Sunday, November 27
Morrison Stadium
1:00 PM
Creighton University
2
vs
1
UC Santa Barbara
No. 2 Men's Soccer Moves to NCAA Quarterfinals With 2-1 Win
11/27/2011 4:40:00 PM | Men's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. - The No. 2-seeded and No. 2-ranked Creighton men's soccer team knocked off 15th-seeded UC Santa Barbara 2-1 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon at Morrison Stadium. The Bluejays scored twice in the first 20 minutes of the match and held off the Gauchos to move to the NCAA quarterfinals for the eighth time.
The Bluejays are now 13-0-0 at home this year and 20-2-0 on the season. The 13th-ranked Gauchos end their season at 15-7-1, including 4-5-0 on the road.
In a matchup pitting the top defense in the NCAA (Creighton) against the third-highest scoring offense in the country (UCSB), the Bluejays were able to find the back of the net first.
Creighton took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute when the Bluejays were awarded a penalty kick following a Gaucho foul which occured during a CU corner kick. During Bruno Castro's corner kick in the eighth minute, Sam Garza was whistled for grabbing hold of two-time MVC Player of the Year Ethan Finlay in the box. Castro stepped forward to take the PK attempt and burried his first penalty attempt of the year for his sixth goal of the season.
The Bluejays again took advantage of another set piece just 11 minutes later. Jose Gomez sent a corner kick into the box. Greg Jordan headed the corner kick back to the middle of the goal mouth, where Andrew Ribeiro had plenty of space to fire a shot past UCSB goalkeeper Andre Grandt from close range.
Ribeiro's fourth goal of the year in the 19th minutes, also proved to be his fourth game-winner of the year. The Bluejays dominated possession against the Gauchos, holding UCSB without a shot on goal in the first half. CU outshot the visitors 12-5 in the first 45 minutes and had five corner kicks to just one from UCSB.
The score remained unchanged until UCSB's speed finally earned a goal against the Bluejays in the 79th minute. Dom Sarle took a ball wide and sent a crossing pass to the far post, where David Opoku was able to knock in a header for his ninth goal of the season. The goal was the first allowed by the Bluejays since Oct. 15th, snapping an eight-game shutout streak and a school-record scoreless minute streak that reached better than 826 minutes. The goal also served as just the second allowed by CU at home all year and just the fifth overall tally allowed on the season.
The final 11 minutes were played at a frantic pace, while the final six minutes witnessed two yellow cards and two red cards issued. UCSB was handed a yellow card in the 85th minute, which caused one Gaucho assistant coach to protest to the point of a red card. Just three minutes later, UCSB's Tim Pontius was sent off with a red card, giving the Bluejays a man advantage for the final 2:45 of play. CU's Jose Ribas also received a yellow card in the final minute for delay of game.
UCSB had scored 50 goals coming into the match, but was held to just two shots on goal in the Bluejay win. The Gauchos had a streak of eight straight matches of at least two goals scored snapped in the 2-1 loss.
Grandt made eight saves in goal for UCSB, included a close range save of a blast from Finlay and a diving save to redirect a free kick by Gomez. Brian Holt did not record a save for CU in the win, while Jordan kept a UCSB shot from going in during the 69th minute when he headed a ball off the line.
The win gives the Bluejays 20 wins in a season for just the second time in school history and the first time since the 2000 team led the NCAA with 22 wins and finished as the NCAA runner-up. Creighton's 13 home wins also ties the school-record set by the 1993 team.
The trip to the NCAA quarterfinals will be the eighth for the Bluejays and their first since losing in the Elite Eight at Maryland in 2008. The Jays will be hosting a quarterfinal round for the first time in school history and will play three home matches in the same NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Creighton will host No. 7-seed South Florida (13-3-4) next Saturday afternoon at 1 pm. USF played to a scoreless draw with No. 10-seed New Mexico on Sunday night, but advanced by winning the penalty kick shootout 6-5.
NOTES: The win was No. 300 in Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich's career ... Bolowich is now 22-13-4 and one win away from his fourth straight trip to the College Cup ... Creighton improved to 10-4-0 all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament, including 9-1-0 at Morrison Stadium ... CU is now 19-2-1 at Morrison Stadium against the NSCAA top-25 ... The Bluejays also advanced to at least the quarterfinal round in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008 ... CU has scored at least two goals in all nine of their NCAA Tournament wins at Morrison Stadium ... CU has outscored opponents 28-7 in NCAA matches at Morrison Stadium ... CU has outscored opponents 27-2 in Omaha this year and 39-5 overall ... The only other team to score in Omaha this year also came from the Big West Conference, as UC Irvine scored in a 3-1 loss on Oct. 15 - the last goal allowed by Creighton before Sunday ... Brian Holt's shutout streak ended at 816:44, the longest consecutive scoreless minute streak in school history - topping his previous best, set earlier this season ... Holt now owns the top three scoreless minute streaks in school history - 816:44, 753:34 & 722:12 ... CU has won 14 straight home matches, one shy of the school record set between 1997 and 1999 ... Creighton will host its second December match in school history, the other was its only NCAA Tournament loss at Morrison Stadium, a third-round 1-0 defeat to Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 1, 2007 ... Creighton defeated South Florida in the only previous meetings between the schools on Oct. 27, 1991, a 3-1 win in Miami as part of a tournament hosted by FIU.
The Bluejays are now 13-0-0 at home this year and 20-2-0 on the season. The 13th-ranked Gauchos end their season at 15-7-1, including 4-5-0 on the road.
In a matchup pitting the top defense in the NCAA (Creighton) against the third-highest scoring offense in the country (UCSB), the Bluejays were able to find the back of the net first.
Creighton took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute when the Bluejays were awarded a penalty kick following a Gaucho foul which occured during a CU corner kick. During Bruno Castro's corner kick in the eighth minute, Sam Garza was whistled for grabbing hold of two-time MVC Player of the Year Ethan Finlay in the box. Castro stepped forward to take the PK attempt and burried his first penalty attempt of the year for his sixth goal of the season.
The Bluejays again took advantage of another set piece just 11 minutes later. Jose Gomez sent a corner kick into the box. Greg Jordan headed the corner kick back to the middle of the goal mouth, where Andrew Ribeiro had plenty of space to fire a shot past UCSB goalkeeper Andre Grandt from close range.
Ribeiro's fourth goal of the year in the 19th minutes, also proved to be his fourth game-winner of the year. The Bluejays dominated possession against the Gauchos, holding UCSB without a shot on goal in the first half. CU outshot the visitors 12-5 in the first 45 minutes and had five corner kicks to just one from UCSB.
The score remained unchanged until UCSB's speed finally earned a goal against the Bluejays in the 79th minute. Dom Sarle took a ball wide and sent a crossing pass to the far post, where David Opoku was able to knock in a header for his ninth goal of the season. The goal was the first allowed by the Bluejays since Oct. 15th, snapping an eight-game shutout streak and a school-record scoreless minute streak that reached better than 826 minutes. The goal also served as just the second allowed by CU at home all year and just the fifth overall tally allowed on the season.
The final 11 minutes were played at a frantic pace, while the final six minutes witnessed two yellow cards and two red cards issued. UCSB was handed a yellow card in the 85th minute, which caused one Gaucho assistant coach to protest to the point of a red card. Just three minutes later, UCSB's Tim Pontius was sent off with a red card, giving the Bluejays a man advantage for the final 2:45 of play. CU's Jose Ribas also received a yellow card in the final minute for delay of game.
UCSB had scored 50 goals coming into the match, but was held to just two shots on goal in the Bluejay win. The Gauchos had a streak of eight straight matches of at least two goals scored snapped in the 2-1 loss.
Grandt made eight saves in goal for UCSB, included a close range save of a blast from Finlay and a diving save to redirect a free kick by Gomez. Brian Holt did not record a save for CU in the win, while Jordan kept a UCSB shot from going in during the 69th minute when he headed a ball off the line.
The win gives the Bluejays 20 wins in a season for just the second time in school history and the first time since the 2000 team led the NCAA with 22 wins and finished as the NCAA runner-up. Creighton's 13 home wins also ties the school-record set by the 1993 team.
The trip to the NCAA quarterfinals will be the eighth for the Bluejays and their first since losing in the Elite Eight at Maryland in 2008. The Jays will be hosting a quarterfinal round for the first time in school history and will play three home matches in the same NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Creighton will host No. 7-seed South Florida (13-3-4) next Saturday afternoon at 1 pm. USF played to a scoreless draw with No. 10-seed New Mexico on Sunday night, but advanced by winning the penalty kick shootout 6-5.
NOTES: The win was No. 300 in Creighton head coach Elmar Bolowich's career ... Bolowich is now 22-13-4 and one win away from his fourth straight trip to the College Cup ... Creighton improved to 10-4-0 all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament, including 9-1-0 at Morrison Stadium ... CU is now 19-2-1 at Morrison Stadium against the NSCAA top-25 ... The Bluejays also advanced to at least the quarterfinal round in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008 ... CU has scored at least two goals in all nine of their NCAA Tournament wins at Morrison Stadium ... CU has outscored opponents 28-7 in NCAA matches at Morrison Stadium ... CU has outscored opponents 27-2 in Omaha this year and 39-5 overall ... The only other team to score in Omaha this year also came from the Big West Conference, as UC Irvine scored in a 3-1 loss on Oct. 15 - the last goal allowed by Creighton before Sunday ... Brian Holt's shutout streak ended at 816:44, the longest consecutive scoreless minute streak in school history - topping his previous best, set earlier this season ... Holt now owns the top three scoreless minute streaks in school history - 816:44, 753:34 & 722:12 ... CU has won 14 straight home matches, one shy of the school record set between 1997 and 1999 ... Creighton will host its second December match in school history, the other was its only NCAA Tournament loss at Morrison Stadium, a third-round 1-0 defeat to Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 1, 2007 ... Creighton defeated South Florida in the only previous meetings between the schools on Oct. 27, 1991, a 3-1 win in Miami as part of a tournament hosted by FIU.
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