DENVER, Colo. – The Omaha men's soccer team scored in the 20th minute of the Summit League semifinals, but were unable to hold off Oral Roberts, who prevailed in double overtime, 2-1.
The Mavericks withstood an early offensive onslaught from the Golden Eagles. ORU took six shots in the opening 13 minutes of the game, but none found the back of the net.
Omaha scored on its first shot of the game in the 20th minute. Mark Moulton beat his defender down the left side and played a ball into the penalty area. Moulton's cross found defender Michael Jaime who placed his shot into the bottom right corner for the first goal of the game. The goal was the first of Jaime's career at Omaha.
A perfect pass from the Maverick midfield split the Golden Eagle defense and led to the team's next scoring chance in the 23rd minute. Noor Hamadi was able to run onto the pass and found himself one-on-one with ORU goalkeeper Ben LaCourse. Hamadi tried to power his shot past LaCourse, who was able to smother the shot.
Omaha continued to press for a second goal, but the Oral Roberts defense withstood the attack. Moulton again beat his defender on the left side and took a shot that was blocked out for a corner kick in the 41st minute. Emir Alihodzic's shot off the corner was again blocked by the defense. Moments later, Felipe da Silva's header was cleared out of danger. Omaha took a 1-0 lead into the half.
The second half was a nail-biter and opened with a threatening header from Oral Robert's Tarik Salkicic in the 46th minute. Salkicic got in front of his defender, but placed his header just wide of the UNO goal.
Moulton had a good chance to increase the Omaha lead in the 56th minute, but his header was saved by LaCourse.
Javo Reyes put a shot on goal for Oral Roberts in the 61st minute, but Maverick goalkeeper Josh Christensen made the save. Baptiste Vandeputte set up Oral Robert's game tying goal in the 70th minute. Vandeputte lofted a ball toward the center of the Omaha defense that found Davis Chimento. Chimento was able to redirect the cross past Christensen to level the game, 1-1.
The Mavericks nearly regained their lead a few minutes later when Cole Nelson hit a shot from outside the penalty area. The ORU keeper made a last second effort for the save.
ORU had one last shot in the final minutes of regulation, but Edgardo Mira's shot went high and the game went into overtime.
In the first additional period, Omaha had a promising opportunity, but Mendez's shot was saved by Oral Roberts.
The Golden Eagles came away with victory in the second overtime period when Alex White hit a ball from 20 yards out that weaved through a congested penalty area and past Christensen for the game winner.
ORU held a slight advantage in shots, 12-11, but UNO led in shots on goal, 5-3. Omaha also led in corner kicks, 4-2.
Christensen made one save for Omaha, while LaCourse made four for Oral Roberts.
Omaha ends its season with a 9-6-3 mark, while Oral Roberts will advance to the Summit League Tournament finals on Saturday. The nine wins are the second most in school history, behind the 2014 team's 10 win season.
