Men's Soccer Falls at #2 Tulsa in NCAA Tourney, 1-0

TULSA, Okla. -- Creighton men's soccer fell to No. 2 Tulsa, 1-0, on Sunday night at Hurricane Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Golden Hurricane, seeded No. 6 in the NCAA Tournament, improved to 16-1-1 and will host No. 11-seed West Virginia in the third round of the NCAAs next weekend.

The Bluejays ended their season with a 9-8-2 record, which included a 6-2-1 mark over the final nine matches of the year.

The Golden Hurricane scored the lone goal of the match during the 40th minute. Mitchell Cashion finished a pass from Trace Ibrahim to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead. Cashion's goal came on the home team's eighth shot of the opening half.

The Tulsa attack challenged Creighton goalkeeper Paul Kruse from the early onset of the match. The Germany native made three saves during the first 14 minutes of action, including a full-extension dive to his right on a shot from less than eight yards away. He also made a kick save during a one-on-one situation.

Kruse recorded five saves during the first 45 minutes of action and ended the night with six overall stops.

The Bluejays managed only one shot before halftime from Diego Gutierrez in the 16th minute.

Creighton attempted a pair of corner kicks during the closing minutes of the opening half after Tulsa controlled the offensive statistics for the majority of the first period.

The Bluejays flipped the field to start the second half. Gutierrez had a shot go wide to the right just a minute and a half after halftime and Daniel Espeleta had one go just to the left of the goal less than three minutes after the attempt from Gutierrez.

During the 55th minute. Owen O'Malley made a tackle at midfield to give the Bluejays possession before Jackson Castro sent a shot from the top of the 18-yard box towards the far post that went just wide to the left of the goal.

The Bluejays tallied five total shots during the first 20 minutes of the second half.

Creighton's free kick during the 87th minute proved to be its last gasp. The Bluejays sent the ball to the far post where Mark O'Neill put his head on the ball but it went over the crossbar.

Creighton held an 8-3 advantage in shots during the second half but did not record an official shot on goal. The Bluejays also attempted three corner kicks after halftime.

Tulsa ended the contest with an 11-9 advantage in overall shots and 7-0 edge in shots on goal.

Creighton moved its record in NCAA Tournament matches to 35-21-7, including 18-9-5 during road NCAA matchups.

The Bluejays are one of five schools to make the NCAA tournament at least 25 times since 1992 (Creighton's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament).

Men's Soccer Falls at #2 Tulsa in NCAA Tourney, 1-0

Team Stats

Diego Gutierrez

Jackson Castro

Daniel Espeleta

Charles Auguste

Players Mentioned

Jackson Castro

Daniel Espeleta

Diego Gutierrez

Paul Kruse

Owen O'Malley

Mark O'Neill

Players Mentioned

Jackson Castro

Daniel Espeleta

Diego Gutierrez

Paul Kruse

Owen O'Malley

Mark O'Neill