No. 9 Creighton men’s soccer suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, falling to No. 2 Georgetown after opening the year unbeaten through its first 16 matches.
The matchup pitted two of the country’s highest-scoring offenses against one another, with both teams entering the contest tied at 47 goals on the season. That offensive firepower quickly showed, as the teams combined for eight goals in a wild first half.
The Bluejays struck first in the fourth minute after freshman Jordan Igwenma forced a turnover in the attacking third and found sophomore Ayden Kokoszka, who buried the shot to give Creighton an early 1-0 lead.
That early advantage over the No. 2 team in the country, however, was short-lived. Georgetown quickly found its footing offensively, turning the momentum in its favor with a scoring frenzy that saw the Hoyas find the back of the net four times in just 12 minutes to take a 4-1 lead.
Senior Matthew Van Horn evened the score in the ninth minute before junior Mitchell Baker put Georgetown ahead just over a minute later. Van Horn struck again in the 18th minute, followed by freshman Terrance Reynolds two minutes later to cap the four-goal run.
Creighton responded with a pair of penalty kicks to cut the deficit to one. Senior Matthew Reed converted the first opportunity in the 23rd minute for his 12th goal of the season, tying him for fifth in the nation in scoring. Senior Andrija Savic followed in the 28th, recording his first goal of the season to make it a 4-3 game.
The offensive back-and-forth continued as Georgetown added one more before halftime. Senior Matthew Helfrich scored his first career goal in the 42nd minute, finishing a pass from Jack Heaps to send the Hoyas into the break with a 5-3 advantage.
The eight combined goals marked the most scored in a single half of Big East regular-season men’s soccer since the conference’s realignment in 2013.
“I thought that was as entertaining a 45 minutes of soccer as you’ll probably see,” Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese said.
The second half told a much different story, as both defenses settled in after the offensive explosion before the break. Neither side found the back of the net in the final 45 minutes, as Georgetown held on for the 5-3 victory.
The Hoyas finished with a 15-11 edge in shots and a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks, improving to 14-1-1 overall and a perfect 7-0-0 in Big East play. Creighton fell to 11-1-5 overall and 3-1-3 in conference action, dropping to No. 10 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, while Georgetown climbed to the top spot at No. 1.
Following the loss, Creighton head coach Johnny Torres pointed to the matchup as an opportunity for the Bluejays to learn from one of the nation’s top teams.
“Georgetown was probably a little sharper than us, in particular in transition, in their passing and in their runs, maybe more dynamic,” Torres said. “And we paid for it. They made us pay for it in the first half.”
With one match remaining in the regular season, the Bluejays will look to turn the page on Saturday’s loss and finish conference play on a high note in front of their home crowd.
“It was evident immediately after we got on the bus that the guys were looking for the next opportunity to get back on the bike,” Torres said. “These guys are chomping at the bit. They’re excited about getting the [Blue] Demons in town for Friday.”
Creighton will host DePaul tonight at Morrison Stadium with a BIG EAST Midwest Division title on the line. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.