The Creighton men’s soccer team has opened quite a few eyes in the five matches they’ve played at Morrison Stadium the last few weeks, and 5-foot-9 senior speedster Dominic Briggs has been at the center of most of the memorable moments thus far.
Between the three friendlies against Drake, Bradley, and Denver, and the two regular season contests versus Oakland and Rutgers, Briggs has assisted on eight of the 22 goals that the boys in blue have scored thus far. He assisted on three of the five goals scored against Drake, two of the four scored against Bradley, the lone goal scored against Denver, and two of the six they put up on Sunday night against Rutgers.
Of his eight helpers, six of have gone to different players, and while just two of those performances count on his official performance, the whole sample foretells of a breakout season for the native of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
“I think Dominic is at a place where he understands what his strengths are,” Creighton head coach Johnny Torres said. “He’s at a place where he’s got a good partnership with several of his teammates … so I think he understands what we are looking for him to do and where he’s dangerous. Fortunately for him and the rest of the group, he’s getting in behind defensive lines often, and towards the end line, which means he’s getting into the box. I think that’s a good combination.”
Loyal followers of the program probably don’t have to rummage through their memory banks to remember how Briggs started his collegiate career. After redshirting as a true freshman in 2018, he made his on-field debut for the Bluejays a year later, in a season-opening match against a North Carolina team that was ranked sixth in the country at the time. He checked in for Nico Engelking 30:45 into the first half of play in Chapel Hill, and seven seconds later, he took his first touch and put it in the back of the net to give his team a 2-0 lead that would eventually result in a draw.
Two matches later, he made his Morrison Stadium debut on September 6th against 21st-ranked Akron. In that one, he came onto the pitch with 9:30 remaining in the first half and it took him 61 seconds to find the ball and score the second goal of his young career. That one held up as the game-winner to give Johnny Torres his first victory as a head coach.
Needless to say, he made quite an introduction to D1 soccer. The fireworks didn’t last long, however. There has still been a rogue spark in the last few seasons, most notably when he had a goal and an assist at Indiana last September, Creighton’s first-ever win over a No. 1 ranked team, but since his memorable Morrison Stadium debut against Akron, which also garnered him the Big East Freshman of the Week award, he tallied just two goals and six assists in the 42 matches he played after that prior to this season.
After starting a total of seven matches between the 2019, 2020, and 2021 campaigns, Briggs started all three exhibitions and the first two regular season matches this fall, and the more the coaches have shown trust in him on the field, his own self-belief has been enhanced along with it.
“I’ve been at Creighton for a while now,” Briggs said. “At first my confidence wasn’t quite there. I wasn’t starting many games, but then as the years go on — this is now my fifth year here — my confidence has really gone up, especially now that the staff and the coaches give me a lot of free range to do what I want to do on the ball. They really trust me to be able to make those plays and do what I need to do for the team. My confidence is pretty high right now, and this preseason really helped me see that I am able to make those plays. Now it’s just a standard.”
Briggs presents a unique and dangerous blend of speed and poise on the ball as he patrols the right side of pitch. Not only has his impact been noticeable as a playmaker, but he’s also been tenacious as a defender and often helps Creighton win the ball back when opponents try to catch the Jays on a counter.
“He’s fast as … hell,” Torres said. “We enjoy watching him run. He’s very dynamic, opportunistic, and he’s relentless in his defensive pursuit, which helps too. And he’s got a nose for being able to set people up in front of goal.
“He’s very elusive and I think it complements the players around him, because they know when he’s breaking lines that there is going to be an opportunity for a chance on goal. You get a lot of his teammates that are working a little bit harder to try and get themselves in a position where they might have a crack at goal when they see that ‘D-Mo’ is breaking lines.”
What has all of it resulted in thus far? Well, Creighton has outscored its opposition by a head-shaking margin of 12-1. They didn’t just scour the countryside for two teams with 11 warm bodies either. Oakland went to the NCAA Tournament last season and Rutgers brought back 89% of their offensive production — and added a transfer out of High Point who finished second in all of Division 1 in goals scored in 2020 — from a team that went 9-6-2 and ended up in the top 75 of the RPI at the end of the year. The total number of shots on goal in the first two outings was 24-4 in favor of the Jays. Creighton’s attack has been so relentlessly smothering that senior goalkeeper Paul Kruse spends most of his time standing closer to midfield than his own end line just so he can sneak a better view of the action.
“We are now becoming the team who wants to pressure other teams the entire game,” Briggs said. “With me, it helps me because I’d say I’m a pretty good runner. I’m able to run longer than most. In that aspect it helps me with my game, because let’s say we are pressuring a team and we are already in the final third, then I just give the ball to Giorgio [Probo] or Charles [Auguste], those good midfielders on my side that are able to play me those balls through. Then I’m able to make plays in behind.
“It helps to have those teammates who trust you. They give me confidence. It’s because of them that my confidence is where it should be right now, and it will only get better throughout the season.”
