byron Dacy. Odorisio then slammed his shot in from 15 yards out to even the match at 72:27.
The Jays had a chance to take the lead not even two minutes later when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 75th minute. Junior Jarod Tarver attempted the PK for CU, but his shot to the lower left was stopped by UIC keeper Jeff Engelbrecht. Engelbrecht then stopped a rebound attempt off the foot of Joan Carvajal to keep the score knotted at 1-1.
Eric Cervantes scored the game-winning goal for UIC in the 81st minute. With his determination and power, he drove past three CU defenders and beat Allen for the decisive tally.
Engelbrecht made five saves in the second half and seven total in the match for the Flames, while Allen did not stop a shot attempt in the loss.
The Bluejays set a Morrison Stadium record with 13 corner kicks in the game. The CU offense unloaded 26 shots in the game, including four each by Matt Wieland and Odorisio. The 26 shots followed CU's 27-shot performance against UMKC last Saturday, which tied the stadium record.
The match also included another Bluejay goal being disallowed by an official. The Jays appeared to have scored on a late throw-in, but the officials had whistled the play dead. CU also had a goal disallowed on an offsides call in its scoreless tie with UMKC last Saturday.
CU will look to move past its frustrating 0-2-2 stretch when it opens Missouri Valley Conference play with Eastern Illinois Saturday. The Jays and Panthers (3-5-1) will kickoff at 7 p.m. at Morrison Stadium this Saturday. CU is 10-0-1 against EIU since the Panthers joined the MVC as an affiliate soccer member.
