Sept. 14, 2012
OMAHA, NE -ODU's junior forward Tim Hopkinson (Nottingham, England) scored two goals to lead unbeaten (5-0) Old Dominion over second ranked Creighton (4-1-1) 2-1 in the first round of the Creighton Soccer Classic. Creighton was an NCAA Tournament semifinalist a year ago.
ODU ranked fifth by Soccer America, 11th by College Soccer News and 14th by the NSCAA Coaches poll.
"We started the game with a bit of nerves and conceded an early goal. Our response after we settled down was terrific and we made a statement with a huge win against a great opponent on the road in front of a single season record crowd of 6,848 crazy fans."- Alan Dawson
The Blue Jays struck first with a goal less than two minutes into the match by senior midfielder Jose Gomez with an assist from Jose Ribas.
The Monarchs got the equalizer with 20 minutes left in the half as leading scorer Tim Hopkinson scored on an assist from senior Yannick Smith(Hillsborough, NJ.). The two teams went into halftime even at 1-1.
In the second half with about 21 minutes remaining, Hopkinson and senior co-captain Chris Harmon broke free towards Creighton keeper Alex Bolowich. Hopkinson fired a shot that Bolowich was able to deflect. Harmon then gathered the ball and fired an attempt of his own, but Creighton's Andrew Ribeiro made a team save, but the deflection caromed right to Hopkinson, who fired the third shot of the series into the back of the net for his team best seventh goal with an assist from Chris Harmon to put the Monarchs up for good at 2-1.
Hopkinson was the National Player of the Week by the NSCAA, College Soccer News and CAA Player of the Week.
Creighton outshot ODU, 20-18, but the Monarchs had more shots on frame, at 12-10. ODU senior goalkeeper Victor Francoz came up witheight saves on the night.
ODU's last win over a top five team was on Sept. 28 with a 2-1 victory over then second ranked North Carolina at the ODU Soccer Complex. Both of ODU's wins overnationally ranked teams thus far (Central Florida and now Creighton) have been on the road.
In all, ODU has beaten three teams ranked number two nationally. Besides tonight'swin over Creighton, and 2010's win over North Carolina, ODU also beat Virginia, 1-0in 1985 in Charlottesville, 1-0. The Monarchs lost to Virginia, 1-0 at Foreman field in 1984 and UCLA in 1992 Stihl Classic at the ODU Soccer Complex.
The record setting crowd of 6,848 at Creighton eclipsed their previous record of 5,812 set in a match against UCLA on Sept. 8, 2007.
ODU will play Drake (who lost to William and Mary, 4-1 Friday) Sunday in the Creighton Soccer Classic second round at 12:30 ET. , before returning home to play No. 1 ranked Maryland Tuesday night at ODU.
ODU 1-1=2CU 1-0-1
CU 01:48 Jose Gomez from Jose Ribas.ODU 25:22 Tim Hopkinson from Yannick SmithODU 70:37 Tim Hopkinson from Chris Harmon.
Shots: CU(20), ODU (18)SOG: CU (10), ODU (12)Corners: CU(6), ODU (3)Saves: ODU - Francoz (8);CU -Bolowich(9)