Creighton University
Missouri State
Men's Soccer Clinches 11th MVC Tournament Title
11/16/2008 4:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Finlay scored his second goal of the tournament and his sixth of the season at 27:39 when he touched in a shot from close range off of a perfectly placed Tim Walters crossing pass. Walters crossed to the far post, where Finlay put his foot on the ball just enough to direct it off of a MSU defender and past first-team all-MVC goalkeeper Alex Riggs and into the back of the net.
That goal stood up as the Bluejay defense - which entered the tournament ranked second in the nation in goals against average and shutout percentage - again limited their opponents scoring chances in a clean sheet.
The Jays again controlled play with crisp passing and time of possession throughout the match. CU out-shot the Bears 16-9, including 10-5 after halftime.
Finlay was honored on the MVC All-Tournament for his two goals in the event. Joining the rookie on the all-tourney team for Creighton, were Holt and MVC Defensive Player of the Year Chris Schuler. Senior midfielder Andrei Gotsmanov, the MVC Player of the Year, was honored as the MVC Tournament MVP for his outstanding play in the championship match after assisting the game-winner in the semifinals.
Creighton, the top-ranked team in the
NOTES: Creighton is now on a 13 match unbeaten streak (11-0-2), its longest unbeaten streak since the 1993 team won 19 straight ... CU is unbeaten in its last 15 matches away from Omaha (12-0-3), including 6-0-2 this season ... Creighton's 11 MVC Tournament titles add to its league record ... CU has played in 14 of the 18 MVC Tournament Championship matches, moving to 11-3-0 in the finals ... The Jays are 29-6-1 all-time in the MVC Tournament, including 17-3-0 away from Omaha, 19-4-1 under head coach Bob Warming and 6-0-0 in Evansville ... The title was CU's seventh postseason title under Warming, to go along with seven regular-season titles ... The Jays also won the event hosted by UE in 1995 and 1997 ... Creighton was also regular-season champions, marking the sixth time the Jays won both titles in the same year (1992-95, 2006, 2008) ... Creighton is one shutout shy of the MVC record ... MVC All-Freshman team honoree Greg Jordan sat out the match for yellow card accumulation, after being handed his eighth card of the year in the semifinals.
