The visiting Villanova Wildcats created some separation in the Big East standings between themselves and the Creighton women’s soccer team thanks to the play of senior Caitlin Forte, who had an assist in the first half and a goal late in the match to provide the Wildcats (5-8-2, 3-3-0 Big East) with all of the offense they needed in a 2-0 over the Bluejays on Thursday night at Morrison Stadium.
Creighton controlled the initial 15 minutes, creating three corner kicks and several scoring chances. Near the end of that stretch of play the Bluejays created their best scoring chance of the first half when senior forward Addison Nokels, in her third start of the season, played a through ball from Summer Khalil and moved down the left flank, firing a shot on frame low to the near post, but Villanova goalkeeper Emma Meyer stopped it and scooped it in as it almost deflected away from her.
The Wildcats opened up their attack more later in the half and capitalized in the 34th minute when junior midfielder Hayley Wilson went unmarked on the left flank and redirected a cross from senior Caitlin Forte past Creighton goalkeeper Danielle Rice to the near post side and put Villanova up 1-0. “That goal came in the run of play. It was obvious that they were trying to play longer balls central,” said Creighton head coach Bruce Erickson. “We just needed to keep them in front of us we talked about that from the get-go. The kid made a good play knocking the ball out to [Wilson], and she got the finish.”
As was the case in the last two home matches for the Bluejays, they immediately went on the counter after falling behind. Junior forward Kirstyn Corder was dragged down as she approached the 18′ and Creighton lined up for a free kick from straight away facing the Villanova goal. Junior right back Jill Richgels stepped up to take the kick, but the Jays instead tried to execute a set piece they had worked on all week in practice. The Wildcats blew it up as soon as Richgels touched it to her right as she was getting ready to shoot, and another Bluejay scoring chance was turned away.
“That’s a direct kick. We’ve been practicing those to the left and to the right when we have a different angle, but we just have to be smarter. That’s not a high percentage shot,” Erickson said.
The Wildcats lead held as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime. Villanova owned a 5-3 edge in shots, including a 2-1 advantage in shots on goal in the first 45 minutes.
As the game progressed in the second half, Creighton turned up the heat putting four forwards in the game to try to get the equalizer. While it created chances and put pressure on the Villanova back four, it also left the Bluejays susceptible to the counter attack with only two defenders back. With under ten minutes to go the Wildcats were awarded a penalty kick after Creighton senior left back Angela Benson made a tackle inside the 18′ and was issued a yellow card on the play. Freshman forward Amanda Vocelka lined up to take the kick, but Danielle Rice made the correct guess, diving to her left as Vocelka’s shot bounced off the far post.
It would prove to be only a momentary relief for Creighton as the aforementioned Forte struck a ball over Rice and into the back of the net from just inside 35 yards out a minute and a half later to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage with 6:27 remaining in the match.
The Jays got one final shot on goal the remainder of the match, but it was saved once again by Emma Meyer who finished with four saves on the evening.
With the loss, Creighton falls to 9-5-1 on the season, but more importantly to 1-4-1 in Big East play and five points behind Villanova and Providence for the final spot in the Big East Tournament. The Jays do own the tiebreaker over Providence courtesy of a 2-1 double-overtime win back on Oct. 2, but they face a daunting task to get to that point with No. 25 Georgetown (9-3-3, 4-1-1 Big East) coming to town on Sunday for the 2014 home finale before they finish the regular season with two matches on the road. The first coming at Butler (7-8-1, 1-4-1 Big East), who played to a 2-2 draw with league leader DePaul earlier Thursday night, and the second on Halloween night in Cincinnati, Ohio against the Xavier Musketeers (3-10-3, 0-5-1 Big East).
Senior Stephanie Anasi, who along with classmates Addison Nokels, Angela Benson, and Madelyn Buckner, will play her final home match on Sunday against Georgetown said the Bluejays won’t need any extra motivation for the visiting Hoyas. “It’s extremely disappointing, but with Georgetown coming in we just have to take it game by game. That’s a big game to focus on for Sunday,” Anasi said. “It’s senior day and it’s the last home game, so that should be enough motivation.”
Kickoff for the Bluejays and Hoyas is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Morrison Stadium. Prior to the match Creighton will honor their four seniors Anasi, Benson, Buckner, and Nokels.