Creighton battled on Wednesday night (Williams / WBR)
Johnny Torres called his team desperate in the lead up to Wednesday’s matchup against unbeaten and 7th-ranked Akron. The Bluejays looked every bit the part of a team prepared to fight for its season and then some as they put away three goals in a wild second half to win 3-2 and hand the Zips their first loss of 2023 and their first setback in conference play since November 4, 2021.
“It was an entertaining game against a very good side,” Torres said. “I’m happy for our guys and proud of them. It’s been a tough season in regard to being able to get results. Tonight was a big one for us.”
Both teams enjoyed significant stretches of control in the first half. Through the first 20-plus minutes, it was Creighton’s attack forcing Akron to keep their goalkeeper clean and prevent the Bluejays from grabbing an early lead. Junior midfielder Jackson Castro came the closest to capitalizing for CU with an unmarked rip off his left foot that carried over the cross bar in the 7th minute. As the Zips gained their rhythm offensively, they produced the most dangerous opportunities of the opening half.
Creighton goalkeeper Blake Gillingham had to come up with some great saves (Williams / WBR)
The first came in the 30th minute Creighton sophomore goalkeeper Blake Gillingham snatched a shot out of mid-air off the foot of freshman forward Stefan Dobrijevic from the left edge of the 18-yard box. The second came in the 42nd minute when Gillingham got caught way too far off his line, and out of his box. Fortunately for the Bluejays, senior center back Luke Mitchell tracked back to the end line and closed off the window just enough to force a wide shot off the far post to keep the match scoreless.
Creighton didn’t waste much time recapturing the momentum out of the locker room. Veteran co-captains Giorgio Probo and Mark O’Neill combined in the box to find senior striker Alfie Pope for a near post one-timer that hopped over Akron goalkeeper Mitch Budler to give the Bluejays a 1-0 in the 48th minute.
Junior midfielder Omar Ramadan extended the lead to 2-0 in the 63rd minute. Probo started it again with a corner kick to Ramadan to the edge of the box. The DePaul transfer settled it, fired it off an Akron defender, then slotted the redirect across the turf and into the back of the net. Probo was again the initiator for the icer in the 84th minute when he flipped the field to find Castro on the left flank. Castro flipped it back with a lead pass to Pope, who went back post for his second goal of the match and sixth of the season. Creighton’s senior co-captain ended his night with a pair of assists after missing the 2-1 loss on the road at Seton Hall.
Giorgio Probo came up big to help the Jays score (WIlliams / WBR)
“My teammates need me on the defensive side and they need me to get assists on goal,” Probo said. “That’s my job, especially in the most important times, and I’m happy to do that for the team.”
Tonight, Torres was as tuned in to Probo’s defensive chops as much as his playmaking and creativity on the attacking side.
“I’ve always said that Giorgio is an important piece to our puzzle,” Torres said. “The one thing I didn’t know when I brought him here was how well he could defend. When guys see someone who is supposed to be someone that pulls the strings offensively defend in the manner that he does, they have to follow him. For him to go out there and put in the shift that he put in tonight was amazing.”
Akron scored a pair of goals in the final two minutes to make this mildly interesting, but the short window made a complete comeback unrealistic despite the desperation down the stretch.
The Zips entered the day leading the country in shots per match at 19.1 and shots on goal per match at 8.3. They also came in ranked second in the nation in shutouts on the season with nine. Creighton held Akron below their season averages in the first two categories and joined Providence as the only teams this season to score multiple goals against them. The win improves the Jays to 4-5-5 on the year and 3-2-1 in Big East play. They jumped from eighth place in the standings to fifth, passing Seton Hall, UConn, and the Zips in the process. With two matches left to qualify for the chance to defend their title at the Big East Tournament, tonight was the result they needed in the worst way after sustaining two losses and two draws over the last three weeks.
See full Photo Gallery of the Match courtesy of Brad Williams.
“[This win] sets the tone,” Torres said after the match. “I feel terrible for our guys in that they’ve played some brilliant soccer throughout the season and don’t have the results to show for it. I always knew we were right there. We were an inch away. Tonight, we took the first step forward, and our next two matches will be the same thing. It’ll be the same mindset and the same attitude to try and reward ourselves for the work that we’ve done.”
Creighton returns to the pitch this Saturday, October 21 when they host UConn (7-6-1, 3-3-0) at 2:30 p.m. (CT) at Morrison Stadium.