With 10 of 11 starters returning from a squad that pushed national powerhouse Georgetown to the wire in the Big East Tournament last spring, there didn’t seem to be much left unknown about Ross Paule’s Bluejays as they kicked off their 2021 fall campaign.
Abigail Santana begged to differ.
The 5-foot-2 freshman midfielder from Marion, Iowa properly introduced herself to Creighton fans last weekend, scoring a goal in each of the team’s wins over Montana and Drake to open the season. Despite a sprained ankle cutting her spring season short, Santana was able to see action of five of the team’s 10 matches. She even got the starting nod in road matchups at Missouri, DePaul, and Butler. She healed up the injured ankle, got back to work, and came into the fall a more confident player — something her head coach attributes to her early season success.
“I think she’s just gaining confidence,” Paule said. “She has the experience of doing well last year, but a freshman year is up and down between learning our system and learning where she can find her strengths in the college game. She’s come in [this season] more confident. She worked really hard in the offseason. She’s just one of those players you love to coach because she eats and breathes the game, and wants to learn even when she has success. I fully expect her to continue to get better and better.”
Both of her goals were the sign of a confident player as she not only needed to figure out the angle necessary to beat the opposing goalkeeper, but she also had a defender attached to her on both occasions. Going 2-for-2 in getting the ball across the end line in that scenario is no small feat for a senior let alone a player with fewer than 500 minutes accrued at the college level.
She’s not only been a spark in the attacking third, but she’s providing the Bluejays with a reliable offensive option alongside All-Big East selections Ansley Atkinson and Aida Kardovic. That void was expected to be filled by electric forward Skylar Heinrich. The 2019 Big East Freshman of the Year scored 13 goals in her first 28 matches in a Creighton uniform, but she transferred to TCU in the offseason, leaving open one starting spot from the last season’s team that qualified for the Big East Tournament for the first time in program history.
Santana is eager to fill that spot, even if it functions in a different manner than Heinrich’s unique speed dictated the past two seasons.
“I’ll give anything to help this team no matter where I am on the field,” Santana said. “Last year, I was playing outside mid. This year, I’m playing in the middle kind of like a false nine. It’s different but I’m willing to put in the work to do it. I’m going to adapt to anything just to get minutes.”
Creighton’s seventh-year head coach thinks that Santana’s versatility is her biggest asset and it’s why he’s confident in her ability to make an impact on a team that is growing less reliant on just a uber-dynamic forward.
“We’ve built this team to not just have one threat,” Paule said. “Abigail can play up top or she can play in the midfield, and I love that,” Paule said. “She’s more of a player that sits in between and finds the gaps, but I just love the dynamic ability. She’s a creator and a goal scorer, and she did that in her youth career. It’s just a matter of translating that into the college game and continuing to do that consistently.”
