OMAHA, Neb. – For the second-straight year, the Missouri State men’s soccer team saw its season come to an end in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Creighton here Thursday night.
The Bluejays converted two goals in the span of five minutes late in the second half to eliminate the visiting Bears in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament here Thursday.
“I know we had great chances to get the second goal and even a third, but unfortunately they didn’t come,” said MSU head coach Michael Seabolt. “Creighton is a really good team and eventually they got a goal “Congratulations to them and I wish them the best of luck in Washington.”
The match between the former Missouri Valley Conference foes was a defensive battle from the start. Through the first forty-five minutes, the Bluejays gave the Bears all they could handle, firing off 11 shots in the opening period. As he had been all season, Harry Townsend was strong in the net, making a huge save in the opening minutes to keep Creighton at bay.
In the 40th-minute, Kian Yari won a battle in the box to get off a well-placed shot. However, Bluejays keeper Paul Kruse snuffed it out, though, keeping the Bears scoreless.
As time wound down in the opening period, it was Townsend’s turn to come up big, as the junior goalkeeper made a diving save to send the teams into the locker rooms, scoreless.
The Bears came out of halftime with a new fire on the cold day at Morrison Stadium. Two minutes into the second half, Nicolo Mulatero scored his ninth goal of the season, giving the Bears the 1-0 lead.
For the final 35 minutes of the match the Bears defense held strong, but the Bluejay attack picked up intensity and finally broke through MSU’s back line. In the 82nd minute, Jake Ashford scored his first goal of the season for CU, as Townsend gave up his first goal of the day on the fifth shot he faced.
The equalizing score shifted the momentum in favor of Creighton, and less than five minutes later, the home team scored the winning goal, to give the Bluejays the 2-1 advantage and the victory.
The Bears finished the season with an overall record of 12-2-4 while earning both the MVC regular-season and MVC Tournament championship titles. The squad, led by Townsend in goal, recorded 12 shutouts on the year, setting a program record.
“I’m super proud of these guys this season to win the MVC regular season and tournament championship,” said Seabolt “It was a great accomplishment as well as making our fourth-straight NCAA Tournament,” continued Seabolt. “Thank you and appreciation to our seniors who have exhausted their eligibility: Nicolo Mulatero, Aadne Bruseth and Zack Hargreaves. It’s been a pleasure to coach them and they’ll always be Bears.”
Creighton out-shot the Bears by a 20-8 margin on the evening with Townsend racking up six saves.
