Three different players combined to find the back of the net four times over the final 45 minutes on a sweltering Sunday evening at Morrison Stadium, helping Creighton overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit to beat Drake 5-3 to improve to 1-0-1 on the young 2024 season.
The Bluejays outshot the Bulldogs, who fell to 1-1-0, 13-5 after the halftime break and scored goals in the 47th, 49th, 70th, and 80th minutes to earn their first win of the fall after opening the season with a 0-0 draw at home against Florida Atlantic on Thursday.
“It was a tough afternoon to play a soccer match, but really happy for the guys and really proud of the guys that came on in the second half,” Creighton head coach Johnny Torres said. It felt like we were up against the wall a little bit with the way the game was going into halftime. I’m really proud of the guys’ reaction to come out and ultimately come out with the three points.”
Creighton had to wait almost 100 minutes for it, but their trademark pressure finally produced a goal in the 10th minute of the match after failing to find the back of the net in their season-opener. Senior winger Miguel Ventura was the catalyst with a run to the end line and a cross into the box. Sophomore forward Ali Ramadan got to it for a header, which was saved by Drake freshman goalkeeper Tomas Butkovic, but sophomore midfielder Miguel Arilla was there to clean it up with a redirect to the far side of the net.
ICYMI: Miguel Arilla has the Jays up 1-0! 🙌#GoJays https://t.co/iQ01vrVDtV pic.twitter.com/420tbCC1EB
— Creighton Men’s Soccer (@creightonmsoc) August 25, 2024
The Bluejays dictated the action for the first 28 minutes and the last 15 minutes of the first half. The chaotic moments in between, however, provided Drake with enough chances to score a pair of goals and take a lead into the break. The equalizer for the Bulldogs came in the 28th minute when junior defender Eskil Gjerde capitalized on a frenzied corner kick in front of Creighton’s goal.
Gjerde and his teammates celebrated after he scored, but the referee made no signal, so Creighton kept playing. After a stoppage soon after, they finally went to review the sequence. At first, it seemed as if the match would remain 1-0 when Drake head coach Pat Flinn protested the initial explanation after the review and was promptly given a yellow card. But the official then went over to explain to Torres that the ball crossed the end line before goalkeeper Blake Gillingham got his hand on it.
One minute and 50 seconds later, the Bulldogs earned a penalty kick and junior Damian Segura punched it home for the 2-1 lead. Just like that, Creighton found themselves chasing a goal after dictating the terms of engagement for 28 of the opening 30 minutes.
The Bluejays wasted no time reestablishing control of the match in the second half, pounding home a pair of goals in the first five minutes to steal back the lead. The first came on a hand ball in the box that allowed Serbian freshman forward Gavrilo Civric to convert a penalty kick for his first collegiate goal to tie the match at 2-2.
It took 89 seconds to tie the match and then an additional two minutes and 32 seconds to take the lead as Civric recorded his brace by beating Butkovic to a back-pass into the back, knocking it off the post, and redirecting it into the net. Civric said he noticed from the bench that the Drake freshman keeper was having difficulty handling initial shots and saw it as an opportunity to put some pressure on him if he got the opportunity.
“I’d been watching the goalie for the whole game,” Civric said. “He was unsecure the whole game, so I knew he was going to do something not so smart at that moment and I just took advantage of it.”
Sophomore forward Ali Ramadan extend the lead to 4-2 in the 70th minute and Creighton Prep grad Ryan Brakke closed out the onslaught with a goal in the 80th minute to make it 5-2. Both goals were set up by Miguel Ventura, who was the primary initiator all night for the Jays.
Although he was only credited with one assist for the match, three of Creighton’s goals were a product of his crosses in the box. Without his savvy playmaking, it’s possible that the Bluejays’ record would be looking a bit different to start the season.
“I feel like today I put my head up more,” Ventura said. “I tried to find my teammates and find the better situation. There was one obviously I could have passed, but I think overall, I improved on that. I was just finding the right paths for my teammates to finish.”
Creighton has outshot its opposition 35-17 through the first two matches of the season, but given the nature of their sport it’s not inconceivable to picture a scenario where they are staring at an 0-0-2 record — or worse — going into week two. That’s why Sunday’s comeback win over Drake is worth more in the moment than the just the theoretical three points.
“It’s tough, man. Psychology is a big part of sport, especially in a sport like ours,” Torres said. “I think it’s one of the only sports where you can dominate, outshoot somebody by 20 shots, have 10 corner kicks while the other team has zero, and you could still end up losing 1-0. I think [soccer] is one of the only sports that has that aspect of the mental part of the game, so to be 1-0-1 is great. To be able to do it in front of our fans — I’m really excited for the people that came out and supported us today in the tough conditions. It was pretty sticky out there.”
The Jays will now get a few days to rest, recover, and train before returning to the Morrison Stadium pitch to take on Loyola Chicago in the first match of the 2024 Jesuit Invitational. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 29.