UC Irvine came to Omaha with one goal scored and zero wins in their first four matches, but broke out in a big way offensively in handing the Creighton men’s soccer team their first home loss of the season on Friday night.
The Anteaters (1-3-1) scored their lone goal of the season in a 1-1 draw at Cal on September 1, but were shutout in losses to No. 11 Saint Mary’s, No. 6 Georgetown, and No. 4 Stanford. Against the Bluejays (2-2-1), however, they frequently exploited space in CU’s back line and found the back of the net three times. Junior midfielder Christian Gutierrez broke the ice with 71 seconds left in the first half to give UCI a 1-0 lead at the break. Sophomore defender Michael Orozco made it a 2-0 goal advantage 10:57 into the second half, and freshman midfielder Roberto Molina put the match on ice in the 71st minute to counter Creighton’s lone offensive highlight of the night in a goal by Ziyad Fares.
“I give [UC Irvine] a lot of credit,” Creighton head coach Johnny Torres said. “They had very good tempo with a lot of energy coming to the end line, and we didn’t deal well with it. I thought we were a little bit stretched defensively, in particular in that second half.
“It was a different story in the first half. I thought we were in control through the first 25-30 minutes and we spreading them nicely, but they started to grow and we started to lose focus and get stretched. They definitely did a good job of exposing us.”
Creighton had more spunk in the final third in the second half. After getting out-shot 7-4 in the first 45 minutes, the Bluejays played Irvine even on total shots, 7-7, and finished with 4-0 edge in corner kicks after halftime. But aside from the combination play of Luke Haakenson and Younes Boudadi that led to Firas’ goal in the 57th minute, CU was lacking in their ability to set up the finishing touch for much of the match.
“I think we let ourselves down tonight with our final pass inside the attacking third,” Torres said. “We did some very good things leading up to the final third, but then I thought our final pass let us down a little bit. And we weren’t covering the outlets well, and these guys for Irvine had a lot of energy going forward and they exposed us on the counter attack.”
Adding to the deflating feeling that was apparent on the CU sideline after the match was the injury to senior midfielder Yudai Tashiro. The Bluejays were already without Big East preseason goalkeeper of the year Paul Kruse, who left Monday’s win over Columbia with a quad injury and is day-to-day, as well as senior center back Julius Fohr and senior midfielder Pepe Cejudo, who are both out for the season.
Tashiro, who is Creighton’s catalyst on set pieces and dangerous as a striker from distance, went down with a shoulder injury with 27:50 remaining in the second half on Friday and did not return. After the match, his arm was heavily wrapped to prevent any mobility and he unsuccessfully fought back tears as his teammates took turns consoling him after the match.
Despite the ever-growing injured list, Creighton’s first-year head coach remains optimistic that his team will continue to make lemonade out of lemons and deal with the latest batch of injuries the same way the dealt with ones they sustained in the preseason.
“This is a part of sports,” Torres said. “We have to find a way to bring the next guy in that’s going to fill the void and help us be successful.
“I think the guys have done a great job this season of staying together and staying tight. I don’t think that another injury is going to break this group. They understand that they have to be there when somebody falls. They have to help that person up, come in, and help fill the void. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that we’ll continue to do that.”
Next up for the banged up Bluejays is a match with their Dodge Street neighbors, Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks are off to an 0-3-2 start to the season, dropping matches at Cal and No. 11 Saint Mary’s, and at home against UNLV while earning 1-1 draws against Columbia and Michigan.
First touch at Morrison Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 16.