No. 7 Bluejays Advance to MVC Championship

OMAHA, Neb. ? Goals from Jeff Thayer and Andrei Gotsmanov and outstanding play in goal from two-time Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year Matt Allen helped pave the way for a 2-0 victory for the seventh-ranked Creighton men's soccer team over Evansville in the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament Friday night at Morrison Stadium. The Bluejays advance to their 13th Valley tournament title game in search of their 11th tourney title, when they face Bradley Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Before the Bluejays (11-1-5) could get on the board, Allen was busy keeping the Aces (10-9-1) off of it. The senior keeper turned away two wide-open, point-blank shots from Mike Luttrull in the 21st to frustrate the UE attacker.

Thayer opened the scoring in the 39th minute when he took a beautiful crossing pass at his feet from Tim Bohnenkamp. The sophomore gathered himself about 12 yards out, stepped around an Evansville defender and buried his third goal of the year into the back of the net. Bohnenkamp's run along the outside was set up from freshman Tucker Sindlinger, who was also credited with an assist on Thayer's third game-winning goal of the season. Bohnenkamp's assist was his team-leading sixth of the year.

Creighton, which has now gone 11 straight matches without a loss (8-0-3), added to its lead early in the second half. Junior Andrei Gotsmanov blasted a low shot from about 25 yards out to the far post for his fifth goal of the season in the 52nd minute. The second-team all-MVC selection now tops the team with 15 points.

Allen turned away two shots in the second half to earn his 25th career shutout, including his fourth in MVC tourney play. The Omaha Burke graduate now stands alone as the CU career leader in shutouts, while with his 42nd win he moves into sole possession of second place on the CU career chart in that category.

The Bluejays will do battle with Bradley on Sunday for the MVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Bradley topped Eastern Illinois 2-0 in the other semifinal Friday night. CU and BU shared the regular-season title for the second straight year and will be facing off in the Valley title match for the third straight year. CU has won both of the previous meetings on Bradley's home pitch.

Kick off for the championship match at Morrison Stadium is set for 1:05 p.m. The match will be televised live on FSN Midwest.

NOTES: CU has not lost since Sept. 22, going 8-0-3 since for its longest unbeaten streak since the 2000 squad won 11 straight matches en route to the NCAA title game ... The Jays improved to 12-2-1 in MVC Tournament matches played in Omaha, including 2-1-1 at Morrison Stadium ... CU is 18-4-1 all-time against Bradley, including 4-1-0 in the MVC Tournament ... The Bluejays are 10-2-0 in their previous 12 appearances in the MVC tournament final ... CU has posted 13 shutouts in 33 all-time MVC tourney matches, out-scoring opponents 85-29 in those 33 contests ... The Jays are now 27-5-1 all-time in the event ... CU has not won three straight tournament titles since taking four straight from 1992-95 ... The host school has not won the event since the Bluejays did so in 1994.

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Players Mentioned

Matt Allen

Tim Bohnenkamp

Andrei Gotsmanov

Jeff Thayer