On the road, when teams are contending with tough opponents, a tough schedule and tough results, joy is hard to find. But at home, embraced by faithful fans and the comfort of playing on home turf, joy is everywhere.
For Creighton men’s soccer, on the heels of three clean sheets in four matches and a three-game win streak, what’s powering the streak isn’t just tactics or talent. It’s alegría.
“We talk about playing with lots of alegría, which means joy … We were having a hard time finding a little joy when we were on the road, [but] we definitely found a little bit of our stride,” Head Coach Johnny Torres said. “You see a lot of guys playing with joy … so we’ve got to thank our fans for that. It’s good to be home.”
That joy was on full display on Sept. 13, as the Bluejays dominated Oral Roberts 3–0 to secure their third straight win. Three goals, three scorers and six different names on the season’s scoresheet showed over the past couple of weeks just how deep and dangerous Creighton’s attack has become, with the team tallying eight goals in its last three matches.
“It’s very good to have six different guys score [this season]. We don’t have any problems as long as the team is scoring, so it’s good. We just kept trusting the process, kept doing what coach tells us to do, and we know it’s going to pay out. It’s good to start to see that come to fruition,” junior midfielder Ali Ramadan said.
True to trusting the process and watching it foster results, Ramadan was the first to find the net against the visiting Golden Eagles, opening his scoring account this season and giving the Bluejays the go-ahead goal in the 19th minute.
The sequence began with a shot from the top of the 18-yard box by junior defender Matthew Reed, a low attempt forcing the Oral Roberts goalkeeper to block it from entering the bottom left corner of the net. As the shot ricocheted off of the goalkeeper’s hands, Ramadan swooped in, collapsing on goal and finishing off the rebound for a 1-0 lead.
The early goal set the tone for the offensive onslaught in the second half, but while the stat sheet reflected the chances created in the first 45 minutes, the real story was in the relentless high-press that kept Oral Roberts largely stagnant on offense. Productive offense is fueled by defensive efficiency, a principle that paid dividends for the Bluejays throughout the match.
“That’s our bread-and-butter, creating chances off the press, so it’s good to turn that into goals as well… I’d say [the high press] was a little bit up and down, but when we got our chances, we took them well, which was good,” Ramadan said.
Creighton battled a stubborn Oral Roberts defense all half, holding a 9-4 edge in shots, but as Torres said, breaking through was tough. Yet, an early second-half goal changed everything, finally opening the seams and shifting momentum in Creighton’s favor.
Unlike their first-half go-ahead goal, which came from a live play, the Bluejays’ next score arrived on a penalty kick. In the 51st minute, a foul in the 18-yard box set up co-captain and junior defender Matthew Reed one-on-one with the Golden Eagles’ goalkeeper. Reed’s shot slipped past the netminder, extending Creighton’s lead to 2-0.
A 2-0 score may have lit up the scoreboard, but the Bluejays continued to play like the score was 0-0, constantly berating Oral Roberts’ backline and actively hunting for a high-percentage shot. The excitement and joy of attacking — the very ‘alegría’ Creighton emphasized — never lessened even as the minutes ticked down on the clock.
“It’s something that we’ve challenged our guys on: get excited about running into our opponent’s box. Get excited about the possibility of scoring goals,” Torres said. “And at the end of the day, if you make a hard run into your opponent’s box and you’re not addressed with the pass, your run probably opened something for somebody else.”
This excitement about getting offensive opportunities and intentional movement to create chances flowed seamlessly into the Bluejays’ final score of the night in the 69th minute.
Breaking down the field on a through pass from fifth-year senior midfielder Luka Nedic, redshirt freshman midfielder Brady Bragg found himself in a foot race with Oral Roberts. Winning the battle, Bragg centered the pass to an awaiting sophomore forward Bautista Rossi, who tapped the ball into the net.
That goal pushed the Bluejays to a 3-0 lead, and with redshirt freshman goalkeeper Matthew Hudson and a steady backline holding firm, Creighton maintained control until the final buzzer sounded.
The victory not only secured the Bluejays a winning record at 3-2-2, but also landed Hudson his third shutout in four games. The secret to Creighton’s recent defensive dominance wasn’t just skill or strategy—it was the mindset. Even with a young backline, the Bluejays haven’t let inexperience slow them down. Instead, they let their collectiveness and hunger for a win inspire them.
“I know some of those guys didn’t finish the game, but even the guys that came on had that same hunger. We’re up 3-0, [and] we don’t care. We want that zero and that starts with everyone. I know we’re young, but I don’t think we care either,” Hudson said. “That’s a little confident, but I think it shows that we want to win no matter what. It doesn’t matter what age [we] are, we’re just going to do our own thing and play to our identity.”
Creighton’s embrace of alegría, the Bluejay style and their identity will be tested again as Big East play gets underway on Friday at Morrison Stadium. Their first challenge comes against the unbeaten 3-0-2 Marquette Golden Eagles, where the Jays will aim to turn that mentality into three points.
“These last three games have showed that if we play our identity, our style, [and] go out there and hit them hard first, they might hit us hard but we’re going to hit back harder,” Hudson said. “I think that just living with [that] inside of us and keeping that going into Big East play will hopefully keep [us] on this winning streak.”
