OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's soccer team returns home on Saturday, Oct. 21, to host Summit League foe Western Illinois at Caniglia Field at 2 p.m.
Follow the Match
Links to live stats are available on OMavs.com.
Keeping Up with the Mavericks
Stay current with everything going on with the Mavericks by following Omaha men's soccer on Twitter (@OmahaMSOC), Instagram (@OmahaMSOC) and "liking" the Mavericks on Facebook at 'OmahaMSOC.'
Scouting Omaha
The Mavericks head into Saturday's match on a five game-winless streak, most recently falling to No. 24 Michigan in overtime last Saturday. Omaha is 7-4-2 overall this season with a 0-0-2 Summit League mark.
Elvir Ibisevic leads Omaha with 17 points with eight goals and an assist.
Xavier Gomez leads the Mavericks with six assists and has 12 points on the season.
Emmanuel Hamzat has 11 points on five goals and an assist.
Defensively, the Mavericks have allowed only 12 goals so far in 2017. Goalkeeper
Joseph Ghitis (6-4-2) has appeared in 1125 minutes with a 0.96 goals-against average and a .745 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 six assists and is fifth in points.
Miguel Gomez is tied for second with four helpers.
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Emmanuel Hamzat is fourth in the conference with five goals.
• The Mavericks have a league-low 0.88 goals-against average.
Scouting Western Illinois
The Fighting Leathernecks enter Saturday's match having lost two in a row, most recently dropping a 5-2 decision to Valparaiso last week. Western Illinois sits atop the Summit League standings with a 2-0 mark and is 4-7 overall this season.
This season WIU has scored 19 goals. Drew Whalen and Fernando Pacheco have combined for 15 goals this season. Whalen has eight goals on the year, while Pacheco has seven. Angelo Amato, Ben Fiddes and Armel Kouassi each have one goal.
Defensively, the Fighting Leathernecks have allowed 25 goals this season. Three different players have spent time between the pipes this season with Tim Trilk leading the way. Trilk is 4-3 this season with a 1.55 goals-against average, and a .762 save percentage. Tim Hansen is 0-4 on the year with a 3.50 goals-against average and a .588 save percentage.
Last Time Out
Omaha lost a hard-fought non-conference contest, 2-1, in double overtime at No. 24 Michigan last Saturday.
UNO opened the scoring late in the first half as
Xavier Gomez played a ball from the left wing that found
Diego Gutierrez at the top of the box. Gutierrez gathered the ball and slipped his shot inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.
Michigan scored the equalizer early in the second half on a set piece when Marc Ybarra played a ball into the six-yard box to Mohammed Zakyi who headed the ball into the net to tie the game 1-1 in the 61st minute.
The Wolverines ended the match in the second overtime period. Tristan Jacob sent a free kick into the box where Zakyi was able to get a foot on the ball for the game-winner.
The Mavericks and the Wolverines combined for 34 shots during 105 minutes of play. UM held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal. The two squads combined for 29 fouls and five yellow cards.
This and That
• Omaha played Creighton in front of a program-high 4,986 fans at Caniglia Field on Sept. 26.
• Through 13 games this season, UNO has started 19 different players. Four different Mavericks have played over 1,000 minutes in defender
Seth Rinderknecht, goalkeeper
Joseph Ghitis and midfielders
Xavier Gomez and
Cole Nelson.
Elvir Ibisevic and
Jacob Weiler each have played over 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 19-12 on the season thus far, Omaha has only allowed four first-half goals and has surrendered 133 shots (50 on frame). UNO is 2-2-1 when it concedes the first goal and 5-2 when scoring first.
Caniglia Dominance
Since opening Caniglia Field in 2013, the Mavericks have dominated the opposition, going a combined 24-6-5 and outscoring opponents 70-32. The Mavs have a record of 8-2-2 in Summit League action (2013-16) at Caniglia Field. Since the inception of the program, UNO has a 30-14-6 home mark and has outscored opponents 91-57
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 award is the fifth overall team academic honor for the men's side.
Looking Forward
The Mavericks play their final regular-season road match on Saturday, Oct. 28, at Denver. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT at Cyber Field.
