Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. - The UNO men's soccer team paid the price to earn its first home win in program history on Sunday, routing Bellevue 4-0 in a physical season opener in front of 442 fans at the UNO Soccer Field.
Chava Garcia,
Vance Rookwood,
Emir Alihodzic and
Craig Buettner all scored for the Mavericks (1-0), who went 0-3 in three home games last year. Garcia, Rookwood, Alihodzic,
Jordan Gealy and
Giovanni Giattino all recorded assists.
Matt Grosey and the Maverick back line of Gealy,
Felipe da Silva,
Nick Miller and Alihodzic helped pitch the first shutout in school history, allowing Bellevue no shots on goal. Bellevue dropped to 0-2 on the season in a game that featured two red cards and five yellow cards.
The tone of the game was set at the 22:46 mark. Alihodzic played in a ball from the right side of the box, and Rookwood rose to head it. The ball caromed off the crossbar straight into the air, and Garcia won a header over Bellevue goalie Luke Baxter for a 1-0 lead. Baxter received two yellow cards for dissent, resulting in a red card and automatic ejection. The Bruins went down to 10 men, and forward Michael Conchie took Baxter's place in goal.
The Mavs used the man advantage to double the lead at the 24:37 mark, as Rookwood headed home a cross from Gealy to make it 2-0. The Mavs had a 10-0 shot advantage at halftime.
In the second half, Alihodzic made it 3-0 when he took a drop pass from Garcia and ripped a 25-yard shot off Conchie's gloves into the upper left corner of the net.
Following two yellow cards for Bellevue, one for UNO and a straight red card for the Bruins that put them at nine men for the final seven minutes, Buettner finished a breakaway after a through ball from Giattino in the 85th minute to make it 4-0.
UNO finished with a 21-1 shot advantage with a 6-0 margin in shots on goal.
The Mavericks will head to Peoria, Ill., next weekend for the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic. UNO will play Mercer on Friday and at No. 25 Bradley on Sunday.
