Final Stats
OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha men's soccer team picked up its first Summit League victory on Saturday with a dominant 2-0 performance at home against the IUPUI Jaguars.
The Mavs controlled the game from start to finish to improve to 3-4-1 overall and 1-0-1 in conference play, putting them atop The Summit League standings as of Saturday afternoon. The Jaguars, who were coming off a conference win over Eastern Illinois last week, dropped to 4-7-2 overall and 1-1-0 in The Summit League.
The Mavericks dominated most of the first half and put five shots on goal, resulting in two goals before halftime. At 19:41, Chava Garcia notched his third goal of the season, with the assist coming from
Giovanni Giattino, his team-leading fifth of the season and first of the day. Giattino chipped a ball over the top of the IUPUI back line, and Garcia muscled off a defender and scored from 10 yards out on the right side of the box.
Later in the half,
Emir Alihodzic hit a blast from 30 yards out that IUPUI keeper Eduardo Cortes got a fingertip on to deflect over the bar.
Felipe da Silva nearly scored after redirecting a ball played into the box, but Cortes, who entered the game as the nation's saves leader, made an acrobatic save.
The Mavs were finally able to secure a two-goal lead in the 39th minute. Giattino won a ball and laid it off to
Jordan Gealy, who played in a cross from the right side to the back post, where
Devin Diego headed it home for his third goal of the season in just four games. Gealy picked up his second assist of the season, while Giattino earned his sixth to make him the league's assist leader.
In the second half, IUPUI's best chance came on a penalty kick with just under 17 minutes left. UNO goalkeeper
Matt Grosey was whistled for a foul in the box, and Kyle Hyland, The Summit League's leading scorer with eight goals, stepped up to take the PK. Grosey read it correctly however and dove to his left to turn the shot away and keep the two-goal lead for the Mavs.
UNO finished with a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. Grosey made two saves to earn his second shutout of the season, and both
Felipe da Silva and
Mo Salama cleared balls that were rolling toward the goal line. The Mavs outshot IUPUI 16-8 overall.
Omaha steps out of conference play on Tuesday when it plays at SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m.
