Creighton University
Central Arkansas
No. 10 Bluejays Top Central Arkansas 2-0 in Tune-Up for No. 1 Akron
10/23/2010 6:36:00 PM | Men's Soccer
CONWAY, Ark. - Ethan Finlay and Dion Acoff scored goals late in the first half and Brian Holt tied a school record with his 26th career shutout, leading the 10th-ranked Creighton men's soccer team to a 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference win at Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. Creighton's victory sets up Wednesday's showdown at top-ranked Akron.
Creighton is 11-2-0 on the year and has started 4-0-0 in MVC play for the first time since 1999, running its unbeaten streak in regular-season road games to 22 (15-0-7). Central Arkansas, in its first year as an MVC men's soccer affiliate, fell to 3-11-0 overall and 0-5-0 in MVC play.
Creighton dented the scoreboard for the first time with 12:31 left in the first half when Acoff assisted Finlay's 11th goal of the year. It was the ninth straight game that Finlay has recorded a point and the ninth time in the last nine games that Finlay has found the back of the net. His 11 goals are the most by a Bluejay in a season since Mike Tranchilla's 15 in 2002, and gives him 14 game-winning goals of his 25 career scores.
Acoff concluded the scoring on the afternoon when he scored his first goal of the year off an assist from Kyle Deremer with 57 seconds left in the first half.
For the game, Creighton outshot UCA 11-5. Bluejay goalkeeper Holt made two saves in posting the clean sheet, tying two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year Matt Allen's school record of 26. The 26 shutouts are tied for second in MVC history, trailing only Bradley's Chris Dunsheath's 27.5.
Creighton will conclude its four-game road trip at consensus No. 1-ranked Akron (13-0-1) on Wednesday night. The Bluejays and last year's NCAA runners-up will meet for the first time at 6:30 p.m. (CST) in Akron on Wednesday.
NOTES: Finlay entered the week fourth in the nation in goals scored and goals per game, while Acoff ranked 14th in asssits per game and 18th in assists ... Finlay's nine straight matches with a point gives him the longest point-scoring streak at Creighton since Brian Mullan notched a point in 10-straight matches during the 2000 campaign ... The match was Jamie Clark's 50th as a head coach, moving the first-year Bluejay leader's career record to 37-12-1.
