NEW YORK – Week 2 of BIG EAST play in men’s soccer is in the books as No. 12 Creighton used a 1-0 win at RV Villanova on Saturday to break away from the five-way tie in first place to be all alone atop the league standings. Xavier and St. John’s played to a 110-minute 1-1 draw on Friday to stay unbeaten and in a tie for second place, while Georgetown, Providence and Seton Hall all picked up their first BIG EAST wins of the season to join the logjam for fourth place.
#12 Creighton 1, RV Villanova 0
The nationally ranked Bluejays outshot the host Wildcats 16-7 and held Villanova (5-3-0, 0-2-0) without a corner kick for all 90 minutes as Creighton (5-1-1, 2-0-0) scored its second BIG EAST win of the year. The Bluejays had just two shots on goal but one of them was the difference maker as Luke Kaakenson scored the game winner in the 69
th minute, with Akeem Ward credited with the assist. Paul Kruse picked up his league-leading fifth shutout of the season with three saves. Zach Zandi had two shots for the Wildcats.
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Seton Hall 2, Marquette 0
CJ Tibbling scored an unassisted goal in each half to lead the Pirates (4-2-1, 1-1-0 BIG EAST) to their first BIG EAST win of the season. The Hall outshot Marquette 18-10 and held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks, forcing Golden Eagles keeper Luis Barraza to make seven saves on the night. Luka Prpa had three shots for MU. Tibbling struck just 2:41 into the contest for what would be the game winner from 18 yards out, before providing the insurance score in the 48
th. Andreas Nota picked up the clean sheet with two saves.
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Providence 3, Butler 2
After Butler (1-5-1, 0-2-0) took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to a 25
th-mintue score by Alex Lehtinen, the Friars responded by scoring three straight goals, including two for Gil Santos, his first goals of the season. The 80
th-minute goal for Santos proved to be the game-winner, despite the efforts of Butler, which cut the lead to one with just over two minutes to play. Lehtinen buried a penalty kick for his second goal of the game and the season, but Providence (4-4-1, 1-1-0), thanks to three saves by Colin Miller, was able to keep the Bulldogs off the board for the final 2:18. Gabriel Gjergji had three saves for the Bulldogs.
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St. John’s 1, RV Xavier 1 (2OT)
After a pair of first-half goals, both teams were kept off the board for the final 65 minutes as the Red Storm (4-3-1, 1-0-1) and Musketeers (3-0-4, 1-0-1) played to a 110-minute draw to remain unbeaten in BIG EAST play. St. John’s struck first as Skage Simonsen scored his third goal of the year, this one coming from Matt Forster in the 11
th minute. Xavier responded in the closing moments of the first half as Tomek Pauer also buried his third of the season, with Simen Hestnes credited with the assist in the 44
th minute. Zachary Nelson kept St. John’s off the board for nearly 100 minutes thanks to 10 saves, while the Red Storm’s Lenny Wilson made four saves on the night.
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Georgetown 2, DePaul 1 (OT)
The stats weighed heavily in favor of the host Hoyas (5-2-1, 1-1-0) who outshot DePaul 29-5 and held an 11-4 advantage in corner kicks, but the Blue Demons found an opening in the second half to knot the game and force overtime. Rio Hope-Gund scored for GU in the 42
nd minute, but DePaul’s Zach El-Shafei scored at exactly the 54-minute mark to knot the game at 1-1. Heading into overtime, Georgetown’s Achara needed just 4:35 to put the game away as the junior scored his BIG EAST-leading third game-winning goal of the year. Drew Nuelle made 10 saves for DePaul (4-5-0, 1-1-0), while Giannis Nikopolidis picked up the win with one save.
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