Last Sunday afternoon I witnessed the Creighton Men’s Soccer team qualify for the fourth trip to the College Cup in the school’s history. I was so caught up in the moment after Ethan Finlay scored the game winning goal that I agreed to travel with my brother to Alabama and watch them hopefully take home the school’s first national championship in any sport.
Being a big fan of this website I also agreed to some freelance journalistic work. By “freelance” I mean volunteer, and by “journalistic” I mean the ramblings of an ex-athlete and current scientist.
Brian Hill: former Creighton soccer player, current scientist
The first thing I thought I could contribute is a unique perspective on those previous three College Cup teams. I arrived at Creighton in the fall of 1997, the year after their first trip to the final four, and stayed five seasons. I played on the 2000 team and left the program a year before the 2002 team made their trip. I got to know almost all of the players on those teams one way or another, mostly by watching and cheering them on from the bench.
This year’s team, like those previous, is something special. They work together, they believe in the coach and the system, and they play with a lot of heart. They are also immensely talented. Probably more so than any of those past teams. It kills me to say it but it’s true. It’s a testament to all of the previous Creighton teams that this mid-major university in the middle of the country has that kind of recruiting ability. Morrison Stadium certainly doesn’t hurt, and the community support is second to none. (I have no data to back that up.)
Another reason these players are better is the growth of the sport in the country and the level of competition and coaching in the club systems. All that being said you have to have special players to achieve something special which this year’s team has done. Certainly Brian Holt and Finlay come to mind, guys who have both received their deserved amount of press. But watching this team throughout the year I’ve seen striking resemblances to a few of the key players on the ’96, ’00, and ’02 teams. It’s no coincidence that success follows these types of players and it is fun to connect the dots from past to present.
The one that sticks out to me the most is Bruno Castro. The guy doesn’t look that fast, but somehow he’s everywhere and he can dribble into a crowd and jog out unscathed with the ball placing a 30 yard ball onto a teammate’s foot with his next touch. He’s got a low center of gravity and has this lazy kind of run which all combined makes him a spitting image of Matt Jewett. Matt Jewett was an integral part of the central midfield in both the ’00 and ’02 college cup teams. My only question is does Bruno play guitar, because Matt can jam.
Creighton has had a rich history of quality left backs, and Tyler Polak is no exception. What is interesting to me is that he moves and plays very similar to two former Creighton standouts. The first is Stevie Bernal of the ’96 team. Stevie started as a freshman on that team and played left midfield but later converted to left back as Coach Simon changed the formation. The second is David Wagenfur of ’00 and ’02. David also rotated from midfield to left back, but played left back for the two college cup teams. What Tyler, David, and Stevie had in common was that insane quickness and never-ending endurance. They covered the entire length of the field and their ability to take players on was only matched by their one on one defensive skills. All three have a lean unassuming build and when I see Tyler play I’m reminded of those practices when Stevie mugged me on the sideline and took off down the wing. David did it 3 years later and Tyler would do it today if he had the chance. He’d probably apologize too, like those other guys did.
Finally, it is really uncanny how much Greg Jordan resembles Joe Wieland from both the ’00 and ’02 teams. With the blonde hair, the deceiving strength, the calmness on the ball, and the unrelenting work rate. Greg Jordan picks up everyone else’s trash, cleans it up, puts a bow on it and gives it back to his team so that everyone can start playing again. I’m going to throw Todd Hammett from ’00 and Thomas Martin from ’96 in here too because they played the same way. These guys are the glue who hold the entire team together from offense to defense.
When you combine the talents of these players with those of Duran, Finlay, Holt, and the rest of the team you have the ingredients for a truly amazing season. Those previous teams had standouts like Mike Tranchilla, David Wright, Ross Paule, Johnny Torres, Richard Mulrooney, Brian Mullan, Jeff Diest, Matt Wieland, Mike Gabb, and Andrew Brown to round out their teams. Looking back at those three teams reminded me just how much talent has gone through this school and I’m excited to watch this current iteration battle for and hopefully bring to Omaha Creighton’s first national championship.