Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. - The UNO men's soccer team stormed out of the gate with two goals in the first five minutes and never looked back in a 4-1 win over Eastern Illinois on a chilly, windy Saturday at the UNO Soccer Field.
The win improved the Mavs to 4-5-1 overall and 2-0-1 in Summit League play. The Mavs' seven points has them in first place in the conference standings as of Saturday afternoon. Eastern Illinois fell to 2-10 and 0-3 in The Summit League.
Craig Buettner's goal 3:06 into the match was a perfect start for the Mavs going into the wind. Panther goalkeeper Garrett Creasor played a goal kick, and
Logan Mendez won the ball out of the air and headed it over the defense to
Craig Buettner, who had slipped behind the defense. Buettner finished to the lower left corner for the 1-0 lead.
At 4:33, Cody Thayer added to the great start with a 20-yard chip over the goalkeeper into the upper left side netting. The Mavs put together a string of successful passes, with
Jesus Perez playing the final ball near the top of the box to Thayer, who scored for his first goal of the season.
EIU made the game interesting with a late first-half goal. Will Butler volleyed home a cross from Colin Rook to pull the Panthers within a goal two minutes before halftime.
But with the wind at their backs, the Mavs controlled play in the second half.
Felipe da Silva volleyed home a Chava Garcia corner kick in the 63rd minute, and
Vance Rookwood added an 89th-minute goal off an 18-yard shot that took a deflection off of an Eastern Illinois player.
UNO outshot EIU 22-12 overall and 7-5 on goal.
Matt Grosey made four saves to earn the win in net. The Mavs improved to 4-0 at home this season with one home game remaining on Oct. 28 against Oakland.
The Mavericks will now travel to face No. 20 Tulsa on Monday at 7 p.m.
