Creighton University
Stanford
No. 12 Men's Soccer Gets by Stanford, 1-0
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman Ethan Finlay scored his third goal of the season in the 83rd minute to give the 12th-ranked Creighton men's soccer team a 1-0 victory at Stanford late Friday night in the second match of the Stanford Nike Classic. The evenly played match came down to the third game-winning goal in Finlay's young collegiate career, as the Bluejays moved to 4-1-0 on the year by posting their third shutout in five games.
On the only score of the night, Finlay knocked the ball in an open net as the Stanford goalkeeper got tangled up with Jeff Thayer on the play. Thayer and senior Seth Sinovic were credited with assists on the play, as it was Sinovic's long throw-in that set up the play in the box.
The low-scoring affair was a well-played match on both sides, with both defenses limiting scoring chances for either side. Both the Bluejays and Cardinal (2-2-1) attempted six shots and were whistled for five fouls in the opening half.
In the second half, the Jays managed just three shots to Stanford's six, but the Jays made the most of the opportunity given to them to secure the victory in their first road match of the season.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brian Holt logged three saves in his third shutout of the year for the Bluejays.
Creighton will look to move its road unbeaten streak to nine matches when it plays at sixth-ranked California on Sunday. Cal defeated Drake 2-0 in the first match of the Stanford Nike Classic earlier on Friday. The Jays and Bears will kickoff at 2 p.m. (CST) in Berkeley Sunday.
NOTES: Byron Dacy earned his first start of the year, while freshman Kris Clark made his first career start in the match ... The Jays had used the same starting lineup in each of their first four matches ... Clark hails from nearby Monte Sereno, Calif. ... Fellow Californian Sergio Castillo also made an appearance off the bench in the match ... The match marked CU's first in the state since Nov. 22, 2003 ... CU is now 3-2-0 all-time against Stanford ... CU is 2-0-2 in its last four matches against the Pac-10 and are now 6-3-3 against the conference since 2001 ... The Jays are 7-0-1 in their last eight matches away from Omaha, and have not lost on the road since the final match of the 2006 season ... Stanford is coached by former Bluejay head coach Bret Simon (1995-2000), who also served as an assistant coach under current CU head coach Bob Warming in 1993-94 ... The match was televised live on Fox Soccer Channel, as CU improved to 1-0-1 all-time on the soccer network.
