The Creighton Bluejays men’s soccer team had to dig deep on Sunday afternoon to find the legs to compete against a very good Rutgers team.  After Friday night’s intense 110 minute thriller against Akron, the Jays struggled to find the focus or strength put passes together and break down the Rutgers defense.  Creighton coach, Elmar Bolowich was quoted as saying, “It shouldn’t be an excuse but when you play 110 minutes of soccer Friday night with just 13 or 14 guys, it takes a toll.  We were just flat today.”  Creighton pressured Rutgers but couldn’t break through.  At half the teams went into the locker room looked at 0-0.

Creighton was able to gather itself and came out with an emphasis on passing and maintaining possession.  The Jays got the breakthrough in the 62^nd minute off a free kick.  Rutgers fouled two yards out from the edge of the box and Jose “Choco” Gomez was given the task of taking the free kick.  Rutgers put up a five person wall but Gomez struck over the wall and into the upper right corner for the opening goal.  With the goal, Creighton was given the boost it needed and began to put more pressure on the Rutgers defense. 

One real bright spot in the game was the second half play of substitute freshman, Christian Blandon.  Blandon came on and played with energy and enthusiasm.  His hustle paid off in the 84^th minute.  Blandon got the ball on a long pass up the left side and cut his defender inside and fired from outside of the box into the far upper corner to score his first goal as a Bluejay.  The only 30 second later Blandon got a through ball down the middle and fired on the Rutgers goalkeeper to have it saved but the ball fell into the path of Bruno Castro, who put home Creighton’s third and final goal. 

The score ended 3-0 Creighton.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

ECNL Girls N. Atlantic Players to Watch

Women's NCAA Tournament Round Two Preview

Best of Men's College Soccer Week 13