Creighton played through some challenging weather on Saturday night, but got a nice 3-0 win over a tough Providence team. Here are a few observations from the match.
- For all we heard about Providence being a well-organized team that doesn’t beat themselves, I thought Providence beat themselves last night. The first goal was on a penalty kick that resulted from Dion Acoff being pulled down inside the box. As a Bluejay fan I’m pleased with how that turned out, but the foul itself was sloppy and needless.
- Acoff’s run, on which he drew the foul, was set up by a downright perfect pass from Jose Gomez, who proved his worth yet again as Creighton’s #10. It’s almost a shame that the play resulted in a goal, because it overshadowed just how excellent the buildup was. When you talk about a pass that splits defenders at the perfect angle, perfect speed, perfect touch, that was it.
- The second goal came quickly thereafter, the proverbial floodgates having been opened. Bruno Castro earned his first of two assists with an excellently-placed cross, and Greg Jordan put it away with a beautiful diving header you could see coming from twenty feet away. Jordan’s run was good, but the Providence defender got completely lost on the play. Once again, I thought this was another instance of Providence making it hard for themselves.
- After the first two goals were scored, Providence showed they’re a better team than the score would indicate. Midfielder Wilber Arboleda, who made last week’s National Team of the Week, had a fairly quiet game. Altogether, I didn’t think Providence had too many quality looks on goal, which is a testament to the Creighton back line and the job they’re doing.
- On that note, Creighton remains the only unbeaten, untied, unscored-upon team in America.
- The third goal happened on the other side of the field, so I didn’t get any kind of a good look at it. The facts are encouraging: Castro got his second assist, and Finlay got his second goal. It seems to me that the offense is starting to really gel.
- There were periods of time where Creighton got sloppy, complacent, and played like they had the game in the bag. Most notably, I thought there were extended stretches where the Jays failed to control the ball in the midfield, trying to play it directly from the back line to the offense. C.U. will have to maintain mental focus to prevent slip-ups against better teams, later in the season.
- The first cold, rainy day of fall + football on TV = not terrific attendance. Still, 2,525 is above last season’s average attendance, which is a good sign.
Disagree? See something different? Speak up in the comments below!