The Creighton women’s soccer team kept its perfect conference record intact and pushed its winning streak to seven games after a victory over rival University of Northern Iowa. The Jays struggled at times but managed to pull through for a 3-2 victory that improved their overall record to 9-2-2. Sophomore forward Brittney Neumann was key to the
Jay’s victory, leading the team with one goal and one assist.
The Jays traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa, last Saturday, and were expected to put away UNI (2-9-1) fairly easily. This was not the case, as the Panthers scored the game’s first goal in the seventh minute.
“I was disappointed we gave up the early goal,” head coach Bruce Erickson said. “But I never felt we were in trouble, even though we were losing.”
In the 11th minute, junior midfielder Erin Gunther scored her fourth goal of the season to even the score 1-1. Minutes later, Neumann rebounded junior forward Andrea Zuniga’s shot off the post and put it in the net to give the Jays a 2-1 lead that they would take into the half.
About 15 minutes into the second half, junior forward Macy Mauer scored off a Neumann assist. This gave the Jays a 3-1 lead, but a penalty in the box minutes later gave the Panthers a penalty kick. The Panthers drilled it through the net to make the score 3-2.
“We’ve given up three penalty kicks this year,” Erickson said. “I don’t think we’ve ever given up that many in two years.”
The Jays held off the Panthers for the rest of the match and won 3-2. The game was played evenly, with each team taking 13 shots. Even though they struggled at times,
Erickson was proud of his team’s effort on the road.
“In the end, we were much better in the attack,” he said. “We created a lot of chances, and the good news was we scored three goals.”
The Jays are at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference and there is talk that they may be pushing for a ranking.
“We don’t pay attention to rankings,” Erickson said. “What we do pay attention to is conference positioning.”
With a 2-0 record in conference play the Jays are getting closer to achieving their goal of receiving a first round bye in the MVC tournament.
“I think 13-15 points would get us in the top two,” Erickson said. “That’s right where we want to be for the conference tournament.”
The team looks to extend its winning streak to eight games at home against the University of Evansville at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 9.