Vasquenza Does It Again As Men's Soccer Takes Down No. 1 Creighton in Omaha

Wednesday, October 28

Omaha, Neb.

8 P.M.

Xavier University

10-4-1, 4-2-1

Creighton

15-1-0, 6-1-0

Xavier

Creighton

Vasquenza Does It Again As Men's Soccer Takes Down No. 1 Creighton in Omaha

10.28.15 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Sophomore collects game-winner in second straight match, Musketeers get highest-ranked win in program history

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

OMAHA, Neb. – Sophomore forward Matt Vasquenza took control of a deflected ball in the box and buried the game-winnner with 1:13 to play as men's soccer took down No. 1 Creighton, 2-1, on Wednesday at Morrison Stadium.

It was the second straight game-winner for Vasquenza and another historic win for the program, marking the highest-ever ranked opponent taken down by the Musketeers (10-4-1, 4-2-1 BIG EAST).

It also ended Creighton's bid for perfection, knocking the Bluejays to 15-1-0 overall and 6-1-0 in the league. CU entered the match as the nation's only unbeaten and untied team, and had only allowed more than one goal once this season.

"I obviously am very proud of the team tonight. Not so much for what they did, but how they did it," said head coach Andy Fleming. "We had a goal to hold them under their shot average (20), which we did, and also to limit their corner kicks. Though I felt that they'd be hard to shut out, as the second half wore on I began to realize that we could score a second goal – and we did. We dodged some bullets, as expected, but the team was able to use some of the luck we've accumulated the past few weeks."

The Musketeers went up early, getting a header goal from sophomore Josh Grant in the 14th minute – his second of the season. Junior Majed Osman started the sequence with a perfect, curling cross from the right side of the box and was credited with his third assist of the season.

Creighton's Lucas Stauffer was very dangerous in the first half, launching four shots and equalizing in the 35th minute off an assist by Fabian Herbers.

The Musketeers dodged some bullets early in the second half, but finished out the match with a flurry of chances and restarts. XU would end the night with an 6-2 advantage in corner kicks, despite being outshot 17-14. The Musketeers took all six of those corners in the second half, out-shooting the Bluejays 13-10 and taking command of the game in the final 30 minutes.

Beginning in the 66th, Xavier outshot Creighton 11-4 to close out the night and it culminated in Vasquenza's opportunistic strike.

"Vasquenza is our goal scorer and a guy who had been snakebitten the past few weeks," said Fleming. "He's worked incredibly hard with our assistants the past few weeks getting in reps and now he's come up big with critical goals in our last two games. I also thought our seniors, whether they played a lot, little or not at all were all catalysts for our team tonight. Our staff made an adjustment in our formation midway through the second half that turned the tide and I think from top-to-bottom this was a program-wide effort."

Dallas Jaye was magnificent in goal again for the Musketeers, corraling a career-high eight saves and improving to 7-1-1 in net.

As a team, Xavier improves to 6-2-1 against the NSCAA Top 10 under head coach Andy Fleming – adding to an already-impressive list of victories that includes a win over No. 2 Notre Dame back on Sept. 15 of this season.

Xavier's victory also extends an exceptional streak, marking the sixth straight season the Musketeers have had at least 10 wins.

"I think Creighton is the nation's best team and the favorite to win the national championship and I think what they've done this year has been great exposure for the BIG EAST," said Fleming. "However, I reminded the guys about our body of work over the past several seasons and that our best is good enough to beat anyone in the nation. We stayed the course and have responded nicely after looking our season in the eye a few weeks ago. Saturday we will face a hungry and capable Seton Hall team as we look to finish off our home slate and send off our seniors. We've already discussed Seton Hall and are moving forward as we speak."

The Musketeers return to action at home this Saturday, hosting Seton Hall for Senior Night at XU Soccer Complex. Match time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.