At a time when the Creighton women's soccer team was searching desperately for somebody to make a play to extend its season, that play never materialized.
And the third-seeded Bluejays were knocked out of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, losing to sixth-seeded Northern Iowa on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in front of 209 fans at Morrison Stadium.
“It was disappointing to end the season that way,” Creighton coach Bruce Erickson said. “You've got to have breakout performances in big games. We didn't have enough of that to go around.”
The Jays and Panthers played a scoreless 110 minutes, often battling tricky winds, before UNI scored on all five opportunities in the shootout round to win it 5-3.
Perhaps still stinging from a blistering 8-1 loss at Illinois State on Thursday in the regular-season finale, Creighton struggled to get its offense in gear.
“We never quite got going,” Erickson said. “We didn't possess the way we needed to possess. We were off enough in the early part of the game, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.”
UNI avenged a loss to the Jays Sept. 23 in the Valley opener and will face No. 2 seed Missouri State on Friday in the semifinals in Springfield, Mo.
No. 1 seed Illinois State will face fourth-seeded Evansville, which beat fifth-seeded Drake 1-0 Sunday in the other Valley semifinal.
The Jays got into a hole early in the penalty-kick round. They trailed 2-1 when Macy Mauer's drive glanced off the left goal post to give the Panthers the advantage.
Missy Journot was credited with the game-winner when she punched it inside the left post past keeper Katie Jo Swanson to make it 5-3 with one shooter left for the Jays.
Alicia Montgomery played all 110 minutes of regulation and overtime in goal for CU, making four saves before giving way to Swanson in the shootout.
Creighton outshot the Panthers 19-9, most of that advantage coming in the second half and first overtime when the 15 to 25 mph wind was in the Jays' favor.
“Wind is kind of the great neutralizer in soccer because whoever has it looks pretty good,” Erickson said.
Creighton, which won the 2010 Valley regular-season and tournament championships, ends its season at 9-6-3.
The Jays entered the match 12-1-2 all time against UNI, including 3-0 in the tournament. They had been 13-1-1 in Valley tournament opening matches.
Northern Iowa (8-9-3) 0 0 0 0 1—1
At Creighton (9-6-3) 0 0 0 0 0—0
Penalty-kick round: UNI 5: Kiki McClellan (Goal), Kala Negus (Goal), Ashley Capone (Goal), Caitlyn Fuller (Goal), Missy Journot (Goal). CU 3: Erin Gunther (Goal), Macy Mauer (Miss), Gabriela Guillen (Goal), Brittney Neumann (Goal). Shots: UNI 9, CU 19. Shots on goal: UNI 5, CU 10. Saves: UNI, Erin Zaideman 3, Lauren Potzman 0. CU, Alicia Montgomery 4, Katie Jo Swanson 0. Fouls: UNI 8, CU 7. A: 209.
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