After having the second-longest winning streak in school history halted by preseason favorite Marquette last Thursday, the Creighton women’s soccer team looked to get back on track when they traveled to St. John’s over the weekend. After 110 minutes of very physical play, which resulted in three yellow cards between both teams, neither team was able to punch one across and they had to settle for a 0-0 tie.
Creighton’s Danielle Rice played well against the Red Storm (WBR/Spomer)
Creighton freshman goalkeeper Danielle Rice knew she needed to be on top of her game in order to give the Bluejays a chance against a Red Storm team that had only allowed two goals all season long heading into Sunday’s match. Not only was Rice on top of her game, she managed to raise the bar of excellence. She made quick, decisive moves in goal. Leaving the net on through balls, reading long shots, and showing great reaction time as she finished with a career-high 12 saves.
St. John’s forward Rachel Daly entered the day leading the nation in goals with 13. She presented a daunting challenge for Creighton’s much improved defense. Daly registered 13 shots on the afternoon, including five on goal, but none got through thanks to Rice’s shot-stopping ability as well as some key plays by center backs Emily Roll and Kelsey O’Donnell. Roll and O’Donnell, who have each earned Defensive Player of the Week awards this season, found themselves in quite a few 1-on-1 situations with the Red Storm’s prolific goal scorer, but they were able to win some balls and create difficult shooting angles for the nation’s leading scorer.
Creighton’s best chance to break the scoreless tie came in the second overtime when Roll inserted a corner kick. It was a perfectly placed ball, and nearly went in off a header from Kirstyn Corder, but a St. John’s defender was able to keep it out of the net and clear it before the Jays could get another chance.
The Red Storm (7-1-2, 1-0-1 Big East) finished with a season-high 30 shots as a team, and held a 10-2 advantage over Creighton in corner kicks. The Bluejay back four along with Rice was a question mark coming into the season, but with only one senior among the five players it has become a battle-tested group that head coach Bruce Erickson can rely on from here on out.
The Bluejays (7-3-1, 0-1-1 Big East) will be back in action Thursday, Oct. 3, when they make another trip to the East Coast to take on the Providence Friars at 2 p.m. CT from Glay Field in Providence, Rhode Island. The Friars defeated DePaul 1-0 on Sunday to improve to 4-4-3 on the season, including 1-1-0 in Big East play.