Creighton University
Drake
Men's Soccer Concludes Regular-Season With 3-3 Draw at Drake
11/7/2009 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
DES MOINES, Iowa - Creighton concluded the regular-season with a 3-3 draw at Drake in a wild men's soccer match at Cownie Soccer Complex on Saturday night. The Bluejays fought back from a 2-1 deficit to claim a 3-2 lead, only to see a Bulldog goal with 1:50 left in regulation tie it. Josh Moran scored CU's first goal and assisted the other two scores in the draw which moves the Jays to 7-3-5 on the year and 4-2-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Drake is 11-6-2 and finishes 6-3-1 in MVC play. Creighton and Drake will meet again in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship semifinals on the same field next Friday at 6 p.m., with DU as the No. 2 seed and CU as the No. 3.
"I thought it was a great college soccer match, which provided the fans here a lot of excitement," said Bluejay head coach Bob Warming. "It was another close match against Drake and I'm sure it will be another great game on Friday."
Garrett Webb's first of two goals in the match dented the scoring column first for the Bulldogs in the 37th minute.
Creighton answered when Moran scored his first goal as a Bluejay in the 40th minute. The junior transfer took advantage of a defensive miscue from Drake and beat Bulldog keeper Michael Drozd for the equalizer.
Drake responded just 36 seconds later however, when Kenan Malicevic was able to put in a rebound after Bluejay goalkeeper Brian Holt had stopped a Nick Foster shot.
In an exciting first half, Drake out-shot the Bluejays 12-11, with both teams earning a pair of corner kicks.
The game remained 2-1 in Drake's favor until the 77th minute. Junior Sergio Castillo sent a blast into the top shelf from the top of the box for his first career goal, tying the match at 2-2.
Senior defender Chris Schuler then got into the scoring act, as his header off of Moran's corner kick found the back of the net in the 88th minute. The goal was Schuler's first of the season.
But the Bulldogs again answered within a minute, as just 39 seconds elapsed before Webb was able to head in a loose ball on a scramble in front of the net with just 1:50 left in regulation.
Neither team put a shot on goal in the first overtime, but all three shots in the second overtime needed saves to preserve the tie. Matt Kuhn's shot in the 104th minute was stopped by Holt. Dion Acoff and Ethan Finlay both had shots to win it for the Jays in the 106th and 107th minute, respectively, only to be turned away by Drake's Drozd.
Creighton finished the regular-season with a 2-0-4 mark in true road matches - the third straight season the Bluejays have not lost a regular-season match in a true road contest. In fact CU is now 14-2-7 in their last 23 matches away from Omaha - 10-1-7 in true road matches since the start of the 2007 season.
Holt made five saves as the Jays allowed a season-high three goals in the draw. Drozd stopped eight Bluejay shots on goal.
The Jays and Bulldogs will go at it again in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament next Friday, as Drake hosts the event. CU and DU will play the second semifinal match, kicking off at 6 p.m., following the first contest between top-seed and regular-season champion Missouri State and No. 4-seed Evansville at 3:30 p.m.
