Mitch LaGro got things going quickly for the Bluejays on Tuesday night, scoring in the first 4 minutes (Spomer / WBR) CLICK TO BUY
Loyola-Chicago took to the pitch on Tuesday night having not allowed a single goal over the last 554 minutes, but it took just three minutes and forty-seven seconds for No. 10 Creighton to bring that to halt on their way to a 3-0 shutout in front of 1,894 fans at Morrison Stadium.
Sophomore center back Mitch LaGro notched his first career goal as a Bluejay to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute of action, and junior midfielder Noah Franke added one in the 30th minute before freshman Luke Haakenson iced the game with a score — also the first of his career — in the 58th minute to exceed the total number of goals the 12th-ranked Ramblers had allowed in the first seven matches of the season.
“This is a good side,” Creighton coach Elmar Bolowich said of his team’s opponent. “They can play. There is a reason why they’re ranked and why they’re doing so well. That’s a well-playing team. It’s a great win for us.”
Both teams pressed for an early goal, but it was the Bluejays who broke through. Sophomore midfielder Joel Rydstrand sent a corner kick into the Loyola-Chicago box, but the Ramblers failed to clear the ball and it ended up on the foot of freshman right back Julius Fohr, who played a cross back into the goal box where LaGro was waiting to head it into the back of the net.
“Great awareness right there,” Bolowich said. “A quick turn and an immediate serve, and they weren’t quite prepared to pick up Mitch and he was wide open in front of the keeper.”
The poor clearance allowed LaGro to hang out in the attacking third a little longer, and once Fohr made his turn toward the end line LaGro in turn made his run to the middle of the six-yard box.
“I saw that it wasn’t cleared very efficiently,” the sophomore from Dallas, Texas said. “Julius had a turn and put in a great cross — it was just good timing. I think it depends on if the ball is cleared well, and your positioning on the field, whether or not you’re going to head back or stay and try to get that goal.”
After the goal, the Bluejays eased up on the gas pedal a bit, and Loyola almost made them pay for it a few times as they pressed forward in search of the equalizer.
“We scored an early goal and we sort of relaxed a little bit too much,” Bolowich said. “We were too open in parts, and didn’t react to their play quick enough.”
Alex Kapp had another great night in goal for the Bluejays recording 5 saves (Spomer / WBR) CLICK TO BUY
Fortunately for Bolowich’s club their senior goalkeeper, and team co-captain, Alex Kapp was in top form once again. The transfer from Boston College made four of his match-high five saves in the first 25 minutes and change, including a bang-bang situation where he stepped shots from Loyola-Chicago midfielder Ryan Howe and Brody Kraussel nine seconds apart to keep the zero on the scoreboard.
“Kapp is coming up huge for us,” LaGro said of his veteran keeper. “He’s keeping us in these games as we grow and get our stuff together. I think Kapp is just leading us. He’s holding us together and coming up big when we need him. He’s doing an awesome job.”
With two sophomores in the middle occupying the center back positions, and two newcomers in Fohr and sophomore Akeem Ward on the outside, the young back line looks to their goalkeeper for in-match guidance.
“He’s a very vocal leader as you could hear tonight, but that’s what we need,” LaGro said. “As the confidence comes he’s back there yelling at us, telling us our positions, and it makes a huge difference to have that vocal leader back there. He’s obviously leading by example too. It’s huge for a young team to have him back there. It’s like a boost.
“We all have confidence in Kapp. We know his abilities, and by him being vocal it tells us that he’s locked in and it keeps us locked in.”
Creighton eventually picked back up and started looking for scoring chances. A little over midway into the first half Noah Franke took full advantage of a big one. He gained possession of the ball in the attacking third and sped towards the 18-yard box. As the Loyola-Chicago center backs closed in on him, he pulled up from about 25-30 yards out and ripped a hard line drive past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Andrew Chekadanov and into the upper right corner of the net to give the Bluejays a 2-0 lead.
“That was just a bomb,” Bolowich said. “He took the initiative and really took a chance on it. That was great.”
“After Noah’s goal we settled down. Then they didn’t have the open looks anymore. We made some adjustments at the half. We made it a little bit harder on them to get through us. The guys did well. I credit our midfielders — Joel Rydstrand had an outstanding game in the center of the park to plug the holes and win balls for us.”
In the 58th minute, true freshman Luke Haakenson made sure there wouldn’t be any miraculous comebacks on this night when he scored his first goal as a Bluejay with 32:09 left to play to make it 3-0. Haakenson chased down a long ball off the foot of sophomore midfielder Joel Rydstrand and chipped the goalkeeper from the edge of the 18 to wrap up the win.
“As a freshman to be really calm on that breakaway play and chip the goalkeeper, I thought that was quality from him,” Bolowich said.
Following Haakenson’s goal, the Bluejays held Loyola without a shot for the remainder of the match as Kapp earned his fifth clean sheet of the season. The win moved Creighton to 6-1-2 overall on the season, while the Ramblers’ first loss of 2016 dropped them to 7-1-0.
Next the Bluejays will head back out on the road for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Belson Stadium in Queens, N.Y. where they will take on the St. John’s Red Storm in their third Big East match of the season.
SEE PHOTOS FROM THE MATCH COURTESY OF WBR PHOTOGRAPHER MIKE SPOMER