Creighton University
Bradley
Bradley Tops Men's Soccer 2-1
10/28/2006 3:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
PEORIA, Ill. - Despite season-highs of 30 shots and 18 corner kicks, Creighton's five-game winning streak and eight-match unbeaten streak came to an end in a 2-1 men's soccer loss at Bradley Saturday night. The loss gives the Braves a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with the Bluejays, as both teams finish the conference season with a 4-1-1 record. Bradley (8-7-3) clinches the No. 1 seed in the upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament, while Creighton (11-4-3) will be the No. 2 seed in the event, which starts at Shea Stadium in
"As far as passing, moving the ball and creating chances, I don't know if we've ever done it better," said head coach Bob Warming after the match. "Our goal was to come over here and play well on this field. We put together our most dominating performance of the season, but we just had poor execution and a lack of concentration in the box."
The Braves took a 1-0 lead late in the first half when Drew DeGurian knocked in a rebound off the post in the 41st minute. His score, off assists from Noah Sharpsteen and Brian Lock, helped Bradley to a 1-0 halftime lead despite being out-shot 14-5 by the Bluejays in the first 45 minutes.
Bradley extended its lead early in the second half on a Grant Campbell goal. The Braves goal in the 51st minute, a lofting floater from beyond 30 yards, put BU up 2-0. Prior to tonight, the Bluejay defense had allowed just one goal in its first five MVC matches this fall.
The Jays, ranked as high as 15th by Soccer America this week, cut the Bradley lead in half when sophomore Seth Sinovic scored his first career goal in the 74th minute. Byron Dacy and Jeff Thayer helped set up the counter attack goal and were credited with assists.
The Bluejays posted a season-high 30 shots on the night, holding a 30-7 shots advantage. Creighton's offense was in attack mode all night, earning an astounding 18 corner kicks (BU had none), twice as many as its previous season high. The 18 corners were the most ever by a Bradley opponent.
The loss was just the second for Creighton since the opening weekend of the season, dropping the Bluejays to 11-2-3 over their last 16 contests. It also snapped a string of Bluejay success against the Braves, as CU had won the previous eight meetings. The last time the Jays lost to Bradley was 2000, when the Jays rebounded to advance all the way to the NCAA Championship match. CU is still a dominant 17-4-0 all-time against the Braves.
The Bluejays will share the regular-season title with Bradley, CU's seventh MVC regular-season championship and BU's second straight. The seeding sets up a similar situation to last season, when the Braves also hosted the tournament as the No. 1 seed and the Jays entered as No. 2. Last year the Bluejays went on to defeat Bradley 2-0 on its home pitch in the Valley title match to earn an automatic bid into their 14th straight NCAA tournament.
Creighton will look to help history repeat itself and capture its 10th MVC tournament championship when it begins play on Friday at 5 p.m. The Jays will take on the winner of the Missouri State-Eastern Illinois match, which will be played Wednesday at Shea Stadium.
