Akeem Ward scored what ended up being the game winner for Creighton on Monday night (Spomer / WBR) $CLICK TO BUY$
Grand Canyon left a bitter taste in Creighton’s mouth on Friday night after stealing a 1-0 win in a match the Jays felt they controlled. But Elmar Bolowich’s club recovered to salvage the two-match road trip and secure a 2-1 win over a South Florida team that was desperate for a result on Monday night.
Sophomore midfielder Kuba Polat converted a penalty kick three minutes and six seconds into the match after junior midfielder Luke Haakenson was taken down from behind on the left side of the box. Senior defender Akeem Ward doubled up the lead 15 minutes later to provide the a jolt of offense for a group that entered the match having played nearly 250 consecutive minutes without finding the back of the net. That was part of a 20-minute onslaught that saw Creighton dictate the possession and the scoring chances with little resistance aside from a strong tackle or two.
“I think we took advantage of the opportunities early in terms of playing forward,” Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich said. “We caught them on a counter with a forward pass and Haakenson was fouled in the box, which resulted in the early goal … and then we topped it off with Akeem’s goal just before the half. We had our opportunities and I thought we were well in control of the match, at least in the first half.”
South Florida, who entered the night with an 0-3-0 record after losses to #7 Michigan State, #21 Michigan, and Virginia Tech, played like a desperate team for much of the second half. Their lone goal came from senior forward Tomasz Skublak in the 65th minute when Creighton whiffed on a clearance of a long counter. Skublak took one touch on the run and chipped the ball over freshman goalkeeper Paul Kruse to cut Creighton’s lead in half. The Bulls remained aggressive in search of the equalizer and their first result of the season, and the sloppy, chippy nature of a match between two teams desperate for a win created more than a few chances for them to capitalize.
“I thought defensively this was our worst game of the season,” Bolowich said, “but given the fact that we are on the road for what is now day five in hotels and what not, it’s difficult to win in the first place. Especially against a team that is desperate. I thought on Friday we looked much better defensively … today, we were a little bit loose and a little bit sloppy on our defensive end. Maybe the focus wasn’t there, but the guys are also pretty fatigued. We played in 104-degree heat on Friday and it took a lot out of us.”
Fortunately for the Bluejays it didn’t take it all out of them as there was still enough left in the tank to hold the lead until the final horn. Each team produced four shots apiece that ended up on frame, while total shots ended up 14-11 in favor of a Creighton side that needed to prove to itself that it could exercise the road demons that plagued them last season to the tune of a 2-6-1 record away from Morrison Stadium.
“Everybody was really disappointed on Friday night, because we put so much into that game and we played pretty well for the most part, controlled it for the most part, and had our opportunities,” Bolowich said. “But you have to bounce back and [the South Florida match] was also desperation for us, because we needed to win on the road. It was our mission from the get go. We needed to find a way, and tonight we found a way.”
The Jays improved to 2-1-1 on the season with the win and now return home for two matches at their home stadium beginning with Friday night’s Socctoberfest match against Memphis at 7:30 p.m.