Pressure, pace, and patience paid off with just under 10 minutes left to play on Wednesday night as senior forward Luke Haakenson scored his fifth goal of the season to help Creighton halt a three-match losing streak with a 1-0 win over DePaul.
The Bluejays (7-5-1, 3-3-0 Big East) came out with a renewed focus on playing with greater tempo from the beginning of the match after a series of sluggish starts contributed heavily to losses against Seton Hall, Xavier, and St. John’s over the last 19 days. Although DePaul’s defense was tough to break down in the final third, the Bluejays were persistent in moving the ball with tempo and purpose as the looked for lanes to combine and thread balls forward, something first-year head coach Johnny Torres has been harping on over the past month.