This Week
Omaha travels to California for two games this weekend, visiting Loyola Marymount on Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. CT and at Cal State Northridge on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Omaha Quick Hits
• Omaha was picked to finish seventh in the 2016 Summit League Preseason Poll.
• The Mavericks welcome six new players into the fold in 2016 including four true freshmen and a pair of junior transfers.
• Omaha returns 19 letterwinners, including eight starters from last season.
• UNO enters the match with an overall record of 2-5-2 after dropping a 3-0 decision at Northern Colorado and playing Colorado State to a 1-1 double overtime draw.
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Carlie Cook has a team-best 10 points on four goals and two assists.
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Izzy Anders scored her second goal of the season against Colorado State.
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Emily Romero leads UNO with three assists.
• Goalkeeper
Haley Shelton has made six starts this season, while
Erin Bunker has two starts and
Katlyn Schochenmaier one.
• Cook and Shelton have each won Summit League Player of the Week honors this season.
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Don Klosterman is in his 18th season as head coach.
Scouting Loyola Marymount
Loyola Marymount enters the weekend with a 4-2-2 mark after playing to a 1-1 draw with No. 24 Texas Tech last Friday.
This season the Lions have scored 20 goals with Sarina Bolden leading the way with three. Five other players have tallied two goals. Charlee Pruitt is 3-2-2 on the season with a 1.62 goals-against average and a .787 save percentage. Pruitt earned WCC Player of the Week after tallying a career-high 10 stops against No. 24 Texas Tech.
Michelle Myers is in her fifth year at Loyola Marymount and has a career record of 39-40-8 leading the Lions.
Series History
Friday's meeting will be the first between Omaha and Loyola Marymount.
Scouting the Matadors
Cal State Northridge enters the weekend with a 4-2-4 mark after falling 3-2 to Marquette on Sunday.
Kourtney Kutscher, Lindsay Kutscher and Camille Watson each have two goals to lead the team. Sylvia Trinh has a team-best three assists and Jovani McCaskill is 4-2-4 with a 0.46 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage.
Keith West is in his 11th season leading the Matadors while posting a 91-96-21 record at Cal State Northridge.
Series History
Sunday's meeting will be the first between Omaha and Cal State Northridge.
Sensational Shelton
Haley Shelton made 21 saves over 310 minutes last week as the Mavericks went 0-1-2. Shelton stopped a penalty kick on Wednesday against Eastern Washington.
Awesome Anders
Izzy Anders scored a goal in the 83rd minute on Sunday against Colorado State. This season Anders has four points on two goals.
Player of the Week Honors
Midfielder
Carlie Cook and redshirt senior goalkeeper
Haley Shelton have earned Summit League Player of the Week honors so far this season.
Carlie Cook was named Summit League Co-Offensive Player of the Week for her performances Aug. 22-28, marking the weekly award was the first of her career. Cook scored a pair of goals during the weekend with the game-tying goal against Creighton and the game-winner against North Dakota.
Goalkeeper
Haley Shelton collected the Summit League Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week award for her performance during the season-opening weekend, Aug. 19-21, which was her first career weekly accolade. She faced 17 shots and made eight saves in the win against UMKC.
Last Time Out
Friday, Sept. 16 at Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado handed the Omaha women's soccer team a 3-0 loss Friday night at Jackson Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, the Bears scored twice in the opening 10 minutes of the second half and added another tally midway through the half for the 3-0 win. Colorado State improved to 5-3-1 on the season, while the Mavericks fell to 2-5-1.
In the first half, Omaha outshot Northern Colorado 10-5 overall, but UNC's Madeline Burdick made five saves to keep the score deadlocked at the half.
In the second half, Brooke Braden opened the scoring at the 51:59 mark on an assist from Maddie Roberts and Sydney Schroeder. In the 54th minute, Braden doubled the margin for the Bears by volleying a pass from Roberts into the near post.
The Bears capped the scoring in the 65th minute as Paige Morris headed a cross from Braden into the net.
The Mavericks finished with six shots on goal, three by
Carlie Cook, two by
Sophia Roux and one by
Emily Romero.
Haley Shelton finished with seven saves in goal.
Sunday, Sept. 18 at Colorado State
Izzy Anders scored the equalizing goal with 7:38 left and the Omaha women's soccer team picked up a 1-1 draw with Colorado State on Sunday in Fort Collins, Colo.
CSU took a 1-0 lead at the 26:04 mark in the first half. Hannah Gerdin picked out Taylor Nelson on the back post with a cross, and Nelson put home a shot from two yards out inside the near post.
The score remained 1-0 through halftime and deep into the match. With less than five minutes remaining, Anders intercepted a ball in the offensive third and tucked a shot just under the crossbar into the upper left corner.
In overtime, the Mavericks outshot the Rams 5-3 but could not net the winner. Colorado State finished with a 15-10 shots advantage and a 5-3 edge in shots on goal.
Anders,
Carlie Cook and
Abby Meader each had a team-best two shots.
Haley Shelton made four saves in the draw.
Carlie is Cooking
Through nine games this season junior midfielder
Carlie Cook leads UNO with 10 points. Cook scored a goal in three straight games to start her Maverick career becoming the first player in the Division I era to accomplish the feat.
Sharing is Caring
Three players have dished out two or more assists this season for Omaha.
Emily Romero has three assists to lead the team and is second in the Summit League, while
Carlie Cook and
Lydia Holtmann each have two assists.
Keepers
Three goalkeepers have seen action this season.
Haley Shelton leads the way with six starts, while
Erin Bunker has two starts and
Katlyn Schochenmaier has one.
Bunker has a team-low 1.15 goals-against average, while Shelton leads the team with two shutouts. Schochenmaier has a 1.59 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage.
Let's Get Defensive
With a veteran crew comprising the UNO back line this season, the Mavericks are proving to be a stout defensive side. Omaha boasts a goals-against average of 1.27 through nine matches. The Mavericks have allowed just over 14 opponent shots per game, which includes two games in which the opposition had less than seven attempts. UNO has three shutouts on the season.
League Leaders
As a team, Omaha has allowed the second-fewest goals (12) in the Summit League this season. The Mavericks' 1.27 goals-against average is fourth-best in the league.
Carlie Cook is second in the conference in game-winning goals (two) and fourth in goals (four) and points (10).
Haley Shelton is third with a .830 save percentage, fourth in goals against (8) and fourth with a 1.29 goals-against average.
The Youth Movement
So far this season, all four of Omaha's freshmen have seen playing time.
Sophia Roux has appeared in all nine games this season with five starts and
Erin Bunker has appeared in three games with two starts.
Taylor Gelling has appeared in seven games, while
Mallory Edwards have made five appearances with one start.
Home-aha
Senior
Nyoke Dumba, junior
Natalie Johnson, sophomore
Emily Romero and freshman
Mallory Edwards didn't have to travel a long distance as they made the transition from high school to college. All four call the Omaha metro area home. Dumba and Edwards attended Omaha Marian, while Johnson graduated from Omaha Skutt and Romero came from Bellevue East.
Summit League Preseason Poll
Omaha was picked to finish seventh in the 2016 Summit League Preseason Poll, and senior defender
Ava Doetsch appeared on the Preseason Summit League Watch List, the league office announced in August.
North Dakota State was picked as the favorite to win the Summit League title with 63 points and seven first-place votes. The Bison enter the 2016 season after claiming the league's regular-season title last year.
South Dakota State was predicted to come in second, with 56 points and the two remaining first-place votes. Oral Roberts polled in at third place, collecting 49 points. Denver came in fourth with 45 points, followed by South Dakota (35) in fifth and IUPUI (26) in sixth. Fort Wayne (18) and Western Illinois (8) rounded it out in eight and ninth place, respectively.
Tough Road Ahead
Omaha's 2016 schedule features 19 regular-season matches, and the team will play in six states across the nation. UNO will take on opponents from nine conferences, with three from the Big Sky and one apiece from the Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big West, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, WAC and the West Coast Conference.
Entering 2016, the Mavericks have never faced five of their opponents: Kansas State, Dayton, Eastern Washington, Loyola Marymount and CSUN.
For Starters
Omaha returns five starters from last year's team that started at least 10 games. Included in the five returning starters are two players who have amassed 50 starts or more during their Maverick careers.
Seniors
Ava Doetsch and
Lauren Lawler have each appeared in 60 matches with 59 starts in their Maverick careers.
Mavericks Continue Academic Excellence
Omaha earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award for the 14th straight year. As a team, the Mavericks recorded a 3.37 GPA during the 2014-15 academic year to garner the annual honor.
The Mavericks' academic effort featured 20 women's soccer student-athletes making the Summit League Academic Honor Roll and 16 recognized as distinguished scholars.
Klosterman at the Helm
Head coach
Don Klosterman is the only coach the women's soccer program has ever known. In his 18 years at the helm of the Maverick program, Klosterman owns a career record of 216-110-18 and has a career mark of 268-171-27 over 25 years.
The two-time national coach of the year led the Mavericks to the Division II national semifinals four times, culminating in the 2005 NCAA Division II national championship.
Klosterman's assistants are
Tim Bennett, who is in his third season, and Adam Hooi, who is in his second year on the Maverick staff.
Up Next
The Mavericks begin a stretch of three straight Summit League home games when North Dakota State visits for a 7 p.m. match on Thursday, Sept. 29.
