Creighton University
15-1-0, 6-1-0
Xavier
10-4-1, 4-2-1
No. 1 Men's Soccer Suffers First Setback Of Season, Falls To Xavier, 2-1
10/28/2015 10:58:00 PM | Men's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. --Â No. 1 Creighton saw its 18-match unbeaten streak come to an end on Wednesday night, suffering a narrow, 2-1 loss to BIG EAST opponent Xavier. The Muskateers game-winning goal came in the 89th minute.
The Bluejays (15-1-0, 6-1-0 BIG EAST) entered the match as the nation's lone remaining unbeaten and untied team. Xavier, a winner of three consecutive matches, had been ranked as high as tenth in the nation this season.
Xavier's Josh Grant gave the Musketeers (10-4-1, 4-2-1 BIG EAST) an early, 1-0 lead with a 14th-minute goal, his second of the season, sending a leaping header past Creighton goalkeeper Connor Sparrow. Grant's shot was Xavier's only attempt of the first half.
The score marked just the fourth time this season an opponent struck first against Creighton. The Bluejays had won the previous three such contests.
Sophomore defender Lucas Stauffer breathed new life into the Bluejays before intermission when he scored his second goal of the season off an assist from Fabian Herbers.
Stauffer gathered a pass from Herbers at the upper left corner of the box and sent a bending strike into the net from 20 yards out, fooling Xavier goalkeeper Dallas Jaye.
Creighton outshot Xavier, 7-1, in the opening 45 minutes of play.
In a tightly-contested second half, Xavier maintained a narrow, 13-10 shot advantage over the Bluejays.
However, Creighton manufactured several solid scoring opportunities, including a 51st-minute attempt from Herbers that struck the upper left corner of the goal.
With just 73 seconds remaining before possible extra time, the Musketeers' Matt Vasquenza capitalized on a miscue by the typically-stalwart Creighton defense, collecting a deflected loose ball in the box to score the game-winner for Xavier. The goal was Vasquenza's fourth of the season.
It was just the second time this season the Bluejays had surrended more than one goal.
In net for Creighton, Sparrow recorded five saves, falling just two shy of his season-high of seven set against Michigan on Friday, Aug. 28.
The loss was Creighton's first since Nov. 14, 2014 versus No. 23 Providence.
Despite the result, Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich is confident his team can take something positive from the match moving forward.
"You learn something in each game, win or lose," Bolowich said. "We need to take the lessons from this game, apply them, and get better."
Creighton will return to action Saturday, Oct. 31 as the Bluejays visit Providence at 6:00 p.m. CST.
NOTES:
- With DePaul's 1-0 win at Butler on Wednesday evening, Creighton clinched a top-three seed for the upcoming BIG EAST Conference Men's Soccer Championship tournament.
- The Bluejays' 15-0-0 start to this season was the second-best start in program history, falling just four wins shy of the 19-0-0 mark set by Creighton's 1993 team.
- Creighton was the first NCAA Division I team to begin a season with 15 consecutive wins since Akron began 23-0-0 en route to advancing to the College Cup in 2009.
- With Wednesday night's crowd of 3,061, the Bluejays set a new program-best for single-season home attendance, surpassing 2011's total of 40,720. This season's total home attendance stands at 41,983, and is the top mark in the nation.
Team Stats
GRANT, Josh (2)
Assisted By: OSMAN, Majed
Cross from left of box, XU2 with leaping
13:15
STAUFFER, Lucas (2)
Assisted By: HERBERS, Fabian
Pass from near left endline to left corn
34:40
VASQUENZA, Matt (4)
XU20 rebounds deflected ball in middle o
88:47
