No. 5 Bluejays Play to Scoreless Draw with No. 11 Billikens

ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? Creighton posted its fifth straight shutout Saturday night at Saint Louis, coming away with a 0-0 draw. The fifth-ranked Bluejays and 11th-ranked Billikens each kept their impressive defensive streaks going, as both squads have now logged five consecutive shutouts. CU moves to 7-1-1 with the tie, while SLU stands at 4-0-5 on the year after the stalemate.

Both squads managed eight shots in the match, with Bluejay goalkeeper Brian Holt stopping the five Billiken shots on goal for his seventh shutout in nine matches this season. Saint Louis netminder Pat Disbennett stopped four Bluejay shots on goal. The Jays also recorded a season-high 10 corner kicks in the affair.

”It was a great match. It was so well played by both sides,” said head coach Bob Warming after his team's first draw of the season. “There were terrific scoring chances and great saves by both goalkeepers. It was certainly one of the most enjoyable matches to watch and be a part of this year.”

The Bluejays put two shots on goal in the first half, the first on a Greg Jordan header attempt off of one of CU's seven first-half corner kicks. The other shot on goal came late in the half when Andrei Gotsmanov ripped a left-footed blast low to the corner, which Disbennett dove to his right to turn away.

Creighton nearly broke the scoreless tie with a pair of chances in the 63rd minute, when a Bluejay crossing pass was nearly put into the net by a SLU defender, resulting in a CU corner kick. On the corner, Seth Sinovic's header was deflected out of bounds by Disbennett and the Jays again had a corner kick opportunity. Then in the 72nd minute, Gotsmanov launched a shot just wide of the net on a free kick awarded following a Billiken yellow card.

In overtime, freshman Ethan Finlay carried the ball nearly the entire length of the field, speeding past the Billiken defense, on a counter attack early in the first overtime session, only to have the ball knocked away deep inside the box.

The Jays were again the aggressors in the second overtime, attempting three shots in the 10-minute period. The first attempt was the most dangerous as

Jordan

again directed a header at the net, where Disbennett had slipped to the ground, but was able to recover in time to make the save. Akin Akinrinade's open look at the net went wide in the 103rd minute, while Sinovic's free-kick from just outside of the box sailed high in the 107th minute.

Holt's shutout streak is now at 559:06, the second-longest keeper streak in school history and just three minutes shy of the school record. The fifth straight Creighton shutout ties a school record previously established by the 1999 and 2005 teams.

The draw also keeps another impressive Bluejay streak alive, as the Jays are now 8-0-2 away from Omaha since the start of the 2007 season, including 6-0-2 in true road games. CU is now 1-0-1 against ranked teams this year and 7-1-2 in its last nine true road contests against top 25 teams.

Creighton returns to action to conclude its non-conference season at home on Wednesday night, when it plays host to Memphis. The Jays and Tigers kick off at Morrison Stadium at 7 p.m.

NOTES: The match was CU's second straight double overtime contest, after playing seven consecutive regulation matches to start the season ... Creighton entered the match ranked No. 1 in the Midwest Region, while Saint Louis was ranked No. 1 in the Middle Atlantic Region ... The meeting was the 12th straight between the teams in which both squads were in the top 25 ... The match was head coach Bob Warming's 600th career contest, 87 of which came while the head coach at SLU between 1997-2000 ... Warming has coached in 258 games as the CU mentor ... Bluejay assistant coach Jason Mims played at SLU from 1997-99 ... The Jays are now 48-37-10 all-time against the coaches top 25, including 21-15-7 on the road ... CU is 8-5-2 all-time against SLU, while this was the first meeting between the schools since 1999.

No. 5 Bluejays Play to Scoreless Draw with No. 11 Billikens

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Players Mentioned

Akin Akinrinade

Ethan Finlay

Andrei Gotsmanov

Brian Holt

Greg Jordan

Seth Sinovic