The Creighton men’s soccer team continued their strong stretch of results on Saturday afternoon with a relatively one-sided 2-1 win over DePaul at Wish Field in Chicago. Junior midfielder Omar Ramadan found the back of the net in the 20th minute and freshman midfielder Miguel Arilla banged home the eventual game-winner in the 62nd to help improve to 3-1-2 in their last six matches, and more importantly earn another three points in Big East play to take over sole possession of first place in the Midwest Division.
“I thought the guys did a good job at coming out and attacking at will,” CU head coach Johnny Torres told White & Blue Review over the phone after the match.
Shots on goal ended up even between the Bluejays and Blue Demons, with each side recording six. However, Creighton held a 31-14 edge in total shots and produced nine corner kicks to DePaul’s three. Blue Demon defenders blocked 15 shots in the box and a handful more hit the woodwork. It was the most shots by a Jays team since 2017.
“Part of our game plan was to try and overwhelm them and stay on them early, and I thought the guys did a good job with that,” Torres said. “Unfortunately, we were unlucky a couple of times. It’s not so much that we were missing, but DePaul had players in front of the goal line blocking shots and I think we hit the post once or twice. DePaul was pretty resilient in their defending, blocking shots, and negating our opportunities on goal, but I was really proud of the guys for being able to build on the many of the attacks in that first half and convert on some scoring opportunities.”
After peppering DePaul’s 18-yard box passes, pressure, and shots, Creighton finally got on the board with 25:08 to go in the first half when Omar Ramadan settled a deflected shot by junior midfielder Jackson Castro and laced it across the turf to the back post for his first goal since transferring in from DePaul last spring. Early in the second half, the former Blue Demon settled a ball at his feet and opened up a seam with a couple dribbles before connecting with Miguel Arilla, who split three defenders in the box before putting one home for a 2-0 lead on what Johnny Torres dubbed a “magnificent goal.”
“I’m proud of Omar for coming out and being able to produce against his old school,” Torres said of the newcomer’s first goal and assist in a Bluejay uniform. “I know it was probably a high-stress situation for him, but I thought he handled himself well. He had a couple early opportunities that the goalie saved, so he was knocking on the door.”
The three-point afternoon for Ramadan translate into another three points in the conference standings for the reigning Big East Tournament champs. Creighton sits all alone atop the Midwest Division with six points after beating division foes Marquette and DePaul in the first two matches of conference play. The Jays (3-3-3, 2-0-0) will now get five days at home to train before welcoming another inter-division opponent in Xavier (4-3-1, 1-1-0) to Morrison Stadium on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
“I’m very proud of the guys to come out in conference play and earn six points in the first two matches,” Torres said. “It’s great to be able to get 5-6 days to prepare for a very good Xavier team that’ll be coming in. But it’ll be great for us to be back home. I’m excited for the preparation that will take place this week, and excited to be able to play at home in front of our own fans.”