PHOENIX, Ariz. – Goals from three different Mavericks gave the Omaha men's soccer team a 3-0 win over Grand Canyon University under windy conditions Sunday evening in Phoenix, Ariz. The win was the sixth win in seven games for Omaha.
"It was a good weekend for us," said head coach Jason Mims. "Two games on the road, scoring five goals, and not conceding any makes for a pretty good weekend."
Omaha had five seniors play their final game for the program. Vance Rookwood and Felipe da Silva scored in their final game for Omaha. Nick Miller helped lead the Maverick defense as they held their eighth opponent scoreless just a few miles from his hometown. Joe Marinkovich and Jordan Gealy played major roles for UNO in the win.
Omaha struck first in the opening half when Vance Rookwood's header was blocked by a Grand Canyon defender. The blocked shot found the foot of defender Felipe da Silva who calmly tapped the ball into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.
The second goal of the half started when midfielder Logan Mendez was fouled 30 yards away from goal. Mendez lofted the free kick towards the GCU penalty area. The free kick found Vance Rookwood who lobbed a shot over the Antelope goalkeeper to give Omaha a 2-0 lead in the 16th minute. The goal was the ninth of the season for Rookwood.
Omaha put the game out of reach in the 22nd minute when Mark Moulton played a ball into Xavier Gomez from the left side of the penalty area. Gomez settled the pass before placing his shot into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
Maverick goalkeeper Joseph Ghitis kept Grand Canyon off the board with four huge saves in the second half. Ghitis smothered an Amare Thomas shot in the 51st minute. In the 68th minute, Niki Jackson's header was kept out of the back of the net by Ghitis. Grand Canyon managed two more shots on goal in the closing minutes of the game, but were denied both times.
Omaha and Grand Canyon each had 15 shots for the game. Both teams had five corner kicks.
Joseph Ghitis faced 15 shots and made five saves as he earned his third shut-out of the season.
"We won ten games and earned a conference championship," commented Mims. "We are playing our best soccer of the season right now."
Coach Mims gave credit to his seniors following the game. "I want to give a huge thanks to the seniors, I have learned so much from them and they have made me a better coach."
Omaha ends the year with a 10-5-2 overall record, which is the best in the programs four year history.
