Rematch on the Hilltop

Far and away the best two teams in the Big East, and two of the best in the nation, both Creighton and Georgetown advanced to the conference tournament final with wins on Thursday.

The Hoyas, which defeated the Bluejays back on Nov. 5 in the nation’s capital, host Sunday’s clash after defeating Xavier 1-0 on Sunday. A first half goal from senior Brandon Allen – who is one goal shy of becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer – was enough, as freshman goalkeeper James Marcinkowski made a couple of crucial saves to preserve the win.

As he has all season, Fabian Herbers delivered for Creighton. After freshman Joel Rydstrand opened the scoring for the Bluejays in the 33rd minute, Providence equalized in the 55th minute through Julian Gressel’s penalty kick.

Timo Pitter won a penalty kick in the 67th minute that Herbers converted for his 15th goal of the season and to secure a rematch of Creighton’s trip to Georgetown.

Final four set in Atlantic 10

VCU picked the perfect occasion to score four goals for the first time in 2015. Entering as the No. 8 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament, VCU put four past George Washington to advance to the semifinal.

After a scrappy, back-and-forth encounter for the first thirty minutes, Rafael Andrade Santos opened the scoring with a bomb from 20 yards out. Two minutes later, Jorge Herranz finished in front of the six-yard box to make it 2-0 at the half. The Rams continued to control most of the second half, and added a quick fire double in the 85th and 86th minute, as Luc Fatton found the back of the net and Herranz scored his second of the game.

Here's the goal from @vcusoccer's Santos to give the Rams a 1-0 lead #A10CHAMPS https://t.co/01vKI4XaUi

— Atlantic10Conference (@atlantic10) November 12, 2015

Jannik Loebe’s 83rd minute penalty kick provided the only goal of the second quarterfinal, as Fordham advanced past Massachusetts 1-0 and will take on VCU.

There were goals galore in the other half of the bracket. Conference Player of the Year Amass Amankona scored twice, leading Dayton to a 3-1 defeat of Duquesne. Amankona tallied first in the 41st minute, before Colin Phillips headed home the tying goal in the 52nd minute. James Haupt and Amankona helped the Flyers pull away, scoring in the 73rd and 77th minute.

Rhode Island, Dayton’s semifinal opponent on Friday, jumped all over Saint Louis, racing out to a 4-0 lead, before the Billikens grabbed a pair of consolation goals. Dominik Richter scored twice, while Tyler Dickson and Ryan Bailey also bagged goals for the Rams, which had four goals by the 78th minute. Vince Cicciarelli and Lennart Hein provided a pair of late goals to make the final score more respectable.

Some fancy footwork from A-10 POY Amankona gives @DaytonMSoccer a 1-0 lead @sctop10 https://t.co/7T70Nw4Bdf

— Atlantic10Conference (@atlantic10) November 12, 2015

Final in the Horizon

The Horizon League’s automatic bid will be handed out on Saturday to either Wright State or Oakland after both advanced with wins on Thursday. It’ll be the third straight year the two programs will meet in the conference tournament final.

Matt Rickard scored the game-winning goal for Oakland from a corner kick in overtime, topping Cleveland State by a 1-0 score. On the other side of the bracket, Wright State edged top seed UIC 2-1 thanks to Peguy Ngatch’s second half penalty kick.