Creighton provided a little bit of drama for the more than 1,400 fans who came to Morrison Stadium to watch them play their preseason finale on Saturday night. With 2:03 remaining in the match, the Jays conceded a game-tying goal off of a deflection, then proceeded to march down and score the game-winner courtesy of cross by junior midfielder Tor Trosten and a header by senior forward Anthony Macchione with 54 seconds left on the clock to earn a 2-1 win over Northern Illinois.
Macchione’s second goal of the preseason helped the Bluejays, who out-shot the Huskies 15-6, finish the exhibition portion of their schedule with a perfect 3-0-0 record.
Senior forward Sven Koenig got the Bluejays on the board first with a goal in the 44th minute just before halftime. That capped off a half in which the Jays produced 10 shots and only conceded one. Northern Illinois’ Kevin Rodriguez briefly took the wind out of Creighton’s sails when his shot deflected off a defender and into the net for the tying goal in the 88th minute. While the late gut punch would have folded most teams in that situation, Creighton responded with a renewed urgency and Macchione’s game-winner came 69 seconds later.
“We had adversity going against us again with them scoring the tying goal,” head coach Elmar Bolowich said. “A lot of teams would put their heads in the sand, but these guys they believed. They kept going and used every opportunity they got, and at the end we had a beautiful play with Tor on the cross and Macchione coming in on the header. It’s good to see that the team responds like that, and never gives up, and always believes in that last opportunity and the next play.”
Macchione, who is in his second season as a Bluejay after transferring in from Akron, credited an offseason overhaul of the team dynamic for the resolve the Jays not only showed late in this match, but also the comeback win at Nebraska-Omaha last Saturday night.
“I think the difference with our group this year is we have a lot of belief in ourselves,” he said. “Last season we might have counted ourselves out, but in moments like that I feel like we have the support of our teammates and our coaches behind us. We are very confident in how we are playing right now. It was good for us to get back into it, and I think that’s a mentality we’ll hold throughout the rest of the year.
“What really helped us is that we got together pretty early this preseason. This year, collectively, we’ve been doing a lot more team activities and we’ve been a lot more cohesive as a team … I just feel like I know all of these guys so well in such a short period of time. I feel like the chemistry is able to flow with all of us, including me and Tor.”
Through the three matches Creighton outscored UNO, Ohio State, and Northern Illinois 6-2 and produced a total of 36 shots to just 12 allowed in 270 minutes. Bolowich said that number is a little deceiving, but he was nonetheless pleased with his team’s ability to sustain pressure and not concede very many scoring chances.
“It’s not necessarily about the shot total because sometimes whoever counts doesn’t do it right,” he said. “It’s more about the opportunities that other teams have against us. How many opportunities did these guys have? Legitimate scoring opportunities? I would say two. Ohio State had one. And UNO had one. So you give away four scoring opportunities in three 90-minute games, that’s pretty good in terms of being in control, and that’s what we are after.”
As for the preseason as a whole, Bolowich — who is now is in eighth season as the head coach at Creighton — believes is on the right track with the regular season set to get underway on August 24th.
“I enjoyed the preseason. I love the team,” Bolowich said. “These guys worked extremely hard … and we are pretty deep — we made some substitutions and looked quite all right with what we did, so our player pool has increased a little bit for this season. That’s a good thing to be able to sub players out and bring fresh players in and have them still add something. Overall the preseason was good. We had three wins, including two on the road. It was good.”
As for his thoughts on the 11th-ranked Clemson club that will roll into Omaha next Friday for the season-opening match, the 2001 National Coach of the Year kept it short:
“We are ready,” he said before walking off to join his team.
View photos from Saturday’s win, and purchase your favorites as prints from the WBR Photo Store!
