Saturday, November 8
Charleston, Ill.
2:00 PM
Creighton University
5
at
3
Eastern Illinois
No. 2 Bluejays Claim Third Straight MVC Regular-Season Crown
11/8/2008 5:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
CHARLESTON, Ill. ? The second-ranked Creighton Bluejays defeated Eastern Illinois 5-3 Saturday afternoon to claim their third straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship and the top seed in the State Farm MVC Tournament in Evansville next weekend. Junior Jeff Thayer scored twice and senior Seth Sinovic had a goal and three assists as the Jays ended the regular-season 12-1-2 overall and 4-0-1 in the MVC.
"I give all the credit to Eastern Illinois for their effort today," said head coach Bob Warming after the regular-season finale. "That was probably one of the most exciting matches I've been involved with in MVC play. I credit them with scoring some great goals and give our guys the credit for coming right back and scoring to pull out the win."
Creighton jumped on top early, with their quickest strike of the year. Sinovic scored his first goal of the season off an assist from freshman Ethan Finlay just 2:06 into the match to give CU what would be a brief 1-0 lead.
EIU (5-10-3, 0-5-0 MVC) responded with the game's next two goals. Alex Harrison struck for the Panthers, his seventh goal of the season in the seventh minute tied the match and was Creighton's first goal allowed in a road match this year. EIU took its first lead of the match in the 22nd minute when Jonathan Hinds found the back of the net for the first time this season.
CU evened the match before halftime, when Thayer tallied his fourth goal of the season in the 37th minute. Byron Dacy was credited with an assist on the score, less than 30 seconds after checking into the match for the first time.
The Panthers wasted little time in regaining the lead after halftime. Harrison netted his second goal of the contest, just 42 seconds into the second half.
The Jays responded just 64 seconds later to again even the match. Finlay's fourth goal of the year was assisted by Sinovic at 46:46 and made the score 3-3.
Freshman Kris Clark's first career goal came in the 53rd minute and proved to be the game-winner. Clark knocked the header in off another assist from Sinovic. Thayer tacked on his second goal of the match, fifth of the year, in the 59th minute to give CU a two-goal cushion. Sinovic also assisted the final score of the match to move his team-leading total to six on the season.
"Our attack is really starting to click and it couldn't come at a better time," said Warming, commenting on CU's highest-scoring output of the season.
Creighton's win pushed its undefeated streak to 11 matches (9-0-2). The win was also CU's 11th straight match in MVC play without a loss (8-0-3), wrapping up the Jays' second straight undefeated conference campaign. Perhaps most impressive is CU's 13-match unbeaten streak (10-0-3) away from Omaha since the beginning of the 2007 season, including 8-0-3 in true road games.
The Bluejays are the top seed in the upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind. With the No. 1 seed, the Jays will earn a bye into Friday's semifinals with an opponent and time still to be determined.
NOTES: Creighton's five goals scored were its most since a 6-1 win over Central Arkansas on Sept. 27, 2006 ... The five goals were the most by CU on the road since a 6-0 win at Georgetown on Oct. 19, 2005 ... The five goals were the most by the Jays in an MVC regular-season match since a 5-1 win over Evansville on Oct. 28, 2001 ... CU's best offensive day of the year came without its leading scorer, as Andrei Gotsmanov sat out the match after receiving his fifth yellow card in CU's last contest ... CU has now won 13 straight against EIU and is 15-0-1 against the Panthers since they joined the MVC as an affiliate ... CU had allowed four goals in its previous 14 matches this year, before allowing three on Saturday ... Creighton's regular-season title is its third straight, however the last two were shared with Bradley ... The Jays now have nine MVC regular-season titles ... Redshirt freshman Alex Zanotto made his collegiate debut as a sub in the second half.
"I give all the credit to Eastern Illinois for their effort today," said head coach Bob Warming after the regular-season finale. "That was probably one of the most exciting matches I've been involved with in MVC play. I credit them with scoring some great goals and give our guys the credit for coming right back and scoring to pull out the win."
Creighton jumped on top early, with their quickest strike of the year. Sinovic scored his first goal of the season off an assist from freshman Ethan Finlay just 2:06 into the match to give CU what would be a brief 1-0 lead.
EIU (5-10-3, 0-5-0 MVC) responded with the game's next two goals. Alex Harrison struck for the Panthers, his seventh goal of the season in the seventh minute tied the match and was Creighton's first goal allowed in a road match this year. EIU took its first lead of the match in the 22nd minute when Jonathan Hinds found the back of the net for the first time this season.
CU evened the match before halftime, when Thayer tallied his fourth goal of the season in the 37th minute. Byron Dacy was credited with an assist on the score, less than 30 seconds after checking into the match for the first time.
The Panthers wasted little time in regaining the lead after halftime. Harrison netted his second goal of the contest, just 42 seconds into the second half.
The Jays responded just 64 seconds later to again even the match. Finlay's fourth goal of the year was assisted by Sinovic at 46:46 and made the score 3-3.
Freshman Kris Clark's first career goal came in the 53rd minute and proved to be the game-winner. Clark knocked the header in off another assist from Sinovic. Thayer tacked on his second goal of the match, fifth of the year, in the 59th minute to give CU a two-goal cushion. Sinovic also assisted the final score of the match to move his team-leading total to six on the season.
"Our attack is really starting to click and it couldn't come at a better time," said Warming, commenting on CU's highest-scoring output of the season.
Creighton's win pushed its undefeated streak to 11 matches (9-0-2). The win was also CU's 11th straight match in MVC play without a loss (8-0-3), wrapping up the Jays' second straight undefeated conference campaign. Perhaps most impressive is CU's 13-match unbeaten streak (10-0-3) away from Omaha since the beginning of the 2007 season, including 8-0-3 in true road games.
The Bluejays are the top seed in the upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind. With the No. 1 seed, the Jays will earn a bye into Friday's semifinals with an opponent and time still to be determined.
NOTES: Creighton's five goals scored were its most since a 6-1 win over Central Arkansas on Sept. 27, 2006 ... The five goals were the most by CU on the road since a 6-0 win at Georgetown on Oct. 19, 2005 ... The five goals were the most by the Jays in an MVC regular-season match since a 5-1 win over Evansville on Oct. 28, 2001 ... CU's best offensive day of the year came without its leading scorer, as Andrei Gotsmanov sat out the match after receiving his fifth yellow card in CU's last contest ... CU has now won 13 straight against EIU and is 15-0-1 against the Panthers since they joined the MVC as an affiliate ... CU had allowed four goals in its previous 14 matches this year, before allowing three on Saturday ... Creighton's regular-season title is its third straight, however the last two were shared with Bradley ... The Jays now have nine MVC regular-season titles ... Redshirt freshman Alex Zanotto made his collegiate debut as a sub in the second half.
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