Any comments on the game Wildcard - we'd appreciate some insight if you were in attendance. Dacy appears to finally be healthy with a brace this afternoon and 4 goals now on the season. His importance is obvious when you see this statistic - Creighton is 15-1 when Dacy scores a point and only 7-7-6 when he doesn't. His return to form will help Creighton, but the return of Tony Odo to the starting line-up provides some much needed veteran leadership as well. I'm not going to feel comfortable unless the Jays win the MVC, but this victory will help come time for the at-large bid selection.
Only a couple of minutes into the match, Michael Kraus weaved between two Memphis defenders and got behind the Memphis defensive line turning them around as he reached the endline and hit a medium low cross along the six that Tarvor chested into the net to go up 1-0. About 2 minutes later, Dacy found himself approx. 18 yards out with a little time & space, so he launched a left to right bender that just peeled around the outstretched arms of the Memphis keep just inside the upper 90. Creighton was up 2-0 in less than five minutes. Memphis, to their credit, battled back with a sense of urgency with more aggressive play. They had a few more shots than Creighton, but nothing very dangerous. Finally, Memphis was able to get on the boards with a nice free kick just outside the box that bent right to left and slid in just inside the right post. Now, 2-1, Creighton would soon strike again as Dacy would find himself in a chase for a thru ball against the Memphis keep. Dacy beat the keep to the ball and dribbled around him, turned and fired his second into the back of the net. Kraus also had a breakaway that was stopped by the Memphis keep, and Kraus had a PK saved by the Memphis keep to keep it at 3-1 Creighton. Memphis would score to make it 3-2 in the last couple of minutes of the game as Creighton was salting the clock down. Good match by two good teams, but Creighton gave me a sense that they are on the upswing....
Byron Dacy is the offensive player of the week in the MVC. Next up Drake and bring something warm to wear if your going.
Creighton wins 1-0 after playing horribly. Matt Allen saved a penalty kick and Ryan Junge got the goal. Passing was poor at best.
Junge's goal was sweet. Freed himself with a nice turn and hit a screamer far post. The passing was poor. Tarver was the only one who seemed to do much with his passes. With it being so cold last night, I am grateful that Creighton did not go to another overtime. The weather was perfect for sales of the new Creighton scarf.
Creighton has their work cut out for them if they don't win the MVC automatic bid. Creighton's current RPI is @ 48 putting them way out of consideration for an at large bid. I suppose Creighton needs to win 3 of their remaining 4 regular season games and then win a couple of the MVC tourney games and hope that gets their RPI up to consideration level. What do you think?
The problem is that the final four games are RPI# 105 Eastern Illinois, #130 Evansville, #181 UMKC and #92 Bradley. The MVC is weak this year in the RPI. The league teams are 48/92/105/108/130/173/178. We did play RPI# 8 Indiana (loss), #22 Notre Dame (loss), #36 Wisconsin (win), #45 Fairleigh Dickinson (tie) and #58 Memphis (win). 2-2-1 against top 60 RPI is not bad (all on the road except the tie). However a home loss to RPI# 156 Air Force was horrible. CU's inconsistently might haunt them but they are the class of the league and should win the remainder of their games (including the conference tournament). Dacy is getting back to form which gives the team much needed finishing.
Good luck to Coach Bob Warming and the rest of the Creighton team for the remaining part of the season!
Creighton wins 1-0. Rodrigo Faria scored. http://gocreighton.com/sports/common/news_releases_detail.asp?articleID=5377 Next up Evansville at home Saturday the 21st at 7pm.
Thanks, Sultan. Glad to see Gibson get some playing time--it is nice to have an All-American (albeit Div II) ready to step in, if and when he might be needed.
Creighton is back in the top 25 this week after a good run of results lately...hopefully they run the table and make it into the top 15 or so by tourney time where they should be. Hopefully another magical tourney run is in store for the bluejays. They might not have any impressive wins but they have played some decent teams and that experience has helped them grow through the season and they look to be hitting form right on time.
Creighton vs Evansville tonight 7pm. 39 deg with a wind chill of 31. Hi ho hi ho its off to freeze I go
Man, it was cold tonight. Creighton with a 1-0 victory. Kraus got the goal. Matt Allen with a couple of huge saves, including tipping the bar around the post at the final buzzer. I thought Creighton looked the better team tonight, but finishing needs to be better to avoid such tense finishes. Evansville's GK did make a fantastic save on a Tarver shot in the 2nd.
Huge match coming up this Saturday. With Mizz. State losing, I believe the title is up for grabs this weekend when Creighton comes to Peoria to face Bradley. Should be a good one.
Creighton moves up to 37 in the latest RPI listing. Missouri Valley Conference still looks weak with the following RPIs - 37 / 95 / 114 / 124 / 129 / 140 / 180 The Jays don't have much room for error - still need to win the conference tournament.
With Creighton's amazing record of having a player selected in each year of the MLS draft..... Which Bluejay will be selected in the 2007 MLS draft? I think that the most likely/ready candidates are: 1). Chris Schuler 2). Matt Allen 3). Michael Kraus What do you guys think? Will this be the year that no one is picked up from Creighton?
It might be. I don't see Schuler going anywhere yet - He has three more years of eligibility left. I think Allen will also stick around for his senior season. I don't think Kraus will be drafted. He hasn't put up big numbers this year and I think he lacks the speed to play foward in the MLS. IMO the best bet is Ryan Junge. He is fast and athletic. I think he could be a good outside left back in the MLS.
I agree, Ryan Junge is probably the only current Jay that has a chance to be drafted and play in the MLS. I have heard rumors that Allen might be a possible draftee but I doubt he would skip his senior season. Personally I think the string is going to be broken.
QUOTE<I don't think Kraus will be drafted. He hasn't put up big numbers this year and I think he lacks the speed to play foward in the MLS.>QUOTE I think Kraus plays his best from an attacking midfield position. He is also a very unique roving player with boundless energy. His leadership, intelligence, creative playmaking, and gamewinning capabilities are what sets him apart from others. I think he would make a very good playmaker at the next level in the right mix....He may not be the first choice for the next level from Creighton's roster, but the wise scouts know what players help teams win games.
Wow, i cant believe Bradley won this game tonight...Bradley scores off of 2 set plays, (a busted free kick from the right side, and a free kick from 30 yards out which was chipped/shot into the goal and misread by Matt Allen...Bradley had no intention's in playing soccer tonight and had no business winning this game...but on the other side Creighton did not take advantage of their 18 corner kicks and 30 shots!!! Not one of Creighton's 18 corner kicks was even semi-dangerous...This was an overall average soccer game with no real rythm of play except from creighton at times but never by bradley...i dont see any way how bradley will have a chance in the mvc tournament if they happen to play creighton again...
Everything you said was true but we are the friggen champs!!! The number of Creighton's coners was rediculous, but they didn't score, so we are the champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know if you can say Bradley wasn't intending to play soccer. Jim DeRose knows what he has and what he doesn't have. He knows he doesn't have the 13 seniors he did last season, so he adjusts. He's been known to make a game as ragged as he can, trying to disrupt any flow another team could try to mount if he knows he's at a technical disadvantage. If you've seen Bradley play in the past, you'd notice that they don't have an overwhelming value of possession at times and will play direct to a fault. BU generally plays to its strengths. And when they don't have a ton of strengths, they go to their fitness. I've seen Creighton about four times this year, each time it looks like they have a great amount of possession but can't get it right in the end. That's the difference with this team and last season's. I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say Dacy hasn't produced like expected - which isn't all his fault - but, his first touch hasn't been good and subsequently he's having issues. I'm not always a fan of the way BU plays it's matches and disagree with the tactics at times...but when you look at the results they get with the level of player they have, you have to tip your cap and say well done. Perhaps this speaks to Creighton's level of play this season more than it does to what Bradley did/didn't do in this particular match. All in all, this is why you roll the ball. I've seen matches go both ways. Two years ago it was exactly reversed and CU came out on top. It happens.