This Weekend
The Omaha men's soccer team welcomes Air Force to Caniglia Field on Friday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Noah Sullinger and Alex Abler 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.
• UNO enters the match with an overall record of 2-3-3 after dropping road contests at Cal and Stanford last weekend.
• Fazlo Alihodzic has a team-best 10 points on four goals and two assists.
• Alihodzic, Lalao Gamboa and Elvir Ibisevic each have two assists to lead the team.
• Mark Moulton tied Vance Rookwood's program-record in career points with 45.
• Alihodzic and Ghitis have each won Summit League Player of the Week accolades this season.
• Jason Mims is in his sixth season as head coach.
Falcon Facts
Air Force enters Friday's contest on a four-game winning streak with an overall record of 5-2. The Falcons had a successful West Coast swing last week, beating Saint Mary's 3-1 and San Francisco 4-3.
Austin Dewing leads Air Force with eight points on two goals and four assists. Tucker Bone has scored three goals to lead the team, while Tucker Axhoj, Klint Parker and Abinadi Samayoa each have two goals.
John Wendt and Jake Schenk have split time in goal this season. Wendt is 2-2 with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .735 save percentage. Schenk is 3-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .714 save percentage along with two shutouts.
Head coach Doug Hill is in his 10th season leading the Falcons and has a 69-89-19 career record.
Series History
Friday's meeting will be the first between Omaha and Air Force.
Looking Back at Last Weekend
Friday, Sept. 16 at Cal
Cal scored a pair of second-half goals in a 2-0 victory over Omaha Friday evening at Edwards Stadium.
In the 61st minute, Aravind Sivakumar scored an unassisted goal to give Cal a 1-0 lead. Elvir Ibisevic's shot in the 73rd minute forced Cal goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann to make a save.
Seth Rinderknecht tested Klinsmann with a header in the 79th minute, but the goalkeeper stopped the shot. The Bears doubled their lead in the 83rd minute when Christian Thierjung scored a penalty kick to put Cal up 2-0.
Cal had an 18-4 shot advantage and an 8-2 edge in shots on goal. Joseph Ghitis notched a season-high six saves in the net.
Sunday, Sept.18 at No. 25 Stanford
Omaha men's soccer team dropped a 4-0 decision on the road to No. 25 Stanford on Sunday evening.
The Cardinal scored midway and late in the first half to take control. In the 28th minute, Corey Baird tapped home a pass from Foster Langsdorf to give Stanford a 1-0 lead.
Stanford doubled its lead in the 45th minute. Tanner Beason gathered a ball near midfield and dribbled into the attacking third. Beason unleashed a shot from 25-yards out that skipped past Omaha goalkeeper Joseph Ghitis for a 2-0 lead.
Langsdorf scored in the 57th and 70th minutes to put the Cardinal up 4-0.
Omaha's best scoring chance came in the 56th minute. After a scramble in the penalty area, the ball bounced to Xavier Gomez who placed a shot on goal. A Cardinal defender was able to stop the ball from crossing the goal line and put it out of danger.
Stanford outshot Omaha, 21-2, including 11-1 in shots on goal. Ghitis made seven saves on the night.
Giddy About Ghitis
Through eight games this season, Joseph Ghitis is third in the NCAA in total goalkeeper minutes played with 763:24. Only Cubillo Alejandro of Binghampton (780) and Kenneth Hersey of Howard (763:50) have played more minutes in goal this season. Ghitis also is 24th nationally in total saves with 30.
Alihodzic in the National Rankings
Fazlo Alihodzic is currently 32nd nationally in total goals (four) and 33rd in total points (13). Alihodzic is averaging 0.50 goals and 1.25 points per game this season.
League Leaders
As a team, Omaha is second in the Summit League with 44 corner kicks and third in total shots with 71. UNO is fourth in assists with nine.
Fazlo Alihodzic is third in the league in points (10) and is tied for third in goals scored (four). Joseph Ghitis leads the league with 30 saves and ranks in the top five in save percentage and goals-against average.
On the Big Stage
This season Omaha has played in two of the top five attended games in NCAA Division I Men's Soccer. UNO played in front of 5,100 fans at UConn on Aug. 28 and 4,766 people at Creighton on Sept. 5.
Omaha leads the Summit League in total attendance and average attendance. This season over 2,600 people have attended games at Caniglia Field, and the Mavericks average 655 fans per game.
Record Book Watch
Mark Moulton finds himself among the UNO elite when comparing career stats. He currently sits second on the all-time goal-scoring chart with 13, behind Vance Rookwood, the school's all-time leader, who has 19. Moulton tied Rookwood for the all-time lead in career points with 45 points in 59 appearances. Moulton already owns the school career mark of 18 career assists and 118 shots.
Joseph Ghitis is also moving up some impressive charts this season. He is in the top three in four all-time categories, including first for career goals-against average (1.15) and save percentage (.731). Ghitis' 11 wins are tied for tops all-time, and he is second in shutouts (six) and third for saves (87).
Home Sweet Home
Since opening Caniglia Field in 2013, the Mavericks have dominated the opposition, going a combined 17-4-3 and outscoring opponents 53-25. The Mavs have a record of 6-2 in Summit League action (2013-16) at Caniglia Field. Since the inception of the program, UNO has a 23-12-5 home mark and has outscored opponents 74-50.
Young Bulls
So far this season, six of Omaha's eight freshmen have seen playing time. Seth Rinderknecht has started all eight games this season and scored against Drake. Rinderknecht has played the second most number of minutes of any field player with 724.
Elvir Ibisevic has a goal and two assists this season while starting seven of eight games. Ibisevic has logged 619 minutes.
The duo has combined for two goals and two assists this season. Ibisevic has a goal and two assists while Rinderknecht scored his first career goal against Drake.
Fred Frimpong has made one start and appeared in all eight games, while Joel Kazhila made seven appearances with four starts. Ethan Bowman and Ugo Tritz each have one game under their belt.
Mavericks Remain in Regional Poll
The Omaha men's soccer team dropped to eighth in the latest NCAA West Poll released Tuesday. The Mavericks went 0-2 last weekend against Cal and Stanford.
Denver sits atop the regional poll and is ranked eighth nationally. Oral Roberts moved up to sixth in the West Region poll after tying Missouri State. Western Illinois enters the rankings in 10th place following a 4-1 win over UMKC.
Alihodzic, Ghitis Earn Player of the Week Honors
Senior midfielder Fazlo Alihodzic was named Summit League Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week while Maverick teammate and senior goalkeeper Joseph Ghitis was named league Defensive Player of the Week for their performances Aug. 29 - Sept. 5.
Alihodzic earned his second career Offensive Player of the Week award after totaling six points on two goals and two assists during the week. He factored into all three Omaha scores with a goal and a pair of assists in a 3-0 win over Drake. The senior midfielder also accounted for the Mavericks' lone goal in a 1-1 tie against No. 8 Creighton.
Ghitis earned his second career Defensive Player of the Week award by posting a 0.45 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage while recording a 1-0-1 record during the week. He made two saves for his first shutout of the season in the win over Drake. Ghitis totaled five saves including stopping a penalty kick to secure a 1-1 tie against No. 8 Creighton.
Home-aha
Seniors Jake McCain and Mark Moulton, junior Michael Jaime, sophomores Adam Gottschalk, Noor Hamadi and Quinn Nelson and freshman Joey McCain didn't have to travel a long distance as they made the transition from high school to college. All seven call the Omaha metro area home. Moulton attended Creighton Prep, the McCains attended Papillion-LaVista South, Jaime and Hamadi went to Omaha South, Gottschalk graduated from Skutt Catholic and Nelson came from Westside.
Summit League Preseason Poll
Omaha was picked to finish second in the 2016 Summit League Preseason Poll, and senior midfielder Mark Moulton was named to the Preseason Summit League Watch List, the league office announced in August.
Denver was picked as the favorite to win the league title with 36 points and six first-place votes. The Pioneers enter the 2016 season after sweeping the conference regular and postseason titles.
Oral Roberts was predicted to come in third, with 26 points and the one remaining first-place vote. Western Illinois polled in at fourth place, collecting 21 points. Fort Wayne came in fifth with 14 points, followed by Eastern Illinois (11 points) in sixth and IUPUI (eight points) in seventh.
Tough Road Ahead
Omaha's 2016 schedule includes 17 regular-season matches, and the team will play in five different states. Eight different conferences appear on the 2016 schedule including two teams each from the BIG EAST, Missouri Valley and Pac-12. Five teams that participated in the 2015 College Cup appear on this year's schedule. All five teams -- Connecticut, Creighton, Denver, Drake and Stanford -- advanced to the second round, highlighted by Creighton in the quarterfinals and Stanford winning the national championship.
UNO plays Air Force, Cal, Connecticut, Creighton, San Francisco and Penn in the regular-season for the first time.
A+ Accolades
Last season, the Mavericks were recognized as one of 205 collegiate men's soccer teams to surpass a 3.0 team grade-point average during 2014-15, ending the academic year with a team GPA of 3.16. UNO has earned four-straight team academic awards.
Senior Mark Moulton was selected to the CoSIDA Men's Soccer Division I Academic All-American Second Team in 2015. Moulton is a business administration major and owns a 3.98 GPA.
Four Omaha soccer players – Felipe da Silva, Logan Mendez, Mark Moulton and Joseph Ghitis – were named to the 2015 Summit League Men's Soccer Academic All-League Team last season.
Getting to Know Coach Mims
Jason Mims was appointed as the first head coach in program history in 2011 and has built a program that has received national recognition across the country.
Last season, UNO finished with a 9-6-3 overall mark and advanced to the Summit League Tournament for the first time. Mims' team achieved the program's first Top 25 ranking after starting the season 6-1-1. He was named the Summit League Coach of the Year following the 2014 season in which the Mavericks tied for the Summit League regular-season title.
Assisting Mims is Tim Walters, who is in his sixth season, and volunteer goalkeeper coach Daniel Galvis, who is in his third year on the Maverick staff.
Summit League Success
Omaha went 3-2-1 in Summit League play in 2015, tying for second in the regular-season league standings. It marked the Mavericks' first time qualifying for the Summit League Tournament.
Welcome the Newcomers
Omaha's roster features 11 new players (seven freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and two transfers) to the squad this season. The breakdown includes four defenders, three forwards, two mid-fielders and two goalkeepers as Omaha reloads its roster under head coach Jason Mims.
Featuring a diverse class hailing from four countries and five different states, the Mavericks look to utilize their newcomers to help them return to the Summit League Tournament.
Newcomers (Year, Pos., Hometown)
Ray Barajas (Jr., D, Loyola Marymount/Mexico City, Mexico)
Ethan Bowman (RFr., MF, Drake/Shawnee, Kan.)
Jose Camberos (Fr., GK, Kansas City, Mo.)
Fred Frimpong (Jr., F, Ankeny, Iowa)
Xavier Gomez (Jr., MF, Chicago, Ill.)
Emmanuel Hamzat (Jr., F, West Valley College/Lagos, Nigeria)
Elvir Ibisevic (Fr., F, Urbandale, Iowa)
Joel Kazhila (Fr., D, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Joey McCain (Fr., D, Omaha, Neb.)
Seth Rinderknecht (Fr., D, Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Ugo Tritz (Fr., GK, Metz, France)
Aladeen Younes (Fr., MF, Doha, Qatar)
Up Next
The Mavericks open Summit League play on Saturday, Oct. 1 against IUPUI. Kickoff from Caniglia Field is set for 7 p.m.
