Coming off a 1-0 loss at perennial Big East title contender Georgetown, first-year head coach Jimmy Walker heaped praise on his players for what he deemed to be their best performance of the season while at the same time exercising caution at Creighton’s lack of bravery — and goals — in the final third.
The Bluejays entered Thursday having not produce a goal in the run of play over their last 277 minutes on the pitch. They added another 90 minutes to that streak in a 2-0 home loss to Villanova to fall to 0-2-0 in Big East play, failing to secure three crucial points against a team that finished 11th in the league standings last season and carried a 10-match winless streak in conference play into the matchup with CU.
“I dreaded that happening tonight, but I didn’t think it would happen tonight. That’s what is disappointing,” Walker said after the match. “We started the game really, really bright. But again. what happens if you keep having the ball in their half and you don’t take your chances, at some point it gets frustrating for the defenders. Then all of a sudden, they have one thing to do down there and we give a goal away. Then the heads go down, because you’re thinking it’s always tough to score goals and now you’ve got to score two.
“We played four forwards the last 25 minutes and couldn’t score. There is going to be a day where everything clicks, and we are going to score goals. There will be a game coming up where maybe we go on the road and maybe don’t dominate the stats, but we’ll get something out the game as well. It’ll come over the course of the season, but just bitterly disappointed tonight.”
Total shots ended up being 15-9, while overall possession was 57% to 43%. Both areas in favor of Creighton. But Villanova was sharper and more aggressive where it mattered most — inside the 18-yard box.
Senior midfielder Susanna Soderman produced the first goal of the night with a couple touches in the box, a dribble to her right and a shot off the back post. Senior forward Lauren Belcuore beat everyone to the carom and punched it home to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead with 29:15 remaining in the first half.
Villanova earned not one, but two penalty kicks in the second half. Creighton junior goalkeeper Alyssa Zalac stonewalled the second one, but sophomore midfielder Gabby Zoluch converted the first of those opportunities to the goal-starved Jays in a 2-0 hole with 22:58 left to play at Morrison Stadium.
That was more than enough offensive support for Zalac’s counterpart, Hannah Dickinson. The transfer from USC made a match-high eight saves and thoroughly controlled the box for 90 minutes both in the run of play and on set pieces.
“She was very, very good,” Walker said. “I thought their goalkeeper and their center back were the two best players tonight. [Dickinson] won everything, every corner. I didn’t think we challenged her enough. She looked she never really. She got tested on [Azumi Manriki’s] shot to the bottom corner, which was a heck of a save. But yeah, I mean, they win two nil, and their goalkeeper was the best player tonight. That tells you a little bit of a story about the game.”
Creighton now hits the road in search of its first points in conference play as they take on Marquette in Milwaukee on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., then No. 21 Xavier in Cincinnati next Thursday at 6:00 p.m.