The men’s soccer team was cooler than the temperature in a game against hot-headed SMU on Wednesday at Morrison Stadium.
The Bluejays (12-2-5) kept calm in a physical match and beat Southern Methodist (14-5-2) 3-0. The Bluejays advance to play against Illinois-Chicago on Saturday night at Morrison Stadium.
Tim Bohnenkamp got the Bluejays off to a dream start just six minutes into the match. The speedy winger from Omaha finished off a good play as he burst down the left side before slotting home past a stone-footed Steve Sandbo for his second goal of the season and his first at Morrison Stadium. Bohnenkamp was mobbed by teammates and fans in the north end zone after his goal.
“We were in business from that point on,” he said. “It really got the team going and it showed through all the 90 minutes that we played.”
The Bluejays continued to attack and Seth Sinovic almost found the back of the net with a cheeky effort. The defender took the ball up the left and saw SMU goalie Steve Sandbo off his line and almost found the bottom right corner of the net with a shot from 25 yards out.
In a game with rough play, the turning point came in the 26th minute. Behind the play, SMU senior midfielder Ben Shuleva threw a punch at Sinovic and was sent off with a red card. It was the last play in which he would be involved as he ended his career in a Zinedine Zidane-like play.
The incident led to all the players scuffling in the center to defend their teammate, with Danny Minutillo letting Shuleva know what was on his mind. The only Bluejay carded in the situation was goalie Matt Allen, who rushed from the south goal and shoved over Shuleva.
“I just wanted to defend our team,” Allen said.
Despite his rough style of play, Shuleva’s actions were out of character, said Andrei Gotsmanov, who played a year with him at St. Johns.
“He’s a tough player and I was surprised by his actions,” he said.
Despite the incident, Sinovic continued his strong play by shooting a rocket from 25 yards out that was well saved by the SMU goalie.
Towards the end of the half, Gotsmanov scored another Bluejay goal. The midfielder took a pass from Tony Schmitz and chipped the ball over the SMU goalie from 30 yards out.
The goal put the Bluejays in a great position with a 2-0 lead at halftime. Play stayed competitive throughout the game, and SMU almost scored at the start of the second half. The ball ping-ponged around in the Creighton penalty area and with an open goal, SMU had a shot blocked by their own player.
The Bluejays wrapped up the game in the 86th minute after good work by three substitutes. Tucker Sindlinger cut down the right sideline and passed the ball inside to Sam Eid. Eid then had his shot from the right hit the far post. The ball then rolled along the line where Mo Travis tapped in for his third goal of the season.
Head coach Bob Warming was happy with the victory and stressed his team’s preparation for the match as a key factor.
“I thought we were intellectually prepared for the match, all the way up until today,” he said. “We showed the guys more tape then we had shown anybody else.”
The win also put the Bluejays in the driver’s seat in the road to the College Cup. Losses by No. 1 Boston College, No. 16 Tulsa and No. 9 Northwestern left the No. 8 Bluejays as the highest remaining seed in the regional, meaning the Bluejays will only play in Omaha in their quest for a national championship.
The team still remains coy on their chances, just based off their high seed.
“Seeds don’t mean anything right now,” said Bohnenkamp. “It’s two teams playing 90 minutes at each other going hard— we’re just going to go out there and play 90 full minutes and get another victory, keep moving on.”
Warming was excited about the prospect of another game in Omaha and wants the players to seize the moment.
“Other [than] from ’93, I don’t think we’ve ever had a chance to have a second game at home.”
The Bluejays and the UIC Flames (13-5-5) will kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Morrison Stadium, with the winner securing a place in the Elite Eight.