Doug McDermott and the Creighton men’s basketball team helped put the Bluejays on the map this past winter.
Now, the Creighton men’s soccer program is looking to one-up them when they moved to 4-0 on the season.
What has made the Jays so strong here in the early going? Defense and second-half goals.
Connor Sparrow has yet to surrender a mark in 360 minutes on the pitch, blocking 11 shots in all. In fact, dating back to last season, Sparrow has not allowed a home goal in 585 minutes of action after stepping in as an injury replacement.
Of Creighton’s seven goals this year, six of the have come in the final half. In fact, 34 of the 53 shots they have accounted for have been after the intermission.
“I think we over complicated matters in the first half,” said head coach Elmar Bolowich following a recent win over Cincinnati in a video interview with the school’s website. “We weren’t very sharp in making our passes and playing the wrong guys.
“We made up in the second half with it.”
Fabio Herbers has three goals, Ricky Lopez-Espin two and Timo Pitter and Brendan Hines-Ike one each.
Last year, the Bluejays went 9-9-2, but that season gave Sparrow, Pitter, Herbers and others time to figure out the college game. They all saw plenty of action and are part of a group of eight returning starters and 15 returning letterwinners.
Bolowich has found plenty of success with CU, posting a 51-15-6 record in three-plus seasons. Overall, he owns 331 victories in 25-plus years on the sidelines, having spent 22 seasons leading North Carolina to much success, including a 2001 NCAA championship.
The Bluejays are regulars on the national tournament scene, having qualified for each of the past four NCAA Tournaments. They have made 21 all-time appearances and are 13-time conference champions, winning their last in 2012 when they swept both the regular season and tournament titles.
Those tourney titles came while part of the Missouri Valley Conference, as the school moved to the Big East recently.
Creighton returns to action this Saturday night when they take on Tulsa in Oklahoma. The Golden Hurricane are coming off a double-overtime upset of Virginia, 1-0, last week.
