Creighton’s women’s soccer team wrapped up the non-conference portion of their fall season on a high note. An exhilarating second-half comeback victory over crosstown rival Omaha, and a complete dismantling of South Dakota, had second-year Bluejay head coach Jimmy Walker and several of his players as confident as ever heading into Big East play.
The fact that they got to start off the conference slate at Morrison Stadium, on a Saturday night, against perennial Big East favorite and nationally ranked Georgetown were just a few added bonuses.
Instead of snatching some program history and turning the corner, the Bluejays were punished for the same shortcomings that led to a 3-4-1 non-conference record. The Hoyas drew first blood in the 39th minute, then added two more goals after halftime to leave Omaha with a 3-1 win and leave Creighton searching the key ingredients that can help them get over the hump.
“Disappointing,” Walker said of Saturday night’s performance. “I kind of feel like a broken record sometimes with these big games, right? But can’t really grumble. Georgetown was the better team. They deserved to win. That’s why they win the conference. They’re lethal in key moments, and they’ve just got that winning mentality. They know what it takes to win championships.”
All three of Georgetown’s goals came off of set pieces. Sophomore forward Jocelyn Lohmeyer gave the Hoyas a 1-0 lead off a corner kick with 6:41 left in the first half. Senior forward Henley Tippins gave them a 2-1 lead on a short corner entry and service just five minutes and 32 seconds into the second half. Graduate senior forward Maja Lardner then put the icing on the cake by converting a penalty kick with 18:37 remaining in the match.
“That was a tough one tonight, because as good as they are — Top 20 in the nation — they scored off of three set pieces tonight,” Walker said. “If you’re going to win those games or have any chance against teams like that, you can’t concede off set pieces. That was the disappointing thing. It was the manner in which we gave the goals away. But credit to Georgetown. The better team deserved the win, and I can’t really argue that tonight.”
Including the match against Omaha on September 10, the last five goals that Creighton has conceded have all been produced by balls that were played with the clock stopped. One each off a free kick and a penalty, and three more off of corner kicks. With the exception of the penalty kick, the other four were a result of lacking communication and an inability to get organized quickly enough.
“I don’t think there’s anywhere near enough communication at the back, particularly,” Walker said. “Watching the men’s game last night, you can hear them at the back constantly communicating and organizing. We’re not doing that to the level we need to if we want to win something. We need have a bit more desperation and urgency to communicate and solve those problems. It’s too quiet back there I feel like on these set pieces.”
The lone bright spot for the Bluejays came with 3:21 to play before halftime. Trailing 1-0, freshman defender Olivia Sides played a free kick from just outside the box and placed it perfectly inside Georgetown’s six where sophomore forward Anna Bragg met it with a header to tie the match.
“We talk a lot about just crashing the goal,” Bragg said. “Gambling and just playing the what if game, so I crashed, Olivia put beautiful ball in, and I was just there.”
It was the second goal in as many matches for the native of Omaha after she spent the majority of the past 10 months recovering and rehabbing from knee surgery.
“I feel like I’m finally getting back to it,” Bragg said. “It took me a minute with that injury, and I felt like I’ve worked really hard over the summer and in the fall to get back to where I am. Now I just have to keep adding off of that. My teammates push me every day, and I think that’s what allowed me to get back to this. I just have to keep going.”