OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's soccer team plays its final two matches of the regular season this week, hosting Western Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. and South Dakota on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.
Following Thursday's match, Omaha will honor its six seniors
Jessica Bollinger,
Carlie Cook,
Erin Dimon,
Lydia Holtmann,
Haley Johnson and
Natalie Johnson.
Follow the Match
Links to live stats, audio and video for both matches will be available on OMavs.com. Owen Godberson and Harrison Popp will have the radio call on MavRadio.
Keeping Up with the Mavericks
Stay current with everything going on with the Mavericks by following Omaha women's soccer on Twitter (@OmahaWSOC), Instagram (@OmahaWSOC) and "liking" the Mavericks on Facebook at 'OmahaWSOC.'
Mavericks Quick Kicks
• Omaha enters Thursday's match with an overall record of 4-10-1 and a Summit League mark of 1-4.
•
Abby Meader and
Natalie Johnson each have three goals to lead the Mavericks. Meader's seven points are tops on the team.
•
Carlie Cook has a team-best three assists, and
Emily Romero has two assists.
•
Haley Johnson has a team-best 39 saves and allowed a league-low nine goals.
• Omaha will play its final two regular-season matches at Caniglia Field after playing 11 road games this season.
Scouting Report: Western Illinois
• The Leathernecks enter Thursday with an overall record of 2-14 and a Summit League mark of 1-5.
• WIU is 0-9 on the road this season and has lost four straight since defeating Fort Wayne 1-0 on Oct. 8.
• Emily Bollman and Bianca Romay each have a team-high seven points with three goals and an assist.
• Ines Palmiero Herrera (1-11) has started 12 matches in goal and has a .709 save percentage with a 2.16 goals-against average.
• Jennifer Currie (1-3) has seen action in eight games this season and has a .730 save percentage with a 1.99 goals-against average.
The Series
Thursday's match will be the seventh in the series between Omaha and Western Illinois. WIU owns a 4-2 advantage dating back to 2011. The Leathernecks have won three of those meetings in Macomb, Ill. Last season, WIU defeated Omaha 1-0 in Macomb.
Scouting Report: South Dakota
• The Coyotes enter the weekend with a 4-11 overall record and a 2-4 Summit League mark. South Dakota will play at South Dakota State on Thursday.
• USD is 2-7 away from home in 2017 but has won its last two matches against Fort Wayne (6-3) and Western Illinois (1-0).
• Kellee Willer has a team-best eight points with three goals and two assists.
• Taryn LaBree has seven points on three goals and an assist.
• South Dakota has used three goalkeepers this season. Coral Suarez (2-6) has started eight games with a .770 save percentage and a 1.77 goals-against average.
• Sydney Hardin (2-2) has appeared in five games, including four starts, with a .800 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average.
The Series
Sunday's match will be the 19th meeting between Omaha and South Dakota. Omaha holds a 15-2-1 series advantage dating back to 1999. Since transitioning to Division 1, UNO and USD have met five times with the series mark even at 2-2-1. Last season, the Coyotes topped the Mavericks 1-0 in Vermillion, S.D.
Looking for 41
Jessica Bollinger has started in 40 consecutive matches dating back to her sophomore season. She has started all 15 games this season while starting all 19 games in 2016.
This and That
• UNO's three-goal output vs. Rockhurst was the highest single-game total of the season for the Mavericks.
• Omaha has started 19 different players through 15 games this season.
Jessica Bollinger is the only player to start every game this season and leads the team with 1,315 minutes played.
• Four other players have made 14 starts in 2017, and only three players other than Bollinger have played more than 1,000 minutes.
Erin Dimon has played in 1,202 minutes,
Abby Meader has appeared in 1,165 minutes and
Emily Romero has played 1,007 minutes.
• Overall 23 of the 24 players on the roster have made an appearance in 2017.
• The Mavericks have used three goalkeepers this year,
Haley Johnson (2-5),
Erin Bunker (2-5-1) and freshman
Maggie Tulay.
It Starts in the Classroom
Omaha earned its 15th all-time United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award this month.
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 during the 2016-17 academic year. Omaha finished the 2016-17 year with a 3.61 team GPA.
Johnson Earns Defensive Player of the Week Accolades
The Summit League named
Haley Johnson its Defensive Player of the Week for her performance Sept. 25-Oct. 1.
It was the first career weekly honor for Johnson. She stopped five shots and notched the first clean sheet of her Omaha career in a 1-0 win over Fort Wayne. Johnson has allowed the fewest goals in the league (five), the lowest goals-against average (0.94), and holds the highest save percentage (.844). She also helped UNO secure first road league win since 2014 and only the second Summit League road shutout in program history.
Bollinger, Meader Named Summit League Players of the Week
The Summit League named
Abby Meader as its Offensive Player of the Week and named
Jessica Bollinger garnered Defensive Player of the Week accolades for their performances Sept. 4-10.
Meader notched her first career offensive player of the week honor after scoring two game-winning goals last weekend. She scored the golden-goal header against Missouri State to give Omaha its first win of the season. Her penalty kick score vs. UMKC earned the Mavericks its first road win since Oct. 5, 2014.
Bollinger earned her first weekly award of the season. She anchored the Omaha defense that allowed only one goal in 186 minutes played.
Meet Your Captains
A pair of seniors will lead the way for the 2017 Omaha women's soccer season as
Erin Dimon and
Lydia Holtmann will captain the squad. Both Dimon and Holtmann will serve as first-year captains.
Returning to Caniglia
Omaha's 2017 squad returns 12 letterwinners and six starters from the 2016 squad. The team's top-three leaders in points are back from last season, with
Carlie Cook (6 goals, 3 assists, 15 points),
Lydia Holtmann (4 goals, 2 assists, 10 points) and
Emily Romero (one goal, five assists, seven points) set to lead the returning starters.
Also back is
Jessica Bollinger (19 starts) to anchor the UNO defense.
Erin Dimon (16 starts) will play a vital role in the midfield for the Mavericks.
Fresh Faces
The 2017 team will debut some new faces, led by transfer goalkeeper
Haley Johnson from South Florida. Johnson, who played previously at Iowa Western, has one season of eligibility remaining.
Susie Dineen and
Erinoelle Clifton also join the Mavericks as transfers. Dineen spent two seasons at Ole Miss, while Clifton played two years at Northern Iowa. All three will be eligible to play immediately.
As a whole, the Mavericks welcome 11 new players into the fold with freshmen
Bailey Cascio,
Andrea Daves,
Sarah Doran,
Emily Fontana,
Sydney Randall,
Jaden Thiem,
Maggie Tulay and
Lauren Witte to go along with Clifton, Dineen and Johnson.
Local Talent a Strong Influence on 2017 Roster
The 2017 Mavericks will have plenty of homegrown talent on the roster as eight players are from Nebraska. Seven of those players are from the Omaha metro area while one is from Lincoln. It's not only the players that have Omaha ties as head coach
Tim Walters is a Creighton graduate while graduate assistant
Ava Doetsch was a four-year starter for the Mavericks.
Players from the Omaha metro area: Bailey Cascio,
Erinoelle Clifton,
Susie Dineen,
Mallory Edwards,
Natalie Johnson,
Emily Romero and
Jaden Thiem.
From Lincoln:
Abby Meader.
Another Stellar Year in the Classroom
Omaha maintained a strong academic record during the 2016-17 school year, posting a spring GPA of 3.563. Nine players earned Dean's List accolades while two more made the Chancellor's List. The Mavericks placed 24 student-athletes on the league's academic honor roll, and 14 players earned a spot on the Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence.
