Johnny Torres’ boys splattered blue paint all over Dodge Street. For the third time in six matches, Creighton put three goals on the board in each half, burying inner-city rival UNO by a score of 6-1 at Caniglia Field on Wednesday night to improve to 3-1-2 on the season.
The Jays outshot the Mavericks 21-8, and were efficient with their chances, putting six of their 10 shots on goal in the back of the net. Jackson Castro recorded the first multi-goal match of his Creighton career, while Charles Auguste, Owen O’Malley, Duncan McGuire, and Ryan Brakke joined him in tickling the twine to round out the goal-scoring for CU in this one.
“We knew that UNO was a dangerous group, and they have a lot of dynamic players that can run forward and create chances for themselves,” Creighton head coach Johnny Torres said.
“But we wanted to continue to try and keep possession in their half. I’ve said it all along, we’ve had some chances — even in the games that we didn’t get the result we wanted — and, you know, credit to the guys. They’ve stuck with it, they’ve been resilient, they’ve continued to get the chances, and tonight fortunately for us we were able to finish them.”
Both sides had some moments. Creighton, as they typically have done so far this season, controlled most of the possession and systematically tried to break down UNO’s defensive structure, while the Mavericks tried to counter quickly with balls over the top when they were able to win possession. Then the Jays opened the floodgates with three goals in the span of 11 minutes to close the first half.
Senior midfielder Charles Auguste started it off in the 32nd minute. A UNO defender headed a Creighton corner kick out to the edge of the 18-yard box where Auguste was waiting unimpeded to blast it into the upper right side of the net.
Exactly two minutes later, sophomore midfielder Jackson Castro made it 2-0. The reigning Offensive Player of the Week in the Big East showed off some shot creation by holding the ball long enough to open up a window to sneak a left-footed strike between the post and Maverick goalkeeper Nathanael Sallah.
The goal of the night followed that in the 42nd minute. With the first half winding down, sophomore defender Miguel Ventura served a ball from his defensive third all the way to UNO’s. It was redirected towards the edge of the box, and sophomore midfielder Owen O’Malley chased it down and ripped it into the back of the net right off the turf, on the run, and without even taking a touch.
“I think at some point we just stepped our intensity level up,” Castro said of the sudden onslaught to end the first half. “It was pretty even at the beginning, then Charles scored a great goal, and we just stepped it up a level. That’s what we’re capable of, and you saw it when we scored two more.”
Creighton had plenty of fuel left in the flamethrower after halftime as Castro scored his second goal of the match in the 53rd minute. Then the Omaha boys joined the party as Creighton Prep standouts Duncan McGuire and Ryan Brakke scored in the 62nd and 80th minutes to punctuate the victory.
UNO’s Gonzalo Cuevas converted a penalty kick against the Bluejay reserves with 2:11 left in the match to spoil the shutout bid.
While the goal-scorers get the glory in soccer, Creighton isn’t able to produce so much relentless pressure without have some tenacious ball hawks who are willing to cover end line to end line and win the ball back to initiate the repress.
In that regard, two players stood out on Wednesday night. The first was left back Miguel Ventura. The sophomore from Ponta Delgada, Portugal, was tested early and often by UNO’s counter-offensive measures. Most of the time he beat his man to the ball, but even when he didn’t, he still used his speed to catch up and nullify anything dangerous before it got to goalkeeper Paul Kruse’s doorstep.
“Miguel is brilliant, because he’s just lightning fast,” Castro said. “He got beaten a couple times and he just recovered like I’ve never seen anyone do before. I think he’s absolutely crucial back there. He’s great at anticipating and shutting down the attacks before they even happen.”
The other key cog in executing Creighton’s tactic of persistent pressure is Dominic Briggs. The senior is most often initiating the attack from the right sideline up top, but his ability to cover end line to end line at full speed doesn’t usually make the final cut of the highlight reel.
A classic example of Briggs’ versatility was on display early in the second half. UNO effectively broke through Creighton’s midfield and had a pair of attackers racing up the right side with the ball at their feet. The only thing between them and Kruse was the 5-foot-9, 145-pound senior from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Briggs pulled off a magic act with nifty footwork while rolling on the turf to dispossess the Maverick duo before they were even able to reach the 18-yard box. A few seconds later, Castro put the ball in the back of the net to make it 4-0 instead of 3-1. Those plays may go unnoticed on social media, and they certainly don’t show up anywhere on the stat sheet, but the impact isn’t lost on Briggs’ teammates or coaches.
“Dominic for us is a model citizen in many respects,” Torres said. “And that’s one of them there were I’m pretty sure he would have chased that guy to the end of the earth to win that ball back. The guys appreciate it, and they know that [the fourth goal] doesn’t happen without the effort that Dominic was leaving on that play.”