With Saturday’s 1-0 win over No. 5 seed North Carolina (15-2-3), 12th-seeded Creighton (19-3-0) advanced to its fourth NCAA quarterfinals appearance in the past five years.
The matchup with the Tar Heels seemed like an even one on paper and it played out that way throughout most of the match. The difference in the game was an effort by Creighton senior midfielder Timo Pitter in the 38th minute.
Pitter received a pass from junior midfielder Myles Englis and fended off a few defenders before putting a shot past the North Carolina keeper to give the Bluejays the advantage.
“Everybody gave 100 percent on our end,” coach Elmar Bolowich said. “It didn’t always look pretty, but at this stage in the competition, you almost can’t expect that. You’re trying certainly, but sometimes it’s just survival and advancement.”
Saturday was a homecoming of sorts for the Bluejays head coach. Bolowich spent 22 years as head coach of the Tar Heels before coming to Creighton in 2011.
Bolowich is North Carolina’s all-time leader in wins with 280 and led the Tar Heels to the national title in 2011.
The Bluejays were able to upset the Tar Heels despite being outshot 21-9 in the game. A huge factor in the Bluejays’ victory was the return of their captain, senior defender Vincent Keller, who led a stout defensive effort to hold off the Tar Heels’ comeback efforts.
Keller missed two weeks of action after suffering an ankle injury on Nov. 14th.
“I’m certainly not 100 percent, but coming into this game I knew that if we didn’t perform well, this would be the last game I could ever play for Creighton,” said Keller. “The six seniors, we’re not ready for our time at Creighton to end.”
The Bluejays will travel to Ohio to play the underdog role once again. This time they’ll go up against fourth-seeded Akron (17-3-2) with a birth in the College Cup up for grabs.
Akron defeated 11th-seeded SMU in a 2-1 decision to advance to the round of eight.
The last time Creighton and Akron met was in a memorable third-round NCAA tournament match in 2012, where the then 12th-seeded Bluejays upset the then one-seeded Zips in penalty kicks.
The quarterfinal matchup between the Jays and Zips will be held this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Akron’s FirstEnergy Stadium.
If the Bluejays defeat Akron they will not have to travel far from Omaha for the College Cup as the final four teams will compete at Sporting Park in Kansas City.