Two of the nation’s top academic institutions teamed up on Saturday to spoil Georgetown’s homecoming festivities. Creighton earned a 0-0 draw against the Hoyas, while Princeton was busy blowing out Georgetown’s football team on the other side of campus.
The weekend’s marquee NCAA soccer match was highly touted, perhaps without cause: a quick look at the numbers reveals that Georgetown has lost 104 Big East games while Creighton is undefeated ALL TIME in Big East play. It’s easy to see who’s the real powerhouse in this conference.
Anyway. Both sides played a solid game, which is pretty much the best thing you could say about a game like this. The Hoyas are one of the most star-studded teams in the eastern U.S., so it’s encouraging that Creighton never once allowed a Hoya star to get a good scoring opportunity. Steve Neumann, Brandon Allen, and Alex Muyl combined for eight shots, but only two were on goal. This is a good showing for a Bluejay back line that played admirably. Brendan Hines-Ike, playing center back alongside Eric Miller, appeared overmatched at times but was never a liability. Much has been made of Connor Sparrow’s appearance between the pipes, filling in for Alex Bolowich, who is recovering from a minor Achilles injury, according to my sources. Sparrow played a great game, commanding his box well and winning balls in the air very capably. Jays fans should be excited to have such a high-caliber backup goalkeeper on the roster.
“Welcome to Not Morrison Stadium!”
“HoyaHooligan” over on the Bluejay Underground stole my thunder by pointing out that while the Bluejays out-shot Georgetown 20 to 12, the box score is misleading because so few of those shots were actually dangerous. As the game wore on, and especially in the second overtime, the Jays had several good looks at the goal but couldn’t convert. There were many more occasions where a play seemed to develop, but then fizzled out because the Creighton player tried to take one touch too many, or to make the perfect pass instead of putting a shot on frame.
Having played their fifth straight double-overtime game, Creighton has now effectively added an extra game to its schedule. The Jays’ fatigue was made most clear in the final seconds of Saturday’s game. With about thirty seconds left, CU stole the ball and made one final push to score before time expired. The crowd held its breath, waiting to see what would come of the visitors’ last-gasp effort. Way behind, forty yards away from the action, was Christian Blandon, taking a leisurely stroll around midfield instead of running toward the goal. (As a person who occasionally gets winded from a brisk walk, I promise I’m not ripping on Blandon, who played a very good game.)
Now the Jays move ahead to take on a scrappy Saint Louis side, whose national ranking dropped from #10 to #21 after two tough losses at Evansville and UConn. After a few days of rest, it’s crucial that Creighton break this vicious cycle of sloppy finishing and overtime games before reaching the heart of the conference schedule.