Final Stats

OMAHA, Neb. -- Senior goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State) made a career-high 12 saves but the Northern Illinois University men’s soccer team fell, 2-0, to No. 1 Creighton on Tuesday night at Morrison Stadium. The Huskies held the top-ranked Bluejays at bay for over an hour before Creighton solved the NIU defense.

“We knew how the game was going to unfold and there isn’t anything most teams in the country can do about it,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “They are an outstanding team and we knew they would have a lot of the ball. We trained for it, we were prepared for it and yes they had a lot of shots, but in terms of dangerous chances, they didn’t have that many.

“We are extremely disappointed in the result. We came here to get a result, so we are disappointed that didn’t happen, but as I look at the individual and collective performances, the guys that were out there left a lot on the field. They competed very hard, they did our team proud and we had a couple of moments throughout the game, if we nick one of those it is a different story.”

One of only two unbeaten, untied teams remaining in the country, Creighton (7-0-0), went on the attack in the opening minute, forcing a save from Glaeser just 46 seconds into the contest.

In the seventh minute, a defensive miscommunication led to another chance for the Bluejays and Fabian Herbers was in on goal from 30 yards but the Huskie goalkeeper smothered the shot and kept the game scoreless. Glaeser was called upon again twice more in the opening 15 minutes as Creighton saw most of the ball early on.

NIU (4-2-0) created its first chance of the contest in the 24th minute. Freshman Nixon Urrutia (Houston, Texas/Dobie clipped a ball from near midfield looking to catch Creighton goalkeeper Connor Sparrow off his line. Scrambling back toward his goal line, Sparrow was able to tip the effort away for a Huskie corner.

Glaeser was called into action again in the 34th minute, stopping a shot from Noah Franke at a tight angle. Three minutes later, the Huskie goalkeeper held another effort from Herberts off a free kick as the game went to the intermission scoreless.

Early in the second half Herbers again had a look at goal as he was alone inside the box, but his effort went well high. Glaeser was called into action for the first time in the second half on a low shot down to his left from Timo Pitter in the 55th minute.

The Huskies began to find more of the ball as the second half continued. Off a deep free kick in the 57th minute, sophomore Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School) flashed a header wide.

NIU earned a corner in the 60th minute and junior Richard Hall (Billericay, England/The Billericay School) whipped in an excellent corner inside the six-yard box, but a pair of Huskies went for the header and it went harmlessly wide.

Creighton broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute. The Bluejays worked the ball down into the box on the left side and a cross from Lucas Stauffer was nodded on by Herbers and collected by Pitter all alone at the back post. Pitter made no mistake, slotting the ball into the corner to give the Bluejays a 1-0 lead.

NIU had a chance to level the match in the 75th minute as junior Albert Levett (Southend-on-Sea, England/Belfairs High) had a look at goal, but his shot was stopped by Sparrow.

Creighton doubled its lead in the 82nd minute on a penalty kick. After a tangling a feet in the box the referee pointed to the penalty spot and Herbers stepped up to bury Creighton’s second goal past a diving Glaeser.

In the 86th minute, sophomore Jerome Roche (Salon-de-Provence, France/Gardner-Webb) cleared a ball off the line to prevent a third Bluejay goal. Freshman Giovanni Pacheco (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena) had a chance to cut the Creighton lead in half in the 88th minute, but his chance was smothered by Sparrow as the Bluejays moved to 6-0 at home this season.

For Glaeser, his 12 saves set a new career-high, bettering his previous high of 11 set at Michigan State on Sept. 28, 2013.

“Andrew was fantastic tonight,” Luzzi said of his senior goalkeeper. “He was averaging one save a game coming in, and a lot of that has been because our team has been very stout defensively, and tonight he upped his average quite a bit. He was fantastic tonight.”

NIU will return to action next Tuesday, Sept. 29, as the Huskies travel to Eastern Illinois; game time is slated for 3 p.m.