The Creighton men’s soccer team produced a total of 27 shots with nine being on target — including not one, but two penalty kicks — on Saturday afternoon, but only found the back of the net one time in a 2-1 loss at Georgetown.
The Bluejays kept the ball on Georgetown’s defensive half for the majority of the first 25+ minutes of the match and also created several dangerous chances in the box in the run of play after halftime. But time and time again they were turned away by Ryan Schewe, the Hoyas’ junior goalkeeper who was making the second appearance of his career. Schewe finished with a career-high eight saves, including one against Creighton’s leading goal-scorer Duncan McGuire on a penalty kick that would have tied the match at 1-1 with 37:38 to go.
“It was a match that I felt was under our control, in particular through that first 35 minutes to start the game,” Creighton head coach Johnny Torres said. “But we walk away empty-handed and fairly disappointed.
“We have to do a better job of making sure that we are executing on the finishing aspect of the play. I think we are doing some good things to get into good positions where we can maximize the amount of times that we are turning teams around to produce service inside the 18-yard box. We just have to become more clinical on the finish.”
On the attacking side for Georgetown, freshman forward Jacob Murrell was a menace. The 2022 Boys’ Soccer Gatorade Player of the Year created problems for Creighton’s back line from the middle of the first half on. He played all 90 minutes on the top line and produced seven shots (four on goal). In the 38th minute, he combined with sophomore defender Kieran Sargeant down the left sideline to set up a header on the far post by Big East Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Daniel Wu to give the Hoyas a 1-0 lead late in the first half.
In the 68th minute, Murrell did it himself when he got to the end of a cross by junior midfielder Kyle Linhares and redirected it into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Creighton struck back 30 seconds later when sophomore midfielder Giorgio Probo beat Schewe on the second penalty kick to cut the deficit in half, but the Jays couldn’t find the equalizer over the final 21:33.
Despite playing under duress for most of the first half as Creighton dominated possession, Murrell eventually made his presence felt and helped Georgetown finish the match with a 12-9 advantage in shots on goal and an 11-4 edge in corner kicks.
“They got some belief,” Torres said. “It’s obviously tough to be able to create chances for yourself and not capitalize by finishing those plays off. When that continues to happen, your opponent is going to gain confidence and belief, and on our part, I think we were shifting away from our principles. We started doing some things that were uncharacteristic to what our game plan was and it played in Georgetown’s favor. I thought they grew in confidence towards the tail end of the first half and they were able to bring that into the second half.”
The loss drops the Bluejays’ record on the season to 3-2-3, but more importantly gives them leaves them sitting at one point in the Big East standings through the first two conference matches. In their three wins, they outscored Oakland, Rutgers, and Omaha 18-2. However, in their other five matches that have resulted in three draws and a pair of losses, they have been outscored 9-7.
“I think at times in our endeavor to find excellence we tend to think that there is always a better pass,” Torres said. “I just think we have to become better at seeing what questions the game is asking from us. It’s really not that complicated. If we just look at what’s in front of us and what our opponents are doing, we have to find the solution that the game is asking for … when you play against a team that maybe wants to negate central passes from you, then find a way to work around the edges. When they might decide to offset that and start taking the edges away, then you go back centrally. It’s more what we are looking to do and are we keeping the game simple and looking for the game to answer questions for us, or are we trying to over-analyze and maybe work away from what the gameplan really is before we can find a solution.”
One thing working in their favor after the 0-1-1 start to Big East play, is they’ll have plenty of time to sort out things in training. Creighton doesn’t play again until Saturday, October 1 when they host Villanova at Morrison Stadium at 6:30 p.m. Following that match, they’ll get a week to prepare for St. John’s in another Saturday night home affair.