OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton scored a pair of first half goals and then held Villanova off in the second half to post a 3-1 BIG EAST victory over the Wildcats here Saturday afternoon.
"We had talked a lot this week about carrying the energy and push we had in the second half at Akron last game into this one," said Villanova head coach Mark Fetrow. "Unfortunately, we found ourselves in a 1-0 hole early and had to chase the game."
On a beautiful fall afternoon at Morrison Stadium, the Bluejays grabbed the early advantage. Jackson Castro tucked a blast just inside the top corner of the right post at 13:45 to put Creighton up 1-0. Aaron Deppe was credited with an assist on the play.
Foday Bangura helped prevent a second Bluejays goal in the 19th minute, knocking a ball out of harms' way near the Villanova goal line that appeared headed towards the back of the net.
The Wildcats were able to generate a handful of chances of their own off a pair of corners and some good work in the attacking third.
However, it was Creighton that came up with the critical second goal. The play began with a well-served corner kick into the box by Sean Green that neither team could get control of. Finally, the Bluejays' Mark O'Neill nudged the ball through the thicket of legs and over the goal line at 41:04.
"Giving up a set piece goal late in the half hurt," Fetrow said. "It was a little mistake but going down two goals makes life tough."
That's where the tally stood at intermission. A total of 17 fouls were called in the first 45 minutes, including 11 on the Wildcats with three of those yellow cards.
Sophomore Javon Daniels generated a terrific scoring chance early in the second half, dribbling in from the left side where he was stopped by Creighton goalkeeper Blake Gillingham.
The early second half pressure resulted in a Wildcats goal. This one came off a blast off the foot of Jason Bouregy who took a feed from Luke Haggerty at 54:12.
"We did a good job creating some chances in the second half," stated Fetrow. "Bouregy, JC (Jordan Canica), Javon, (Michael) teDuits, were buzzing and we were able to finally get Creighton on the back foot/"
A few minutes late, goalkeeper Sebastian Cutler DeJesus came up with an enormous save, lunging to his right to knock away a dangerous free kick strike by Castro in the 60th minute.
Cutler DeJesus came up with another breathtaking save in the 68th minute as Castro fired a shot on goal from the left side. The Charlotte transfer got a hand on the blast to knock it out of harm's way.
"It's a shame that you look down and Seb will have three goals next to his name on the stat sheet," said Fetrow. "He made a handful of outstanding saves that kept us right there."
Creighton's Miguel Arilla then made a superb individual play, dribbling into the middle of the Wildcats' defense and then firing a left-footed finish just inside the right post at 77:57.
That made the final count 3-1.
"The message to the guys after the game was to keep their heads up," stated Fetrow. "We have three Big East games left and even though we haven't had the results we would have liked, we still have the opportunity to be better."
