Final Stats
OMAHA, Neb. - The UNO men's soccer team fell 4-0 to No. 24 UC Irvine in the program's inaugural home match on Sunday evening at the UNO Soccer Field. In front of 1,647 fans and in great weather conditions, the Mavs gave up two goals in each half in falling to the Anteaters.
UC Irvine (2-0) got on the board first in the 20th minute after a Maverick handball in the box resulted in a penalty kick. Christian Hernandez buried the shot low in the left corner to put the Mavericks down 1-0 for the second straight game by way of a penalty kick.
The Mavs then produced some threatening attacks against the Anteaters, who were ranked in the top 10 for most of last season.
Tyler Dixon ripped a shot 18 minutes in toward the low right corner, but all-conference goalie Andrew Fontein made the diving save.
UNO nearly drew even again on its best scoring chance of the game in the 28th minute.
Logan Mendez got behind the defense and ran onto a loose ball, but his shot just inside the 18-yard box went just wide left of the post.
The Anteaters tacked on their second goal in the 31st minute when Miguel Ibarra dribbled down the left flank and played a line drive into the box. Enrique Cardenas caught on to the end of it and one-touched it into the back of the net from eight yards out to make it 2-0.
Vance Rookwood almost pulled a goal back for UNO in the 37th minute. He beat two players off the dribble, but his shot from 25 yards out and straight on went right of the post.
In the 62nd minute, Ibarra and Cardenas again hooked up for an Anteater goal. This time, Ibarra made a long run with the ball down the right side and centered it to Cardenas, who took a point-blank shot that Maverick goalie
Josh Christensen knocked away. But Cardenas was the first player to the rebound, and he headed it over Christensen to make it 3-0 UC Irvine.
The Anteaters added one more goal in the 72nd minute. Norby Rodriguez played a short cross in from just outside the box, and Lester Hayes III one-touched it past Christensen for a 4-0 advantage.
UC Irvine outshot UNO, 15-10, including 7-2 in shots on goal.
The Mavericks will make a road trip to Indiana next weekend for an 11 a.m., game on Sunday, Sept. 4 at IPFW. The Mastodons will be the second of three Summit League foes UNO will play this season.
