Forward Casey Townsend, second from right, scored his 11th goal in 11 games Friday during a 1-0 win against Creighton.

One weighty figure hung over the Terrapins men’s soccer team as it trotted onto Ludwig Field to face No. 2 Creighton on Friday night.

The Bluejays had not surrendered a goal for nearly 740 minutes, making them the only team in Division I not to have been scored upon this season. And with each passing shutout, the aura around Creighton’s backline only intensified.

But the No. 3 Terps proved there was another defense worth noting Friday. After getting just enough offense from their senior leader, they delivered a complete defensive effort to capture a 1-0 win over Creighton in front of a crowd of 5,648.

“Their front four or five are excellent, and we hadn’t played a potent attack like that for a while,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “So that was the No. 1 thing, that we had to be the better defending team on the field, and I thought we were today.”

The Terps (10-0-1) held Creighton to a season-low six shots and just two chances on goal. The Bluejays, who entered the match averaging more than two goals a game, didn’t have a shot attempt for the first 48 minutes Friday.

That stalwart defensive effort ensured that Casey Townsend’s goal in the 14th minute was enough to keep the Terps’ unbeaten streak alive.

From near midfield, forward Patrick Mullins lobbed a looping pass to a streaking Townsend, who headed the ball over onrushing Creighton goalkeeper Brian Holt and converted a one-touch shot into an empty net goal.

The goal, which was the MAC Hermann Trophy candidate’s 11th in 11 games, forced Creighton (8-1) to work from a deficit for the first time this season.

And after a dissatisfying defensive effort against No. 12 Charlotte on Tuesday, the Terps were intent on making that a difficult task for the Bluejays. The Terps’ backline nullified Creighton’s leading scorer, Ethan Finlay, who failed to tally a shot on goal for the first time this season.

“I think the back four, we did a tremendous job,” defender London Woodberry said. “We kind of just came together and we just understood we had to stay focused and stay in tune for the rest of the game to get the shutout. I mean, we don’t score goals that much, so getting a shutout’s kind of like scoring a goal for us.”

After notching nine shots in the first half, the Terps’ offense sputtered in the final 45 minutes. Still feeling the effects of Tuesday night’s win, they struggled to keep possession in the latter half, tallying a season-low two shots.

Creighton, meantime, emerged from halftime firing. Coming off a nearly weeklong rest, the Bluejays attacked the Terps’ defense at the start of the second half and tallied six shots. It was the first time this season the Terps were outshot in a half.

Still, the team’s stingy backline ensured that goalkeeper Will Swaim had to grab only two saves to capture his 12th career shutout. Creighton’s best scoring opportunity came in the 73rd minute, when midfielder Bruno Castro’s free kick sailed over the net.

“The second half was just about grinding it out and showing some grit,” Cirovski said. “I was really impressed with my guys. I was a little concerned about how they could close out this game, but they did a great job.”

Friday night’s win spelled the end of a trying stretch for the Terps. After hitting the road for three of four games, they closed out the month in College Park with a pair of wins against top-15 opponents.

But the Terps aren’t complaining. Cirovski’s affinity for tough schedules, after all, is the reason many of his players committed to the program in the first place.

“These are the kind of games you come here to play,” Townsend said. “I could barely sleep last night just thinking about coming out to play today.”

letourneau@umdbk.com