PEORIA, Ill. -- Creighton's Michael Kraus and Ryan Junge each buried blasts from just outside the penalty area in the first half, leading the 18th-ranked Bluejays (12-4-3) to their ninth State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship with a 2-0 victory versus top seed and 17th-ranked Bradley (15-5-1) in front of 1,304 fans Sunday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
The Bluejays used their fourth consecutive shutout to earn a 14th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament as the Valley's automatic qualifier. Bradley's season-long seven-game winning streak came to an end and now the Braves, who won the Valley's regular-season title, must wait for Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show to find out if they will receive a third at-large invitation into the 48-team field in the last six years.
Bradley narrowly missed a chance to take an early lead on a corner kick in the 16th minutes. Senior Joe Ducci served the corner from the left side to the far post. Sophomore Drew DeGurian made a clean run through the box and his header appeared to be ticketed for the back of the net, but Creighton's Danny Minutillo was able to block the attempt at the post. With the ball still bouncing free in front of the goal, Creighton keeper Matt Allen was able to pounce on it just as Zach Bell attempted to push home the rebound.
That was as close as Allen came to making a save the entire game as DeGurian's header was the only one of Bradley's eight shots the Braves managed to put on target.
Kraus gave the Bluejays the lead with an unassisted goal at 29:00. He collected a loose ball outside the penalty area and ripped a laser inside the left post for his sixth tally of the season. Junge struck less than five minutes later when he collected a pass from Byron Dace, dribbled from the right flank to the top of the box, then drilled a left-footer inside the right post for his fifth goal of the season at 34:41.
The 48-team field for the NCAA Tournament will be announced Monday between 3 and 3:30 p.m. on ESPNews. Bradley, which fell to 0-4-1 in MVC Tournament championship games, earned at-large invitations in 2000 and 2002. The Braves entered Sunday's championship game tied with Maryland for the second-most wins in the nation this season, trailing only Akron's 17 wins.
MVC All-Tournament Team
Mark Hansen, GK, Eastern Illinois
Ryan Anderson, F, Missouri State
Klye Lapkewych, D, Vanderbilt
John Krause, F, Vanderbilt
Chris Hamburger, M, Drake
Jess Richey, D, Drake
Chris Dunsheath, GK, Bradley
Jeff Kellogg, D, Bradley
Steve Chromik, M, Bradley
Byron Dacy, F, Creighton
Michael Kraus, F, Creighton
Andrew Peterson, M, Creighton
Matt Wieland, D, Creighton (MVP)
