The weekends are a busy time for Bluejays sports. Each Monday, WBR helps you catch up on all the Creighton sports you might have missed.
The Creighton men’s soccer team spotted Northern Illinois a goal before jumping all over the Huskies in a 3-1 win to open the regular season.
Carlos McCrary celebrates his first goal for Creighton in the rain (Mike Spomer/WBR)
In front of almost 2,700 hyped fans at Morrison Stadium, the Bluejays tied the match at 1-1 in the 69th minute thanks to Sean Kim’s first goal at CU. As rain started to pound the turf, the Jays broke the tie thanks to Carlos McCrary’s first tally for Creighton at the 80th minute. Kim added some icing with his second goal just minutes before the match ended, giving the Bluejays their 16th straight home victory.
Creighton outshot NIU 20-5, put 11 shots on goal to the Huskies’ 3, and committed fewer fouls (7) than NIU (10).
Meanwhile, in Tampa, the Bluejays volleyball team swept their way to the USF Invitational championship.
In the first match, Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s Bluejays beat Central Florida 3-1, coming back from dropping the first set 25-16. Creighton crushed the Knights in the second set, 25-14, then finished the match with a 25-20 advantage in the third set and a 25-22 fourth-set win.
In the first of two matches Saturday, the Jays swept the host South Florida Bulls 25-18, 25-22, 25-23. That evening, playing for the title, Wisconsin native Kelli Browning lead the Bluejays with a career-high 16 kills as Creighton defeated the UW Badgers 3-1. For the second time in three matches, the Jays dropped the first set. But an 11-1 run in the second set paced Creighton’s comeback, and the Jays defeated the Badgers for the program’s first tournament win since 2006 (video here).
The women’s soccer team couldn’t notch a win in two attempts, though.
Playing at Morrison Stadium Friday evening, the Bluejays broke through first against Utah State but settled for a 1-1 draw against the Aggies. Brittney Neumann tallied the match’s first goal, scoring on an assist from Gabriela Guillen in the 29th minute. Just a few minutes later, though, the Jays surrendered a goal to Utah State’s Jennifer Flynn. The two teams wouldn’t score again, leaving CU 0-1-1 on the new season.
The Jays again scored first Sunday afternoon, during a road tilt at #4 Oklahoma State. But Sarah Kendall’s goal would be Creighton’s only tally, and the Cowgirls climbed back to respond with 4 unanswered goals to win 4-1. Kendall connected just two minutes into the match. But it was downhill after that for the Jays, who sit at 0-2-1.