OMAHA, Neb. – Logan Mendez and Felipe da Silva teamed up for Omaha's match winner to lead the UNO men's soccer team to a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Bradley on Saturday evening on Caniglia Field.
The Mavericks raised their record to 6-1 on the season, while the Braves dropped to 3-4.
"This team has a great mentality of refusing to lose at home," said Coach Jason Mims following the victory. "This is something that was evident tonight. I am very proud of this team."
With the Mavericks trailing 2-1 in the 87th minute, Mendez fed a ball to Mark Moulton near the right corner of the penalty area. Moulton cut into the box and beat a Bradley defender before playing a perfect pass to Noor Hamadi. Hamadi's right footed shot found its way past the Bradley goalkeeper and into the lower left corner for the equalizer.
After a scoreless first overtime frame, UNO struck the game winner in the dying seconds of the match. Mendez lofted a desperation corner kick into the penalty box. Two Bradley defenders jumped to clear the ball out, but da Silva prevailed heading the ball into the net lifting Omaha to victory.
For the match, Omaha owned a 37-11 edge in shots, including an 8-3 advantage in the two combined overtime periods. The Mavericks also owned a 12-0 edge in corner kicks. Mendez and Fazlo Alihodzic led the Mavericks with seven shots apiece.
Goalkeeper Josh Christensen made three saves to earn his third win of the season.
Mendez got Omaha on the scoreboard first in the 27th minute as he chipped the Braves' goalkeeper from the right corner of the penalty box.
The Braves leveled the game in the 40th minute as Austin Bell took a shot from inside the penalty area to beat Christensen. Bradley took a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute as Grant Bell took advantage of a miscue by Christensen and placed his shot into a wide open goal.
"We showed a lot of resiliency tonight being down late and coming back and winning the game," added Mims. "I am very happy for the guys."
Mims also pointed out the energy that the Maverick crowd gave to his team. "They were fantastic tonight. The crowd got behind us and stayed with us even when we were down and we needed them."
Omaha plays two matches next week in Indiana. The Mavericks open Summit League play against IUPUI on Saturday, Sept 26 at 6 p.m. (CT). UNO plays at Valparaiso on Monday, Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. (CT). Links to live stats and video will be available at OMavs.com.
Notables
- Omaha set a program record with 37 shots on Saturday night.
- The Mavericks have won two overtime matches in program history both against Bradley.
- Bradley did not have a corner kick on Saturday night. Last time the Mavericks did not allow a corner in a match was Sept. 27, 2014 against Eastern Illinois.
- Logan Mendez had two assists in a game for the third time in his career.
- Mendez also had his second career four-point night.
- Omaha has won 11 straight home matches dating back to last season. The last home loss came against No. 20 Stanford on Aug. 31, 2014.
