The Creighton Bluejays are one win away from the College Cup, thanks to a 2-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara Sunday. The Jays will host South Florida this Saturday at 1 p.m., with with winner advancing to Birmingham for the national semifinals.
Before I launch into my postgame analysis, a little plug: WBR will be joining our friends at Bluejay Banter in sponsoring a pre-game tailgate party put on by American Outlaws Omaha. Rain or shine, the party starts at 11 a.m., so bundle up and join us! Bring your favorite beverage. More information can be found at the AO Omaha website. See you there!
- First, I want to applaud UCSB goalkeeper André Grandt for being a class act. After being heckled and harassed for ninety minutes by a group of students, he went immediately after the final whistle to high-five them. It was an awesome show of sportsmanship from a player whose team showed very little throughout the game. He also had a terrific game and kept the score from really getting out of hand, but I guess as a Jays sports writer I shouldn’t focus on that too much.
- I came in late and missed the events leading up to the first goal. (I know, sorry, this is a really pathetic post-game review. Feel free to leave uppity messages for me in the Comments section.) I think that indicates, though, that the Jays were able to set the tone of the game in the first few minutes. UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg had accurately predicted that the first ten minutes would go a long way in determining how the game would play out. How very prescient, since the first goal came on a UCSB foul and Creighton penalty kick. Bruno Castro banked the PK off the inside of the right goalpost and into the net, which he’ll have you believe was totally intentional.
- The second goal came off a corner kick that skipped out to Andrew Ribeiro who blasted it home. Ribeiro put a powerful shot on frame, and it went right past the goalkeeper who just couldn’t react in time. The goal won’t win any awards, but it was good for a 2-0 lead in the first half.
- UCSB looked tired, rattled, nervous, and cold for the first hour of the match. The Creighton midfield absolutely owned the UCSB midfield, about whom we’d heard so much in advance. The Gauchos seemed to struggle to complete passes and find the open man. Their midfielders and forwards showed flashes of brilliance, but couldn’t string anything together until late in the second half. Around the eighty-minute-mark, forwards Dom Sarle and David Opuku (remember that trio of forwards I mentioned in the preview?) connected for a really beautiful strike that brought the Gauchos to within one goal.
- Two red cards were issued to UCSB in the second half. The first was given to assistant coach Greg Curry, who reacted like a child to a foul called directly in front of the Gaucho bench. (The foul was called on midfielder Luis Silva, who reacted like a child and earned a yellow for his antics.) The second was given to defender Tim Pontius, who took down Ethan Finlay inches outside the box on what would have been a clear scoring opportunity. Pontius reacted like a child to this call, taking his time on the field to call the referee names I can only imagine weren’t very nice.