OMAHA, Neb. -- Third-ranked Creighton defeated Illinois-Chicago 3-1 at Morrison Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Bluejays never trailed in the contest, extending their streak to six consecutive matches this season in which Creighton has yet to fall behind. An early goal from CU sophomore Fabian Herbers put the Jays ahead. He later assisted on the game-winning score by junior Timo Pitter in the second half to secure the victory.
Creighton improves to 5-0-1 with the win while UIC drops to 3-2-1 with the setback. It marks the first victory in the series for the Bluejays against UIC in three attempts, all at Morrison Stadium.
The Bluejays took an early one-goal lead on Herbers’ goal, his fourth of the season. Classmate Ricardo Perez dished the ball to Herbers on the right side of the goal in the ninth minute and Herbers buried it into the far left side of the net from 10 yards out.
The Jays’ 1-0 lead held into halftime. Creighton controlled the ball most of the half in its offensive end, not giving many chances to the Flames.
Creighton takes down UIC 3-1 on goals from Herbers, Pitter and Lopez-Espin. Creighton returns to Morrison on sat for a matchup vs. SLU.
— Creighton Soccer (@creightonmsoc) September 17, 2014
Creighton freshman Ricky Lopez-Espin and Pitter each scored their third goal of season, respectively, in the second half. UIC registered the first goal by an opponent in Morrison Stadium this season in between CU's second-half goals.
Pitter scored in the 58th minute on a nice pass from Herbers that coaxed the UIC goalie out of position. Pitter gathered the ball and blasted it past a UIC defender from the right side for the score.
UIC’s Jose Fuentes scored his first goal of the season on a drive towards the net from the left side in the 75th minute to cut the Creighton lead to 2-1.
In the 84th minute Lopez-Espin added an insurance goal for CU, scoring from the top center of the box on an assist from Fernando Castellanos to yield the final result.
Creighton’s Connor Sparrow allowed just his second goal of the season while playing a full 90 minutes in net to move to 5-0-1 on the year.
The No. 3 Bluejays complete a two-match homestand with their homecoming contest against No. 20 Saint Louis at 7 p.m. ET Saturday inside Morrison Stadium.
