Creighton 2 -  Indiana 1 (3OT) - Creighton advances to the championship match of the College Cup for the first time in school history with a big win over Indiana, the defending national champions. Coach Jerry Yeagley’s Hoosiers had a great NCAA Tournament run this year and have played with the talent and pride that is the trademark of Indiana University soccer.  However the win this evening went to Coach Bret Simon’s Creighton Bluejays who have played brilliantly all year.  The Bluejays are a talented team for sure but this team is successful because they play well together, are confident,  and stay focused on the task at hand.  Creighton played through the intense pressure applied by the Hoosiers and then applied the pressure themselves.  Indiana went into the match knowing that a key to victory was stopping the Creighton front line of Brian Mullan and Mike Tranchilla.  Creighton went into it knowing that they would have to take advantage of the scoring opportunities that came their way and play solid team defense.  The Hoosiers slowed but did not stop Mullan and Tranchilla and Creighton did a good job of creating opportunities to score while playing solid team defense.  Indiana lead 1-0 at the half getting off eight shots as compared to just three for Creighton. Sophomore forward Pat Noonan scored the Indiana goal after receiving a pass from fellow forward Matt Fundenberger.  Noonan made a nice move off the dribble to separate from the Creighton defender and then used his left foot to go near post to get his eighth goal of the 2000 season.  Creighton maintained their composure and tied the game at 1-1 during the 41st minute of the second half with Mike Tranchilla passing to Brian Mullan who drove the ball into the net from six yards out.  The goal was Mullan’s 18th of the year and the momentum seemed to shift to Creighton.  In overtime period Creighton’s Mike Tranchilla got the game winner when he alerted followed up on a rebound of a shot fired by Mullan that came off the near post.  The Hoosiers end the 2000 season with a 16-7 record and a senior class that has accomplished a great deal during their tenure at Indiana.  Creighton is now 22-3-0 as they more forward to Sunday’s National Championship game.

 

Connecticut 2 -  S.M.U. 0 -  Connecticut played solid team defense shutting down the potent Mustang attack while showing some offensive punch of their own to get the win and advance to face Creighton Sunday for the National Championship.  The Huskies have responded to all the challenges they have faced during the NCAA Tournament and are playing very balanced soccer.  Darin Lewis got the first goal fifteen minutes into the first half.  Lewis’goal came after he ran onto a long ball served to him by teammate Brent Rahim.  Lewis controlled the pass and promptly drove the ball into the back of the net to get what turned out to be the eventual game winner. The teams battled each other for the remainder of the first half with neither able to finish.  Connecticut came out strong and confident in the second half and took a 2-0 lead after Lewis quickly moved the ball forward taking advantage of the space available to him and then nicely dropping the ball off to freshman forward Cesar Cuellar who finished it for his 15th goal of the 2000 season.  Connecticut keeper Bryheem Hancock went into the game knowing that he and his backline needed to halt the Mustang attack in order to get the win.  They did and they got the win.  Credit Chris Gbandi, Will Thornton, Roberto Vargas, and Max Zieky with solid marking and support in the back enabling Hancock to get his 14th shutout of the season.  S.M.U. ends a very successful season with a 20-5-0 record.  Connecticut improves to 19-3-2 and now faces the challenge of stopping another talented team from the Missouri Valley Conference with a very formidable offense.