Senior midfielder Aida Kardovic scored his second goal of the season with 37:20 left in the second half after Clayton drew 1-1 with Butler in the regular season finale at Morrison Stadium on Thursday night. I was.
Aida Kardovic (10) scored the equalizing goal for the Jays on Thursday night (Juszyk / WBR)
The Blue Jays fell behind just over 15 minutes into the game when Butler’s freshman midfielder Talia Sommer stole a pass near the center circle and raced downfield to finish without an assist. . As they have done so many times this season, Creighton found himself and settled into the game soon afterwards. It took over to the point of finishing the night on the edge.
“It’s a little bit of a surprise because it’s a different team than any other team I’ve played in the Big East,” Kardovic said. “It took us a while to get used to their rotation, especially the midfield. We gave them a chance to play from behind, partly because we were a yard behind, but after figuring out how they were doing their rotation, we decided to try and get ourselves back into the game. I think you did a pretty good job.”
Clayton held off Butler for the final 11 minutes of the first half without a shot. The winning streak continued as both teams emerged from the locker room, with Kardovic leveling up just under eight minutes into the second half. The tying sequence began when junior defender Peyton Steffen played the ball on the right flank. Redirect it to the net.
“I know Azumi very well. She’s pretty technical and has great crosses,” said Kardovic. “I knew that if I could put something on the ball, or if I could push an opponent to score an own goal, I would be okay. With that sort of thing, you have to go find the ball.”
Butler became a little bolder and more open for go-ahead goals, but Clayton remained calm and over the last 20 minutes of play beat the Bulldogs 7-2. However, nothing of that happened and both teams settled for a draw to close out the regular season. Coming into the day, Big He East could have been assigned hosts for Clayton in the first round of his tournament, even with a draw, but an incident in Chicago’s Wish his field-adjacent student dormitory left St. His match with John occurred. Johns and DePaul canceled. As a result, St. John’s automatically secured the No. 3 seed, while the Big East switched tie-breaking his scenario to winning percentage instead of points. It became a tie-breaker between Clayton and Butler as Redstorm suddenly fell out of the equation, with the Bulldogs making more points this season against his six teams who have qualified for his tournament. We won because we scored points.
It wasn’t the news Clayton was hoping to hear at the end of the night, but it’s the path they’re on now, and it’s better than the option of never having the chance to wear the uniform again.
“You have to love it,” Kardovic said. “Honestly, I’m excited. Not every team can play a playoff game and be in the Big East’s tournament. Whether it’s Butler or Georgetown or Xavier, I don’t care. No, I’m here to win.”
Sunday’s Clayton/Butler winner advances to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament where they will face regular season champion Georgetown at the Maryland Soccerplex in Boyes, Maryland on Thursday, November 3.
