The Creighton men’s soccer team capitalized on a Michigan State mistake in the 44th minute that led to a Fabian Herbers tap in right before the half-time whistle. That goal helped the Bluejays keep their perfect record and survive their first road test of the season, a 1-0 victory against top 20 opponent Michigan State on Sunday.
Fabian Herbers comes through again for the Bluejays with the winning goal. (Williams/WBR) CLICK To BUY
Creighton dominated possession in the first half, out-shooting the Spartans 10-2 in the first period. While Herbers’ goal was a soft goal for the Spartans to concede, the pressure from Herbers had been steadily building prior to his connection. The Creighton All-American was a one man-wrecking crew and was denied a penalty kick in the middle of the first half, despite ample contact in the box. Meanwhile, MSU posed problems on the counter during the first half, but really never troubled Bluejay goalkeeper Connor Sparrow.
Both the Jays and Spartans felt out the officiating crew from the beginning. It became clear following a hard Joel Rydstand challenge and subsequent Spartan leveling of Creighton’s Swedish freshman that the referee was going to allow play to be physical.
Noah Franke has become another versatile player for the Bluejays (Spomer/WBR) CLICK To BUY
The physical play called for head coach Elmar Bolowich to deploy freshman Evan Waldrep, Peter Prescott, second year utility man Noah Franke, and midfield hard-man Mikey Paye early in the match. Paye, who previously started most matches, came on and became a force for the Jays in the middle. Likewise, Franke, who has previously played as an out-and-out winger, slotted in as a right back, playing the entire second half as a defender. Franke played well at the position matching fellow fullback Lucas Stauffer’s defend first, then bomb forward to join the attack mentality. Experience like Franke’s in this match allowed Creighton to grow as a team, giving Bolowich yet another versatile option.
With Creighton up by a goal, it seemed the Bluejays would look to finish the game off in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Ricky Lopez-Espin found the back of the net following a mazy Ricardo Perez run, only to be pulled back for offsides. The call seemed to galvanize the Spartans, who opted to commit numbers forward, pressing the Jays hard in the final 20 minutes of the game.
With MSU on attack, Creighton began to play the counter game, resulting in Myles Englis finding himself on the end of a long pass. It seemed like another hard challenge in the MSU box, but was once again waved off by the center official. At that point the foul total was Creighton – 14, Michigan State – 3. To be clear, Creighton was physical and many of those fouls were warranted. However, it seemed that the Spartans were on the right end of a number of 50/50 calls.
The Jays ground out the remaining 10 minutes of the match, under some heavy pressure from the talented Spartan attack, to take their record to an impressive 5-0-0. This includes two wins against top 20 opponents and two wins against tough Big 10 opponents, something which will surely help the Jays’ RPI at the end of the season.
Creighton finds themselves at the pinnacle of College Soccer, as the talented Ricky Lopez-Espin and Timo Pitter have yet to hit their stride with both sure to be key players as the season goes on. Lopez-Espin’s recovery from injury is nothing short of amazing, and as he regains his form he will become a match winner. Likewise, Pitter is still settling into his shooting boots, and when he starts teeing off, Fabian Herbers won’t need to do as much for this team to be successful.
Creighton returns to Morrison Stadium Saturday for an important showdown with regional rival Tulsa on Homecoming weekend. That means the Bluejays will play their first home match as the nation’s #1 soccer team since November of 1993, according to a tweet from Rob Anderson.