IU defeats Creighton, advances to College Cup final

“They won 1-0,” Creighton senior Andrew Riberio had to explain after the game.  “A first-half barrage and a poor center-left back; it was hard to find the rhythm, and even though we found it a bit in the second it wasn’t our day.”

The statement plainly explains the onslaught of Hoosier offense that was needed to seal a national title match following a 1-0 defeat of the Bluejays in the semifinal in Hoover, Ala.

The first half came with plenty of drama as any College Cup would be expected to.  IU maintained the offensive pressure throughout the majority of the half.

With the teams matching up in a similar style of attacking formation, the winner would be the team that took the biggest bite out of the match.  In his inaugural College Cup match as a true freshman, Femi Hollinger-Janzen was hungry enough to take that bite.

“I came to Indiana, and I heard of the great history it had,” Hollinger-Janzen said.  “Coming to the national championship game my first game is a great feeling.  This team works together and it’s a great group of guys to work with.”

In minute 27 the freshman substitute tracked the ball as it came down the left touchline.  Left-defender Patrick Doody dribbled the ball down the line and played a ball into Eriq Zavaleta as he did in the North Carolina game.

The ball reached a Creighton defender first.  The defender attempted a volley cross but botched the kick.  Hollinger-Janzen then had an open look at the net, and he fired a shot in to the right side of freshman keeper Jeff Gal.

The ball deflected off of Gal an into the far post side-netting for the fist goal of the match and the first goal of Hollinger-Janzen’s College Cup stat sheet.

“It was definitely a team effort,” Hollinger-Janzen said.  “We moved the ball around with inside passing across the goal.  We definitely worked as a whole to get that ball in the back of the net.”

Intensity began to rise as Creighton attempted to fight back to a tie, but the Hoosier defense stayed tight.  During the first half, the Hoosiers were outshot by the Bluejays, but the IU defense allowed no shots through to goalkeeper Luis Soffner’s hands. The only balls that did find his gloves were floating cross-attempts that looked like no challenge for the four-year starter.

Hollinger-Janzen showed his bite again as time eased down in the first half.  He received the ball just inside the right-post just feet from the goal.  He fired a shot near the post that made its way to the back of the net just as time ran out. 

IU players left the bench in celebration but turned around to the locker room with their heads down after the middle referee called the goal back.

Coming out into the second half, things were much more even with Creighton finding its attack late in the second half. 

However, the IU defense, with its two co-captains in Caleb Konstanski and Soffner in the back, laid the foundation of a wall that only let two shots through the entire night.

“Before every game we remind each other to just play it for each other,” Konstanski said.  “We can’t win if we’re two separate teams; offense and defense.  Everyone has really bought into it in this run, and having a goalie like Luis who can always make a big save, its always nice to have that in the back of your mind.”

In minute 88, desperation led to the best opportunity of the night for the Bluejays when freshman Christian Blandon found himself open just inside the left-side of the 18-yard box with enough room to put a shot on.

His bending shot made its way to the upper-right corner of Soffner’s net just as the senior co-captain dove with his outstretched right hand to deflect the ball inches over the crossbar.

The last opportunity came a minute later when a shot came in from an eager 35 yards out. The ball came right at Soffner, who stopped the ball and let it bounce once before picking it up and launching back up the field where it stayed as minutes ticked down to IU’s win, punching its ticket to the national title match.

“It really felt good to get our guys re-energized those last couple of minutes,” Soffner said. “I was really proud of our guys tonight. Luckily that was the only thing I had to do all night.”

With the win, IU ended a 14-game unbeaten streak the Bluejays had in it’s back pocket coming into the semifinal. Hollinger-Janzen’s second goal of the tournament was all it took to destroy that streak and send the Bluejay’s packing.

“That’s all it took for them,” Gal said.  “They had their one chance. They had a few other chances, but in the end that’s what is going to punish us for losing this game.

“There’s really nothing more.”