After being picked to finish ninth in the Big East Preseason poll and coming off the worst year in school history last season, you could consider that Creighton women’s soccer sitting at 9-6-1 and three points out of fourth place in the Big East standings a job well done. Mission accomplished. Order restored. You would, however, have trouble finding a member of this team to agree with you.
With two games remaining in the regular season — both of which are at home against fellow conference newcomers Butler and Xavier — the Bluejays know that their main objective for the 2013 season is still within reach. That goal: prove that they belong near the top of the conference instead of the bottom.
“This whole season we’ve been trying to prove everybody wrong that we don’t belong in the bottom,” said senior Kelsey O’Donnell. “These next few games are an opportunity to prove to everybody that we don’t belong there, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
In order to prove the belong where they think they do, the Bluejays will have to first qualify for the Big East Tournament. To do that Creighton must finish in top six in the final regular season standings. They are currently eighth, but teams sitting in the four through nine range are separated by just four points. The formula for Creighton to earn a spot in the conference tournament is simple — win and you’re in. Two wins will give Creighton 13 points in the conference standings and it will give them tiebreakers over Butler (currently fifth), Seton Hall (currently sixth), and Providence (currently ninth).
“The second we got the schedule we looked at it in segment form, and we said the last two at home are probably going to be for everything, and they are,” said head coach Bruce Erickson. “It didn’t matter how the conference season started it was going to be a lot different in those last two games, and that’s held true. Everything is on the line right now.”
The most important of the two remaining games is Saturday night’s 7 p.m. clash with the Butler Bulldogs (10-5-2, 3-4-0 Big East). A loss to Butler and the Jays will need to beat Xavier and get a lot of help from the rest of the conference. A win over Butler puts them in the driver’s seat for no worse than a sixth place finish with one game to go.
“I know everyone on the team knows how crucial these games are,” said junior Madelyn Buckner, “and we want to get our first conference wins at home. We still haven’t got that and we’re determined. We know these are important games.”
Buckner, a team captain along with O’Donnell, has been dealing with a bone bruise in her leg for most of the season. It has limited her to about 30-40 minutes per game — when healthy she plays 80-90 — and has left Creighton with some unproven and therefore inconsistent play in the midfield where she usually plays.
Creighton’s Madelyn Buckner hopes to get the Bluejays into the Big East Tournament (WBR/Spomer) CLICK PHOTO TO BUY
“She’s a player who plays 80-90 minutes for you,” said Erickson, who talked about Buckner’s impact on the field during a break in Friday afternoon’s practice. “You count on her at her position, which is midfield right now. We’ve been very, very inconsistent. That’s probably been the most significant injury, not having her anywhere near full strength. I wouldn’t say we haven’t had continuity in (the midfield), it’s just all about combinations sometimes. ‘Buck’ is a great combination for a lot of people.”
Despite her injury, Buckner has learned to compensate for it, and believes whether it’s her or one of her teammates that everyone is capable of performing if and when they’re called upon. No matter what position they play. She does agree with her coach that the midfield needs to play well in order for the team to have success, and as a result the Jays have focused on that area quite a bit as they prepare for these two critical matches.
“The midfield is something we’ve looked at. We just really need to be more vocal in the midfield,” Buckner said. “We need to be more collaborative, which is something Coach has been talking to us about. We’ve been working on it in practice, so we know it’s going to be important for tomorrow night.”
That’s the mentality of this team right now. It’s all about Saturday night specifically and these next two matches in general. Matches that if they don’t go how the Jays plan, will be the last two matches for their seniors O’Donnell and injured forward Lauren Cingoranelli. Knowing that her time at Creighton is coming to end motivates O’Donnell to do all she can to end it on a positive note for the program.
“It’s crazy to think that I only have two more games left,” she said. “We have to get these wins. Us coming off of such a difficult season last year, we know that these last two games are crucial to our future.”