Coming off an effort where the Bluejays went toe to toe with the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils on the road and only falling by a final score of 1-0, Creighton had reason to believe they could hang in with top ranked teams in the country despite the fact the team had a record of 1-4. This confidence was necessary when they battled against the No. 13 Arkansas Razorbacks on September 5th at Morrison Stadium in the 13th annual Socctoberfest.
Arkansas came into Omaha with a record of 2-2-1, including a road victory over No. 11 BYU and a 2-2 draw against No. 2 Notre Dame. However, The Razorbacks were slightly shorthanded against Creighton as junior forward Bella Field was out with an injury. This didn’t stop Arkansas from making a strong first impression as senior forward Zoe Susi found the back of the net for the Razorbacks within the first two minutes, giving Arkansas an early 1-0 lead.
In the 12th minute, graduate student forward Ariana Mondiri tried to tie things up for the Bluejays with two shots of her own, but her first shot was saved by the Razorback goalkeeper, and the 2nd shot went over the goal. The Bluejays continued putting pressure on Arkansas’s defense, including a shot from junior forward Mallory Connealy in the 30th minute that went left, and a shot from junior defender Savanna Solomon in the 32nd minute. However, the Bluejays were unable to find an answer.
In the 44th minute, Arkansas extended their lead with a goal from freshman forward/midfielder Natalie Wagner when she rebounded her own shot after a save by senior goalkeeper Alyssa Zalac, making the score 2-0 at the half.
“In the first 43 minutes, there wasn’t a lot between the two teams other than the first and last minute. I talked to them at halftime about making sure we don’t cave,” Head Coach Jimmy Walker said. ‘“Can we get an early goal back?’ And come on out and just compete.”
When down 2-0 to a highly ranked team, it would be easy to give up on the match, but the Bluejays kept fighting.
“We weren’t giving up this time,” junior midfielder Clara Kulik said. “I feel like we’ve dropped our heads in the past, and this time we picked it up and said, ‘Yeah, we can do this’. So we’ve got grit”.
The Bluejays scored their first goal of the match when Kulik tapped in the ball off a rebounded shot from Mondiri’s blocked attempt in the 63rd minute, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1. This goal was a significant career milestone for Kulik, her first goal as a Bluejay.
“It feels good,” Kulick said on scoring her first collegiate goal. “I’d give a shoutout to Ari[ana Mondiri] though because she’s the one that got the header, so it was just an easy flick in right there, but ultimately it was a team effort.”
The Bluejays were able to continue this momentum when freshman forward Jalen Chaney headed the ball in off a perfect pass from senior Tori Gillis in the 69th minute, tying the match at two a piece. Soon after, Chaney managed to block the Razorback goalkeeper’s free kick and take it in for a goal in the 71st minute, giving the Bluejays their first lead of the match at 3-2.
The Bluejays continued to battle in an attempt to secure a victory over a top 15 team, including a save from Zalac in the 80th minute, but the Razorbacks tied things up at 3-3 in the 85th minute when senior Taylor Berman scored a goal assisted by senior defender Makenzie Malham.
Arkansas tried to regain a late lead when Wagner took a shot in the last minute, but the shot went to the top right, and the match ended as a 3-3 draw.
“That second half performance is probably one of the best if not the best in my coaching career of a team I’ve ever coached,” Walker said. “Credit to the women, absolutely brilliant second half”.
The match was played as part of Creighton’s 13th annual Socctoberfest in front of a crowd of 3,673, which broke the program’s record for largest crowd. Socctoberfest includes a match from both the Creighton Men’s and Women’s soccer programs. The event includes food, beverages and live music. The Bluejay women played the first match of this double header at 5PM and the Men’s team battled the Denver Pioneers at 7:45. The Bluejay men were able to earn their first win of the season by defeating Denver by a final score of 2-0.
Bluejay women’s soccer now sits at a record of 1-4-1. Their next match is against the crosstown rival Omaha Mavericks on Wednesday at Morrison Stadium. This match will be part of the Kicks For a Cure event, which offers another Men’s and Women’s double header. Kick off is set for 5 p.m.
