After a weekend of thrilling games, the No. 3 Creighton men’s soccer team was crowned champions of The Ameritas Classic in Morrison Stadium on Sunday.
The title was clinched with a 3-0 Bluejay victory over Rutgers Sunday afternoon. Other teams participating in the Classic were No. 6 Akron and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
The win moved the Bluejays to 2-0-1 on the season. Both Creighton and Akron finished the tournament with 1-0-1 records, but Creighton won the tiebreaker on
goal differential.
Head coach Elmar Bolowich was pleased with the weekend’s outcome.
“We beat a good team, and we won our own tournament,” Bolowich said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
The game on Sunday was played at a lackluster pace in the first half before picking up in the second. Creighton was still unable to find an opening until senior midfielder Jose Gomez came off the bench 15 minutes into the half.
The senior wasted no time on the pitch, scoring in the 63rd minute on a lovely free kick from about 20 yards out. Gomez bent the strike around a wall of five defenders into the upper right corner of the net.
That goal seemed to give Creighton the spark it needed, but so did freshman midfielder Christian Blandon. Blandon was able to make noise quickly after coming off the bench.
In the 85th minute, Blandon casually dribbled past two defenders before roping a shot past the Rutgers keeper. Blandon got the ball back 30 seconds later and recorded an assist when his shot was deflected across the net. Junior midfielder Bruno Castro slotted away the third and final goal on an empty net.
Blandon was more than willing to show what he could do after being redshirted
last season.
“It’s just motivation,” Blandon said. “We wanted to show that we could play at that level and be out there to help our teammates.”
Castro returned to the starting line-up for the first time this season. He had been battling a hamstring injury.
“You play for 50 minutes, and it feels great to help your teammates,” Castro said.
Sophomore keeper Alex Bolowich recorded his first clean sheet of the season.
On Friday night, the Bluejays tangled with the Akron Zips in Morrison Stadium. The game finished in a 1-1 draw that spoke to the quality of both sides.
The game was scoreless until the 24th minute, when junior forward Sean Kim finished off a Gomez deflection for his third goal of the season.
Creighton is on the road this weekend with a game at Santa Clara Friday night and another at Saint Mary’s Sunday evening.