Creighton stomps Oakland

Junior Forward Duncan McGuire notched the first hattrick in five years to propel the Creighton Men’s Soccer team to a 6-0 win over Oakland. 

Morrison Stadium erupted in cheers on Thursday, August 25 as the ball hit between the goal posts yet again, signaling the first Creighton Men’s Soccer hat trick in five years thanks to Junior forward Duncan McGuire. 

With high pressure, consistentintensity, and key plays throughout, the Bluejay Men’s soccer teamdominated the field, sending the Oakland Golden Grizzlies packing after defeating them 6-0 and starting their season off right with a big win at home. 

Fromthe first whistle, the Bluejayscontrolled the match, applying pressure and keeping the Golden Grizzlies on the defensive. The momentum was evidently tipped in the Bluejays’ favor, solidified by two early goals within seven minutes of each other: first by Sophomore midfielder Owen O’Malley and second by sophomore midfielder Jackson Castro.  

Midway through the first half, Duncan McGuire began his three-goalperformance, putting the Bluejays up 3-0 with an assist from Junior defender Miguel Ventura.As halftime approached, the shot count was strongly skewed, with Creighton putting up 15 shots, and Oakland only 1 shot.  

Coming out of halftime, McGuire commented that “Johnny challenged us to come out with the same intensity and focus,” and a “0-0 mentality.”  

McGuire’s second goal of the night came on a penalty kickin the 49thminute, extending the Blue Jay lead to 4-0. Goal number three came 10 minutes later, as an assist from Owen O’Malleygivingthe Sophomore Omaha native a long-awaited hat trick and a 5-0 lead over the now-deflated GoldenGrizzliesteam. “The team just kept putting the balls in a position for me to score,” McGuire stated.  

By the end of the match, the Bluejays had piled on sixgoals, the sixth credited to 5th year senior Alfie Pope in the 60th minute, completing the 6-0 clean sheet for the Jays. 

“That was fun!” Johnny Torres, Creighton hall-of-fameplayer andthird-yearcoach, stated upon entering the conference room following the game.With a 6-0 win in the opening match and first home game of the season, who wouldn’t be optimistic?The excitement was evident, as Torres expressed praise for his team’s dynamic: 

“It’s a pretty tight group and I think everybody is sharing the load.”  

McGuire, too, praised the relationship between the team. “It’s nice when you have multiple threats that can all score, so you don’t have to worry about one guy scoring all the goals.”Coming from starting “off going to our summer camps when he was 6” and having a full circle moment with a hat trick at Morrison Stadium, Torres considers McGuire’s journey to be “unique and its special and it gives me goose bumps thinking about it.”  

McGuire, when asked about his hat trick, stated that it was not accomplished by himself. “The guys made it easy for me and I hope that we can just keep it going throughout the season.”  

 As another home match against Saint Louis approaches on Friday September 2, the Bluejays hope to keep up the momentum and continue to execute for the win.  

“Don’t try to fix it if it’s not broken,” Coach Torres remarks about the takeaway to apply to the next game. “I’m excited to continue to work with these guys, and we want to make sure though that we stay humble and keep our feet on the ground and continue to go out hard and not get complacent.”  

Creighton vs. Rutgers

12 Goals in 2 Games and Wins that Just Keep Coming 

TheBluejayMen’s soccer teamemergedvictorious once againat Morrison Stadium with a6-1 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday, August 28,propelling them to a ranking of 7th nationally. 

With a second home match and plenty of excitement from fans and players alike, the Bluejays didn’t disappoint, putting the Scarlett Knights in a 6-1 deficit they could not overcome, simultaneously showing fans, coaches, and opposing teams thewinning mentality they have continuously shown. 

The pressure was high and the intensity palpable as gametwobegan, butjust fourminutes into the match, the Bluejays capitalized on an opportune moment, with Senior midfielder Callum Watson scoring an early goal, assisted by Senior midfielder Dominic Briggs and Sophomore midfielder Giorgio Probo.  

Pressure and physicalityincreased, but that didn’t stop the Bluejays from doing what they do best: dominating. In the 31st minute, Sophomore midfielder Giorgio Proboscored his first goal as a Blue Jay on an assist from Sophomore forward Duncan McGuire, putting the team up 2-0. 10 minutes later, the Bluejaysexposed Rutgers’ weaknesses yet again. On a long-range, unassisted strike, Sophomore midfielder Mark O’Neil not only gaveBluejays a 3-0 lead over the Scarlett Knights but sent the stadium into an audible roar. “Usually if you take a good touch, it’s like, alright, I play it to somebody, but since I took a bad touch, and it was skipping, I was like ‘alright what’s the worst thing that could happen’, so I just took a hit,” comments co-captain O’Neil regarding the shot.  

Coach Johnny Torres was astounded himself: “I just couldn’t believe it. I was blown away. I mean, what a strike.” Torres continued, “It was one of those strikes that I don’t think anybody that was here will ever forget, including Mark.”  

In the second half,a Rutgers goalin the 55thminute cut the lead to 3-1, but McNeil stated, “Mindset is a lot of it. It’s like, when they score that goal, everyone just believes in themselves, everyone believes in the team, and they just keep going.”  

The Bluejays did keep going– strongly at that– with an unassisted goal in the 60th minute scored by Sophomore midfielder Owen O’Malley,extending the lead to 4-1.With that, two consecutive header goals on corner kicks in the 62nd and 63rd minutes followed, both scored by Duncan McGuire and assisted by Giorgio Probo. At the end of the match, the Bluejays defeated the Scarlett Knights 6-1, setting themselves apart from the pack and demonstrating the offensive threat they have become.  

Following another exceptional win at home for the Bluejays, Sophomore co-caption Mark O’Neil commented on the team dynamic, which has proven effective over the past two games:  

“The midfielders we have, the strikers we have, the forwards we have, our whole team is just complete. Even when the bench players come on, there’s no weak spot on our team.”  

Torres is equally excited about the team’s relationship. “I’ve been around the game for a long time, and never have I seen a group progress and come together like this group has, and I mean that. Whether I was playing in club, collegiately, national teams, professionally, I’ve never seen a group of young men come together like this group’s come together.”  

With game threeapproaching, Torres expressed his final thoughts: “I said it last week, but I’m so excited to watch them play again next week and I continue to have the same sentiment.” 

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