
Men's Soccer Claims Eighth MVC Regular-Season Title
11/10/2007 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
EVANSVILLE, Ind. ? The seventh-ranked Creighton men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to erase a 1-0 Evansville first-half lead and defeat the Purple Aces, 3-1, Saturday night in the regular-season finale at Black Beauty Field. The Bluejays extend their unbeaten streak to 10 matches and finish the regular season 10-1-5 overall and 4-0-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, claiming their second-straight Valley regular-season title and eighth overall. CU tied Bradley for the crown for the second straight season and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament hosted by the Bluejays at Morrison Stadium next week.
"I'm so proud of our players," said head coach Bob Warming after claiming his sixth Valley title as head coach. "To be undefeated on the road this season (6-0-1) is a testament to the character of this team, and coming from behind on the road is remarkable. We're looking forward to hosting the tournament on our home field next week."
The match was physical throughout, starting with UE picking up nine fouls and two yellow cards in the first 30 minutes of play. Evansville's Cory Elenio put the Purple Aces on the scoreboard in the 37th minute on a great individual effort. Elenio dribbled on the left side of the field and rocketed a well-placed shot off the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal for his seventh tally of the year.
It took Creighton less than three minutes to respond, as senior Tim Bohnenkamp made a great run along the left side of the field and found a streaking Tim Walters, who beat UE goalkeeper Alec Dufty to the right post from point-blank range. Walters' fourth goal of the season tied the match at 1-1 in the 39th minute. Making the goal all the more impressive is the fact Walters spent Thursday night in an Omaha hospital with an illness and he was unable to travel with the team Friday.
Goalkeeper Matt Allen made a solid save on another blast by Elenio in the 41st minute and the match entered halftime knotted at ones.
Both teams were more aggressive on the offensive end to begin the second half and the Jays were able to capitalize on a chance in the 63rd minute. Freshman Tucker Sindlinger possessed the ball along the right side of the field and crossed to sophomore Jeff Thayer, who pushed a shot past UE's Dufty into the bottom right corner for a 2-1 Creighton lead. The goal was the second of the season and second game-winner for Thayer, on Sindlinger's third assist.
Sindlinger then scored his first career goal in the 77th to put the Purple Aces away. Sophomore Thomas Gjoesend won a 50-50 challenge with a defender on UE's half to give Sindlinger a free path to the goal and the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native beat Dufty on a one-on-one effort to give the Jays a 3-1 lead.
Sindlinger missed four games earlier this season due to mono. Fellow freshman Andrew Duran had missed the Jays' last 10 games because of the illness as well, but returned to start and play all 90 minutes in the victory.
"I know Andrew was disappointed he hasn't been able to play with us this year because of the illness," said Warming. "But for him to come back and help us win a championship is why he came to Creighton."
Duran was playing midfield minutes that regular starter Danny Minutillo would normally have played, but could not on Saturday due to yellow card accumulation.
Creighton buckled down defensively and the 3-1 advantage proved to be the final score. In the match, CU out-shot UE 15-13 and out-cornered the Purple Aces 7-5. Allen made three saves for the Jays. UE proved to be the aggressor on Saturday, netting an alarming 21 fouls, to just five by the Jays.
With Bradley's 4-1 win over Western Kentucky Saturday, the Braves and Bluejays share the regular season conference title for the second straight season. Bradley will be the No. 1 seed in the MVC Tournament next weekend in Omaha, which begins with first round games on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at Morrison Stadium. The Jays will play on Friday, Nov. 16, against the winner of the Evansville-Missouri State match which takes place on Wednesday. The other Wednesday contest will pit No. 4 seed Drake against No 5 seed Eastern Illinois.
NOTES: Creighton is 4-0-1 in true road matches this season, 6-0-1 away from Omaha ... CU's 10-match unbeaten streak is its longest since the 2000 team won 11 straight en route to the NCAA championship match ... CU had lost the last three times it concluded the regular season on the road ... CU improves to 16-3-0 all-time against UE ... CU's other regular-season titles came in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003 and 2006 ... The eight regular-season titles adds to CU's Valley record ... The Jays also own the MVC record with 10 tournament titles.