This Weekend
The Omaha men's soccer team concludes its four-match homestand this weekend, welcoming Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 8 to Caniglia Field at 2 p.m. Justin Doering, Owen Godberson and Noah Sullinger will have the call on the MavRadio broadcast, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available at OMavs.com.
Maverick Quick Kicks
• Omaha was picked to finish second in the 2016 Summit League Preseason Poll.
• The Mavericks welcome 11 new players into the fold in 2016 including seven freshmen, two transfers and two redshirt players.
• Omaha returns 13 letterwinners, including eight starters from last season.
• The Mavericks are 4-4-3 overall and 1-0 in league play entering this weekend after falling 1-0 Valparaiso on Monday evening.
• Senior midfielder
Fazlo Alihodzic leads the team with 14 points on five goals and four assists. He is in the Summit League's top five for points, goals and assists.
• Freshman forward
Elvir Ibisevic has a goal and three assists while junior forward
Emmanuel Hamzat and freshman defender
Seth Rinderknecht each have two goals.
• Rinderknecht and senior midfielder
Lalo Gamboa each have started all 11 games.
• Redshirt junior goalkeeper
Joseph Ghitis is in the Summit League's top five for saves (34), save percentage (.708), goals-against (14) and goals-against average (1.45).
• Freshman goalkeeper
Ugo Tritz has appeared in two games with one start and has a 0.50 goals-against average.
• Alihodzic, Ghitis and senior defender
Jacob Weiler each have earned Summit League Player of the Week honors this season with Alihodzic earning accolades twice on Sept. 6 and Oct. 3, Ghitis on Sept. 6 and Weiler on Sept. 26.
•
Jason Mims is in his sixth season as head coach.
Scouting the Panthers
Eastern Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 2-7-1 (0-2 Summit League) after falling to Valparaiso, 3-0, and to Denver, 1-0, last week. The Panthers play at Missouri State on Wednesday before Saturday's match at Omaha.
Goalkeeper Mike Novotny is ranked third in the Summit League in goals against (11) and third in goals-against average (1.25). He is 2-5-1 on the season with 22 saves. Davis Wegmann leads the team with four points on two goals this season. Nine different players have scored for the Panthers while Yann Nsoga leads the team with two assists.
Head coach Kiki Lara is in his second season at Eastern Illinois with 5-21-1 record. The Panthers return to action next week as they travel to Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
Series History
Saturday's meeting marks the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs. UNO leads the series 4-0.
Up Next
The Mavericks return to action on Saturday, Oct. 15, visiting Summit League foe Fort Wayne at 6 p.m. CT.
