Creighton University
Illinois-Chicago
Men's Soccer Season Ends With 1-0 Loss to UIC
12/1/2007 10:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer
A slow-paced and evenly played match crept to halftime scoreless. UIC attempted five shots in the opening half, to four by the Bluejays.
The match kept its pace in the second half with neither team mounting much of an offensive attack, as both sides' defenses exacted their will. The match was decided in the 74th minute when Ian Sarachan scored his second goal of the season, and second in as many games, to provide the margin UIC needed to advance. The undersized midfielder found himself in the right spot at the right time when Creighton junior defender Seth Sinovic and senior goalkeeper Matt Allen miscommunicated on a ball near the top of the 18 yard box. Neither Bluejay gained control of the ball and Sarachan found a clear path to the score.
The Bluejays had staved off a UIC scoring chance just three minutes earlier when Chris Schuler was whistled for a foul just outside the top of the 18 yard box. Pavle Dundjer's shot attempt on the subsequent free-kick was blocked by the CU wall, but set up a series of two UIC corner kicks and another UIC shot attempt.
From there, the Bluejays attempted three shots the remainder of the game, but none in the final nine minutes of play.
The final shot count read 10-9 in UIC's favor, while the Flames put just three shots. CU managed just one shot on goal, a Jeff Thayer attempt in the 81st minute, which proved to be the final shot attempt by the Jays in the match.
UIC, which led the NCAA in goals against average last year, posted its 14th shutout of the season. The Flames have allowed just one goal in the last eight matches, posting seven shutouts in that span.
The match was the final in the career of six CU seniors, five which appeared in the match. Allen, Tim Bohnenkamp, Sam Eid, Danny Minutillo and Tony Schmitz each played in the match, while Colin Campbell's career also ended.
The Bluejays were one of four teams in the NCAA which had appeared in each of the last 16 NCAA postseasons.
UIC advances to the quarterfinals of the event, where it will await the winner of Sunday's match between
NOTES: Creighton was shutout for just the third time this season, all coming at home ... The Bluejays had won five straight NCAA postseason matches at home ... CU is now 5-4-0 in NCAA Tournament home matches, 20-15-3 overall in the NCAA postseason ... The Jays finished 6-3-4 at home on the season, while going undefeated (6-0-1) in matches away from Omaha ... The Bluejays are 37-8-10 all-time at Morrison Stadium, including 4-1-0 in the NCAA Tournament ... CU had scored at least three goals in each of its previous four NCAA Tournament matches at Morrison Stadium ... UIC becomes the first team to record two victories over Creighton at the venue (UIC also won Oct. 5, 2005) ... Allen ends his career ranked first in CU history with 6,531 minutes played and 26 career shutouts, he ranks second in school history with 43 wins, 260 saves and a 0.83 goals against average ... Bohnenkamp ends his career as the Morrison Stadium record holder with 15 assists ... Andrei Gotsmanov set a facility record with 48 shots at home this season ... Thomas Gjoesund started, but played just 32 minutes after battling illness throughout the day ... Omaha was hit with an ice storm on Saturday morning, but thanks to hard work by the facilities crew at Morrison Stadium and the artificial playing surface, the pitch proved no issue in the match.
