Men's soccer team upsets No. 11 Creighton

With backs against the proverbial wall, the IU men’s soccer team picked up arguably its biggest road win of the year, knocking off No. 11 Creighton in Omaha, Neb. and improving its record to 6-4-1.

Junior forward Will Bruin scored his ninth and 10th goals of the year, proving to be the difference maker Saturday as the Hoosiers knocked off the Blue Jays, 3-2.

“This was a huge game,” Bruin said. “They just got done beating (No. 5) Tulsa, and they’ve had a great season. To go into their place and get a result, hopefully we can keep it going. If we don’t get a result, that’s a .500 season. It’s good for morale and RPI come tournament time.”

The road upset is a timely one for the Hoosiers as the season’s first RPI rankings are
 released this week. IU recorded a tie against Wisconsin on Oct. 3 and a loss to Notre Dame at home last Wednesday.

“It’s definitely big, especially looking at our tournament resume,” junior goalkeeper Nate Mitchell said. “Coming on road, it’s big to get confidence.”

Mitchell got the start in place of usual starter sophomore Luis Soffner, handing Creighton its second loss of the year.

The change at goal was a coach’s decision made earlier in the week, Mitchell said.

“Whether it is myself, Louie or Bristol, whoever is in goal is not what is important to group,” he said. “Pushing each other to get better is the team aspect.”

Junior forward Alec Purdie provided some offensive fireworks off the bench, scoring midway through the second half.

“We definitely needed a result tonight,” Purdie said. “At this point, it’s the biggest win we’ve had. We shuffled about seven guys deep tonight, so it’s good to have guys come in.”

Purdie’s goal put the game out of reach as he ballooned the score to 3-1 in the 67th minute.

Going into Saturday’s match, Creighton had outscored its opponents, 19-6.

“It shows us what we can do if we bring it every game,” said Bruin, who leads the team with a career-high 10 goals on the season. “We’re a pretty damn good team. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Evansville at home or Creighton on road.”

Creighton’s Jose Gomez earned a red card with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half, which forced the Blue Jays to play a man down the remainder of the game.

IU returns to Bloomington on Oct. 16 to face Michigan, who is 1-1 in conference play.  
The Hoosiers stand at 1-0-1 in Big Ten contests.