OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha men's soccer team finishes the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, Nov. 8 against IUPUI. This will be the last regular season conference game for both teams.
The Teams
Omaha (7-5-2, 2-2-1 Summit League) lost a 1-0 road decision to Fort Wayne on Saturday, Nov. 1.
IUPUI (5-7-2 overall, 2-2-1 Summit League) won a 1-0 decision to Denver on Friday, Oct. 31 in Indianapolis.
Scouting the Mavericks
Omaha is currently in a four way tie with IUPUI, Denver, and Oral Roberts for third place in the Summit League standings. The Mavericks can earn a piece of the Summit League title in only the fourth year of the programs existence. Omaha needs to defeat IUPUI and have Denver defeat Western Illinois on Saturday.
Omaha is 3-1 over their last four games and won their last five games at home. They are 2-3-1 on the road and 0-0-1 at neutral sites. Omaha is 5-2 within the friendly confines of Caniglia Field.
Vance Rookwood leads the team in goals and points. Rookwood broke the program's record for goals in a season with his sixth strike of the year against Drake University. He is also currently one point away from tying the program record of points for a season (15). On the season, Rookwood has fourteen points on six goals and two assists.
Mark Moulton has tied the programs record for assists in a season (7). For the season, Moulton has three goals and seven assists for 13 points. Defender Nick Miller has scored three goals and has an assist for seven points.
Logan Mendez has set the program record for assists in a career with ten. For the season, Mendez has a goal and four assists. Christian Garcia and Xavier Gomez each have one goal and two assists for four points. Jordan Gealy has a goal and an assist for three points. Emir Alihodzic and Felipe da Silva each have a goal.
Jake McCain has two goals on the season. Lalo Gamboa and Jesus Perez each have tallied one assist.
Josh Christensen and Joseph Ghitis split time in goal this season for Omaha. Christensen has started seven games and has a 4-2-1 record. Christensen has a .857 save percentage with 24 saves. He has allowed four goals and has a 0.54 goals against average. Ghitis has started seven games this year and owns a 3-3-1 record. Ghitis has made 21 saves and has a .700 save percentage. He has allowed nine goals and has a 1.21 goals against average. Christiansen has four shut-outs, while Ghitis has two shut-outs.
The Mavericks boast seven individual players who have earned all-league awards this season. Mark Moulton has been named the Summit League Offensive Player-of-the-Week twice this season. Josh Christensen, Felipe da Silva, and Joseph Ghitis each have been named conference Defensive-Players-of-the-Week once, while Nick Miller has won the award twice.
As a team, Omaha has outscored their opponents by an 18-13 margin. The Mavs have six shut-outs this season.
Scouting the Jaguars
IUPUI is 5-7-2 on the season and 2-2-1 in the Summit League. The Jaguars are tied with Denver, Omaha, and Oral Roberts for third place in the conference standings. They also have an outside shot of tying for the conference crown.
The Jaguars boast the current Summit League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. Joshua Ayala had the game-winner from distance late in the 76th minute against Denver. Goalkeeper Eduardo Cortes the defensive award by making four saves in his ninth career shut-out.
Uriel Macias continues to lead the Jaguars and is tied for the league lead with seven goals while Emmanuel Usen is second on the squad with 14 points (5 goals, 4 assists). Macias and Joshua Ayala have accounted for the team's five game-winners and the trio of Macias, Usen and Ayala have 14 of the Jaguars' 18 goals. Eduardo Cortes has continued to improve his numbers, dropping his goals against average to 1.87 while upping his save percentage to .786 in 10 appearances.
Series History
This is the third all-time meeting between the two programs. The series is tied 1-1 with each school winning on their home pitch. Last season, IUPUI needed overtime to defeat Omaha 1-0 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Up Next
Omaha wraps up the season in Phoenix, Ariz. with games against Incarnate Word and Grand Canyon. On Friday, Nov. 14, the Mavs play Incarnate Word at 9:00 p.m. Omaha wraps up the season on Sunday, Nov. 16 against Grand Canyon at 9:00 p.m.
