Women's Soccer Advances to BIG EAST Semifinals

Indianapolis, Ind. -- In a match that went to sudden victory penalty kicks, the Creighton women's soccer team advanced past Butler with a 6-5 edge on PKs. Officially the match ends in a 1-1 draw, yet the Bluejays advance over Butler and will now face the BIG EAST number one seed, Georgetown.

Following Sunday's result the Bluejays moved to 8-3-8 on the season, while Butler's season came to an end at 7-7-5.

Following 110 minutes of match play the contest moved to penalty kicks. As the lower seed the Bluejays went first in each round. Aida Kardovic walked out first to put Creighton ahead 1-0, but Talia Sommer countered for the Bulldogs. Creighton's Ariana Mondiri delivered to make it 2-1.

The Bluejays appeared to hold a 2-1 lead after senior Keelan Terrell stopped an attempt by Butler's Abigail Isger. The stop, however, was waived off as Terrell was ruled to have left her spot early. Isger went on to score on her second attempt to make it 2-2. Lara Kazandjian and Maddie Radke both connected for the Bluejays, while Butler's Becky Dean and Aliya Diagne also found the back of the net as the penalty kicks went to 4-4.

Knotted entering the fifth penalty kicks, each opportunity had the potential to decide the match. Senior Ansley Atkinson quickly punched in her shot, yet Bulldog Sara Trandji delivered to make it 5-5.

Creighton's Abigail Santana made the first misstep for the Bluejays as her shot bounced off the crossbar straight down to Butler goalkeeper Emma Martin. Moments later, however, Butler defender Claire Farrington's shot missed high.

Bluejay midfielder Azumi Manriki connected next and Terrell denied Emily O'Malley with a diving save to propel the Bluejays to the semifinals.

The opening half was slow as both teams played cautiously amidst rain. Butler held an 8-5 shot edge in the first period, while the Bulldogs created the only three corner kicks in the first 45 minutes of play.

Coming out of halftime the Bluejays were much more aggressive as Creighton controlled the first 35 minutes. Creighton went on to take the shot lead at 10-9, apply continued pressure to the Bulldogs defense.

Late in the 71st minute the Bluejays created their first corner of the match. Creighton cashed in its opportunity as Gabby Grimaldi served the ball into Juelle Love. The Philadelphia native delivered her second goal of the season with 71:04 on the clock to put the Bluejays in the driver's seat with a 1-0 lead.

As the match moved to the final ten minutes Butler pushed everyone forward to find the equalizer. The Bulldogs punched a goal in during the 83rd minute as Abigail Isger connected for her eighth goal of the season courtesy of a double assist from Alexei Whittaker and Talia Sommer.

While overtime was removed for the 2022 regular season, in the post season the teams knew they had a pair of 10-minute periods to decide the contest. Creighton fired four shots in the extra sessions to just one from Butler, but the match needed penalty kicks to decide which team would advance.

Butler closed the match with a slim lead in shots, 19-18 and held a 10-1 edge on corners.

Sunday's outcome was strikingly similar to the last time Creighton needed penalty kicks in a conference tournament as Creighton slipped past Drake 9-8 in PKs during the opening round of the MVC Tournament in 2012.

Creighton continues their postseason run, traveling to Boyds, Md. to face off against the top-seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Tournament on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. CT.

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Team Stats

Juelle Love

Gabby Grimaldi

Lara Kazandjian

Hannah Luke