The Jays scored in the first two minutes of both halves Thursday night, then got the game-winner in the 80th minute of a 4-2 win over San Francisco. It was a physical match with eight yellow cards, four for each side, and USF played the final 31 minutes a man down after David Raphael earned his second yellow of the night.
Creighton’s opening salvo came courtesy of a post-to-post run where Brady Bragg, Brian Edelman and captain Matthew Reed passed the ball back and forth before Reed banked it in.
Starting us off 😁
The Captain Matthew Reed banks his first of the season to get the scoring started!
1-0 Bluejays – 2nd minute#GoJays pic.twitter.com/CvVk3BhuAR
— Creighton Men’s Soccer (@creightonmsoc) August 28, 2026
“We expected them to press at will,” head coach Johnny Torres said, “which also means that you should have some spaces, right? I thought we did a good job to expose those spaces in the first half. It was great to see (Matthew) Reed find himself at the back post to be able to knock that over the line.”
USF tied the match in the 26th minute. Raphael’s first shot on goal was blocked, but he reclaimed possession and knocked in an unassisted goal.
As if the flurry of yellow cards wasn’t enough, the officials put their stamp on the game in the final second of the first half by waving off a would-be Bluejay goal by Aaron Deppe — and then refusing a request for a video review, opting to walk away from Torres and march to the locker room.
With ESPN’s clock showing 44:59 as the ball crossed the line, a review would have almost certainly resulted in the call being overturned.
Maybe Deppe was offsides. Maybe the TV clock wasn’t 100% in sync with the official game clock and the ball didn’t cross at 44:59. Maybe there wasn’t conclusive angles to determine anything with certainty. But isn’t that was video review is for? To find out the answers to those questions?
“I think everybody was confused a little bit, and I was as well,” head coach Johnny Torres said afterward. “I was asking to have the play reviewed. Why the referee walked away is still unknown to me. I’m not a referee and I don’t envy the referee’s job. But I’ve always thought the rule is you let the play play out and then if there’s something that needs to be called, then it’s called. So I was just a little perplexed as to why there was no time to even look at it. I think we were all a little bit confused and frustrated.”
On the subject of things I’ve never seen in soccer before, here is another one:
Creighton’s Aaron Deppe seemingly scores a go-ahead goal with 1 second left in the first half. Refs wave it off and (defiantly?) head to the locker room as CU’s coaching staff shouts for a review. pic.twitter.com/qJ0iWHxHoC
— 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓽 𝓓𝓮𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓼 (@mjdemarinis) August 28, 2026
On the subject of things I’ve never seen in soccer before, here is another one:
Creighton’s Aaron Deppe seemingly scores a go-ahead goal with 1 second left in the first half. Refs wave it off and (defiantly?) head to the locker room as CU’s coaching staff shouts for a review. pic.twitter.com/qJ0iWHxHoC
— 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓽 𝓓𝓮𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓼 (@mjdemarinis) August 28, 2026
Rather than dwell on it, the Jays responded by scoring the go-ahead goal 90 seconds into the second half. Ayden Kokoszka lost his footing as he attempted a shot on goal, but so did USF’s goalkeeper Lucas Jones — and Kokoszka slid the ball between Jones’ legs.
SENSATIONAL! 😎
Ayden Kokoszka slides and taps it in to get the second half going on a hot start!
2-1 Bluejays – 46th minute#GoJays pic.twitter.com/Ih1Tn1YZxg
— Creighton Men’s Soccer (@creightonmsoc) August 28, 2026
“I was really proud of our guys and their reaction to the end of the half,” Torres said. “They were able to come out and and answer the call pretty quickly after the second half started.”
Raphael then created a goal for teammate Isaiah Easley in the 57th minute (56:20), tying the match at 2 apiece. But moments later the Dons’ best player would be disqualified after delivering a forearm to the face of CU’s captain Matthew Reed. USF head coach Chris Brown was unhappy that Creighton’s bench requested a review of the play, and after it resulted in a DQ, he let them know about it through mock applause and choice words.
This Creighton-San Francisco match has A LOT of layers to it.
The Dons lose their best player to a second yellow card after David Raphael gives Creighton captain Matthew Reed a forearm to the face.
USF head coach Chris Brown then chirps at CU’s staff for calling for the review. pic.twitter.com/eM2907JadL
— 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓽 𝓓𝓮𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓼 (@mjdemarinis) August 28, 2026
“We knew we were going to get a fiery bunch, a very good soccer playing team. They’re very physical defending on the front foot, very committed to trying to win the ball back in a hurry to get forward,” Torres said. “I’m proud of our guys for being calm under pressure, for continuing to be brave under adversity.”
20 minutes later, the score was still tied 2-2 when freshman phenom Jordan Igwenma knocked in the eventual game-winner. It was his third goal of the young season, and none have been bigger than this one.
An Omaha Connection 🤞 📣
Jordan Igwenma knocks it in off the pinball from fellow Omaha native Brady Bragg & Carter Derksen to give the Jays’ the lead late in the second half!
3-2 Bluejays – 80th minute#GoJays pic.twitter.com/7oLJMetvkU
— Creighton Men’s Soccer (@creightonmsoc) August 28, 2026
Four minutes later, Angel Lopez tacked on one more goal, sealing a 4-2 win.
Angel Lopez sealed Creighton’s win with this goal to give Creighton a 4-2 edge in the 85th minute! pic.twitter.com/2hRqa2AuvQ
— Creighton Men’s Soccer (@creightonmsoc) August 28, 2026
Though he was pleased with the win, Torres noted that the Jays were still sloppy with their possessions, especially in the first half, and that they’ll need to be better next week to be successful.
“We have to make sure that we’re securing the ball in the midfield zone,” he said. “Especially against a team that likes to counterattack, if you’re not taking care of of the ball in the middle of the field you’re only going to put more stress on your defenders behind you. That’s something we’ll continue to work on as we prepare for Tulsa.”
Highlights and Interviews:
Looking ahead:
at Tulsa
Monday, August 31, 7:00pm
ESPN+
Gonzaga (14th Annual Socctoberfest)
Friday, September 4, 7:45pm
YouTube