Missouri State Upends Fourth-Ranked Creighton in Historic 1-0 Victory
October 13, 2011
In its first-ever win over a top-five opponent, the Missouri State men’s soccer team (4-5-2, 2-0-0 Missouri Valley Conference) upset No. 4 Creighton (10-2-0, 0-1-0 MVC) in a 1-0 shutout on Wednesday at Plaster Field. The Bears have won three out of the past four matches and registered their second shutout of the season.
“The defense came out prepared, they were organized, played tight zones,” said head coach Jon Leamy. “That’s how we got the first goal. Heath pressured well, got mixed up with their goalkeeper and buried it and put us on top. It’s a big win for us.”
Missouri State’s game-winner came halfway through the first half on a Creighton defensive breakdown. A ricocheted ball off of Bluejay goalkeeper Brian Holt conveniently made its way back to Heath Melugin who took full advantage of the blunder. From 15 yards out, the senior midfielder chipped the ball into a wide open net to put the Bears up 1-0 in the 23rd minute. Melugin has now scored in two consecutive matches and moved into the team lead in points with seven and tied for the team lead in goals with two.
Heading into the break, Missouri held a 5-4 shot advantage and had three shots on goal to Creighton’s one.
The pace picked up in the second half and in the 58th minute, Bears’ redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg recorded a key save as he punched out a header by Creighton’s Greg Jordan. With the 1-0 lead, Missouri State held strong controlling the clock for the rest of the half and allowing just one more shot on goal in the final 45 minutes.
The Bears limited the preseason MVC favorites to eight shots on the lightning-filled night. Meanwhile, defending-MVC Defensive Player of the Week Brian Holt allowed just his third goal of the season to Melugin in the first half.
Melugin had a game-high four shots and two shots on goal in his 57 minutes of action.
Following the 1-0 triumph over No. 4 Creighton, Missouri State will take its perfect 2-0 MVC record into Evansville, Ind. on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The historic win can be viewed on Mediacom, channel 22 on Friday, October 14 at 7 p.m., Sunday, October 16 at 1 p.m. and Tuesday, October 18 at 4 p.m. In addition, the replay of the game will be made available on Mediacom On-Demand. The only other televised Missouri State men’s soccer game was the MSU 5-0 win over Texas-Pan American on October 10, 1996 at Cooper Field.
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