OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's soccer team wraps up the non-conference portion of the slate this weekend. The Mavericks travel to the University of Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 14. Kickoff in Ann Arbor, Mich., is set for 3 p.m. (CT).
Follow the Match
Links to live stats are available on OMavs.com.
Keeping Up with the Mavericks
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Scouting Report: Omaha
The Mavericks wrap up non-conference play with their first meeting against No. 24 Michigan. Omaha is coming off a 3-2 road loss against Florida Gulf Coast on Oct. 3. Omaha is 7-3-2 overall and 0-0-2 in Summit League play. UNO is winless over its last four matches (0-2-2) after starting the season 7-1.
Elvir Ibisevic leads Omaha with 17 points with eight goals and an assist. Ibisevic's eight goals rank him 11th-nationally and lead the Summit League.
Emmanuel Hamzat and
Xavier Gomez each have 11 points. Hamzat has five goals and an assist, while Gomez has three goals and a team-high five helpers. Gomez leads the conference with his five assists.
Defensively, the Mavericks have allowed only 10 goals so far in 2017. Goalkeeper
Joseph Ghitis (6-3-2) has appeared in 1019: 53 minutes and has a 0.88 goals-against average and a .744 save percentage.
Ugo Tritz (1-0) has made two appearances with one start this season and has a 0.00 goals-against average with a 1.000 save percentage.
Maverick Mentions
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Elvir Ibisevic's 17 points and eight goals lead the Summit League.
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Xavier Gomez sits atop the league with five assists.
Miguel Gomez is tied for second with four helpers.
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Emmanuel Hamzat is fourth in the conference with five goals and fifth in points (11).
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Joseph Ghitis has the lowest goals-against average in the league (0.88), and allowed the fewest goals (10).
• The Mavericks have a league-low 0.80 goals-against average.
Scouting Report: Michigan
Michigan is 7-4-2 overall and 4-1-1 in Big 10 play so far this season. The Wolverines dropped a 3-1 midweek match against No. 7 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. U-M is ranked No. 24 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll and rank No. 21 in the most recent RPI.
Jack Hallahan leads the Big Blue with 13 points on four goals and five assists. Mohammed Zakyi has 10 points with three goals and four assists. Ivo Cerda and Francis Atuahene each have three goals on the season. Eight different Wolverines have scored a goal this season and 12 different players have at least one point.
Defensively, Michigan has allowed 14 goals this season. Andrew Verdi has played every minute in goal and has a 1.02 goals-against average with a.708 save percentage.
History vs. Michigan
Saturday is the first meeting all-time between the two programs.
Looking Back
Elvir Ibisevic scored a pair of goals, but the Omaha fell 3-2 to Florida Gulf Coast at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
Omaha controlled play early in the first half and took the 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Xavier Gomez served a free kick into the box that would find the head of Ibisevic for his first goal of the game.
FGCU tied the game at 1-1 just before halftime. Albert Ruiz, a MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist last season, tucked a left footed shot into the net for his first goal of the season.
The Eagles scored a pair of goals in the second half, starting at 58:59 when Chris Clement hit a curling shot out of the reach of
Joseph Ghitis for the 2-1 lead. The Eagles tacked on another goal less than two minutes later, as Kareem Riley blasted a shot from 35 yards out that found its way just under the crossbar, giving the home team two-goal advantage.
The Mavericks pulled within a goal in the 79th minute.
Miguel Gomez blasted a shot that FGCU goalkeeper Jared Brown pushed off the line. The ball landed at the feet of Ibisevic who touched the ball inside the near post for his second goal of the game.
Florida Gulf Coast outshot Omaha 15-5 and held an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal. There were 22 combined fouls called on the two teams, and nine yellow cards issued. Ibisevic had a team-high three shots and two shots on goal.
Ed Gordon picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on Ibisevic's second goal.
Xavier Gomez dished out his Summit League-leading fifth assist of the season.
This and That
• Omaha played Creighton in front of a program-high 4,986 fans at Caniglia Field on Sept. 26.
• Through 12 games this season, UNO has started 18 different players. Two different Mavericks have played over 1,000 minutes in goalkeeper
Joseph Ghitis and midfielder
Xavier Gomez. Three more Mavericks,
Cole Nelson,
Seth Rinderknecht and
Jacob Weiler, have played more than 900 minutes.
• Nine players have made their Omaha debuts this year, highlighted by
Stevie Siy and
Miguel Gomez combing for 17 starts and six assists.
• Outscoring teams 18-10 on the season thus far, Omaha has only allowed four first-half goals and has surrendered 114 shots (42 on frame). UNO is 2-2-1 when it concedes the first goal and 5-1 when scoring first.
Ibisevic Named Summit League Male Athlete of the Month
Elvir Ibisevic was named the Summit League's Male Athlete of the Month for August/September.
Ibisevic becomes this first Omaha male student-athlete to earn the award after capturing two straight Athlete of the Week honors in August and September. The sophomore scored the first hat trick in school history against then No. 17 Virginia Tech on Aug. 27. It was the second-fastest hat trick in Division I history, taking a little more than 10 minutes.
Ibisevic also set a school record with seven points in the win over Virginia Tech. Following his record-breaking performance, he was named to the Topdrawersoccer.com national team of the week and United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week.
His efforts have guided Omaha to a 7-2-2 record and helped earn the program's first National Top 10 ranking earlier this season. Currently, Ibisevic ranks sixth nationally in goals scored (eight) and 18th in total points (17).
Mavericks in the Classroom
Omaha was named a United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award winner for the 2016-17 academic year, the association announced Thursday.
Formerly the NSCAA, United Soccer Coaches recognized 824 collegiate teams (286 men, 538 women) that posted a cumulative team grade point average of 3.0 or higher in 2016-17. Omaha was among one of 202 schools to have both its men's and women's teams honored.
The Omaha men's soccer team finished the 2016-17 year with a 3.30 team GPA. This is the fifth overall team academic honor for the men's side.
Looking Forward
Omaha returns to Summit League action on Saturday, Oct. 21 against league-leading Western Illinois. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Caniglia Field and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
