OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton midfielder Jose Gomez cleaned up a free ball in front of the net to deliver the game-winner, lifting the #2 Bluejays (17-2-0) to a 1-0 victory against #19 Bradley (14-5-2) in the second semifinal of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday night at Morrison Stadium.

Creighton advances to Sunday’s tournament championship game and a matchup against top-seeded Missouri State (9-7-2), which knocked off Drake (11-8-1) in Friday’s first semifinal, 2-0.

Creighton benefited from a Bradley foul deep in its defensive end to set up the best scoring chance of the first half.  From just outside of the penalty area to the right of the D, Juan Castro hooked a free kick over the Bradley wall and off the right post in the 33rd minute.  Bradley keeper Brian Billings got just enough of a Liam Kelly shot from the left flank to push it wide of the goal in the 37th minute. 

Creighton’s advantage was aided in the 22nd minute when senior midfielder Christian Meza left the game with a hamstring injury.  Bradley’s second-leading scorer this season, Meza was named first-team All-MVC Thursday night and scored the game-winner in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory against SIU Edwardsville in the MVC Tournament first-round game.

Bradley had the first good scoring chance of the second half, but reserve forward Wojceich Wojcik nodded a Bryan Gaul service wide right from inside the 6-yard box in the 51st minute.

Billings delivered a great save in the 55th minute when he turned away a 1-v-1 blast from Valley Player of the Year Ethan Finlay.  Finlay kept up the pressure, though, setting up Creighton’s winner in the 59th minute with a cross from the left flank that slipped by a diving Billings.  Gomez found himself alone with the ball in the center of the goal mouth and easily knocked in the shot for his third goal of the season at 59:00.

Bradley’s best shot at the equalizer came in the 75th minute when a long throw by Bobby Smith ultimately ended with a Cecil Jeffrey header that sailed wide of the left post.  Bradley got another chance in the 81st minute when Gaul narrowly lost the race for a loose ball to Creighton keeper Brian Holt.

The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Soccer Championship final will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday at Creighton’s Morrison Stadium and will be televised live on the MVC-TV Network (FS Midwest, FS Indiana, FS Kansas City, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Fox College Sports, as well as online on ESPN3).

Despite the loss, Bradley remains in solid contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The Braves entered the tournament ranked 27 in the NCAA RPI and Wednesday’s neutral-site win against SIU Edwardsville was their eighth away from home this season, equaling the most in the country at the time.  Bradley also is 3-0-1 against conference tournament number one seeds with three of the results coming away from home, and two of Bradley’s five losses on the season have been 1-0 decisions to the No. 1-rated RPI team in the country (Creighton).

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