OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton scored three times in the first half and rode the early lead to a 5-1 victory against Eastern Illinois men's soccer Sunday afternoon at Morrison Stadium.

Alex Harrison scored his second goal of the season and 15th career on a free kick in the 47th minute, deflecting in the blast off a defender. But the Panthers (4-5-2, 1-3 MVC) already trailed 4-0 at that juncture. Eastern has scored each of the last three seasons against Creighton (5-2-2, 2-1-1 MVC) but still been on the downside of all three results.

 

Sean Molony made a season-high 10 saves in goal for EIU. Each of the last two times (2005 and 2008) the Panthers had surrendered five goals in a game it had been in a loss to Creighton.

 

The Bluejays' goals came from five different players. Jeff Thayer (fourth minute) and Thomas Gjoesund (89th minute) opened and capped the scoring, both capitalizing on rebounds. Ethan Finley (14th minute), Seth Sinovic (42nd minute) and Kris Clark (47th minute) all scored for the second year in a row against EIU.

Creighton peppered the Panthers with 26 shots and 11 corner kicks. Eastern was limited to five shots and two corners.

 

The game was originally scheduled to be played Saturday night but was postponed due to snow and sub-freezing temperatures in the Omaha area. It was 38 degrees with a wind chill right at freezing Sunday.

 

Trevor Kohlrus, Ryan Warren and Harrison went the distance among the EIU field players. Jeff Kupiec (56) and Jonathan Hinds (55) logged the most minutes among the reserves. Kupiec returned to action for the first time since the IPFW victory on Sept. 27.

 

Kyle Zumski did not start the second half, ending his consecutive minutes played streak at 985. It marked the first time this season that he not been on the field.

With its three-game Missouri Valley Conference road stretch complete, the Panthers are slated to play five of their final seven regular-season games at home. That stretch begins Sunday when EIU hosts Bradley at 2:30 p.m. in game two of an EIU soccer doubleheader to close out Homecoming Weekend on campus.