After notching its first win of the season on Sunday, the Omaha men's soccer team hits the road for an 8 p.m. match on Friday at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. Friday's match will be the only one of the weekend for the Mavericks, and it is also the last road game UNO will play until Oct. 5. Following Friday's game at Drake, the Mavs will play five straight home games. Live stats and a live webcast (fee required) are available at OMavs.com.
The Teams Omaha (1-2) became the third Summit League team to earn a win this season when it topped Columbia, 1-0, Sunday at the UNO Soccer Field.
Vance Rookwood scored the only goal of the match with 7:55 remaining to give the Mavs the win.
Matt Grosey picked up his fourth career shutout in goal. Rookwood and Grosey subsequently earned Summit League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively. The Mavericks lead The Summit League this season with 14.0 shot attempts per game and 23 corner kicks taken. UNO holds a 42-27 advantage in shots and a 23-9 advantage in corner kicks through three matches. On the defensive half of the field, UNO has been stellar, allowing a league-best 0.96 goals per game.
Drake (0-3-1) has fallen to Cal Poly, Tulsa and Marquette. Tulsa is currently ranked 13th in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Top 25 poll, while Cal Poly and Marquette are receiving votes. The Bulldogs' lone result of the season came in a 1-1 draw at Milwaukee on Sept. 6. Danton Irelan leads the team with two goals and five points. Garrett Crall and Bryan Jantsch also have goals on the young season. Rich Gallagher has started all four games in goal and has a 2.94 goals against average and a .600 save percentage.
Series History This will be the first regular-season meeting between Omaha and Drake, though the Mavericks beat the Bulldogs 2-0 last year in an exhibition match in Des Moines.
Vance Rookwood and
Logan Mendez scored early second half goals just two minutes apart, and the Mavs held on for the shutout against the Missouri Valley Conference foe. Although it didn't go down in the official statistics, the shutout was the first for the Mavs in any game since the program's inception in 2011.
Last Time Out Vance Rookwood scored the only goal of the match with 7:55 remaining to give the Omaha men's soccer team a 1-0 win over Columbia on Sunday afternoon. It marked the first win of the season for the Mavericks (1-2), despite the fact that they outshot their first two opponents a combined 27-13. On the goal,
Sam Langston played a corner kick in from the left side. Chava Garcia, running across the 18-yard box, flicked the ball with his head into the six-yard box. Rookwood fought off a defender and, falling to the ground, placed a low shot into the middle of the net for the 1-0 lead. The Mavericks, as they were in their previous two games, were the aggressor and outshot Columbia 15-14 with a 9-4 margin in shots on goal. Goalie
Matt Grosey made four saves, two of which denied point-blank scoring opportunities for Columbia.
Up Next The Mavericks have the weekend off before returning to action at home on Tuesday against SIUE at the UNO Soccer Field at 5 p.m. That marks the first of five straight home games.
Caniglia Field Status The Mavericks continue to play their home matches at the UNO Soccer Field while the renovation of Caniglia Field continues. The Mavs' new home will seat 3,466 fans and will feature a state-of-the-art soccer pitch. The exact date of the first game on the new surface is not yet known, but both the men's and women's soccer programs are anticipating playing on their new field this season.
Rookwood, Grosey Sweep Summit League Weekly Awards The Summit League recognized junior midfielder
Vance Rookwood and senior goalkeeper
Matt Grosey as the Summit League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, on Sept. 9 following the second week of the season. Rookwood's award was the first of his career, while Grosey picked up his second-career Summit League weekly award. In the Mavs' only game of the week, Rookwood scored the game-winning goal with 7:55 remaining to give Omaha a 1-0 win over Columbia. Grosey, the Mavericks' captain, posted his first shutout of the season in the victory, making him the only Summit League goalie to pitch a shutout in week two. Grosey made four saves - two of them on point-blank chances by Columbia in the final 15 minutes of the match to pick up his fourth career shutout.
Mavs Picked Fourth in Summit League Preseason Poll The Mavericks were picked to finish fourth in the Summit League Preseason Poll voted on by the league's seven head coaches. The Mavericks received 23 points to finish just one point behind IUPUI. League newcomer Denver was selected as the favorite after finishing 11-6-3 last season and bringing six starters and 18 letterwinners back. The Pioneers received 35 points and five first-place votes. Defending Summit League Tournament champion Western Illinois finished second and collected the other two first-place votes for a total of 31 points. The Leathernecks have won three of the last four Summit League postseason titles. Following IUPUI and Omaha in the preseason poll were Fort Wayne (15), Eastern Illinois (12) and Oral Roberts (7). The Mavs finished 5-10-1 overall last season and 3-3-1 in The Summit League to finish in a tie for fourth with Fort Wayne in the standings. Omaha has 10 players back who started at least 50 percent of the games last season. However, the Mavs have a talented group of newcomers that will bolster the lineup in 2013.
Halfway Through Division I Transition The Mavericks have now completed two full years of their four-year transition to Division I and are therefore ineligible to compete in the conference tournament and NCAA Tournament until the 2015 season. The 2013-14 season will see UNO's teams going through a full Summit League schedule for the second time.
Progress Made in Second Season The Mavs' first year of existence went about as one would expect, a final record of 1-11-1 and a lot of freshmen and sophomores gaining experience. But in year two, the Mavericks made huge strides, finishing with a final record of 5-10-1 and a Summit League record of 3-3-1. With no seniors on the roster and 16 of 21 players being freshmen and sophomores in 2012, the Mavs were a surprise in The Summit League, finishing in a tie for fourth place in the league standings after being picked last in the preseason poll. Against the top three teams in the league, the Mavs claimed a draw and two overtime losses. In its first year in The Summit League, UNO's high-powered offense finished second in the league with 26 goals on the season. In conference play, the Mavs were third with 11 goals scored and gave up just seven goals, the second fewest in the league. The Mavs carried that momentum into the spring season, defeating two-time defending College Cup participant Creighton in an exhibition match in April.
Mavs Excel in Classroom in 2012 The Mavericks earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award after posting a cumulative GPA of 3.02. It was the first time the Mavericks were eligible for the award after completing one full academic year as a program. Omaha was one of just four Summit League institutions to have both the men's and women's soccer teams recognized.
