Omaha, Neb. – Elvir Ibisevic scored three goals in a span of 10:01 in the first half to lead Omaha to a 5-1 victory over No. 17 Virginia Tech Sunday evening at Caniglia Field.
Xavier Gomez and
Emmanuel Hamzat also found the back of the net for the Mavericks (2-0), who opened the season with two straight wins.
Ethan Bowman sent a ball down the right side to set up Ibisevic' s first goal. He received the pass and then cut to the top of the box before sending the shot into the right side of the goal. Two minutes later, Ibisevic outjumped a pair of Hokie defenders and nodded home his second score of the game. Ibisevic converted a penalty kick following a foul in the box to put Omaha ahead 3-0 less than 15 minutes into the match.
Xavier Gomez made it 4-0 in the 24th minute off a pass from
Miguel Gomez.
Hamzat made it 5-0 early in the second half after holding off two defenders and placing a shot into the bottom right corner. Virginia Tech's Marcelo Acuna prevented the shutout by heading home an Humberto Montero free kick in the 58th minute.
Turning Point
Ibisevic converted a penalty kick at 10:01 in the first half following a red card to Virginia Tech's Jon Ingason.
Inside the Box Score
• Ibisevic scored a career-high three goals in the win. They were his first three goals of the season.
•
Stevie Siy added two assists for a career-high two points.
• Hamzat finished with a goal and an assist, while Gomez had a goal.
• Omaha outshot Virginia Tech 17-6 and had a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal.
• The Mavericks also held a 5-1 lead in corner kicks.
• Acuna scored his first goal of the season for Virginia Tech.
Maverick Notes
•
Cole Nelson,
Ethan Bowman and
Miguel Gomez each had an assist.
• Ibisevic scored the first hat trick in the history of the program and the second fastest in NCAA Division I history. He also set single-game program marks in goals (3) and points (7).
• Omaha has started the season 2-0 for only the second time in program history. The last time came in 2015 when the Mavericks started 6-1.
• The last time Omaha defeated a nationally ranked team came on Sept. 4, 2015, when the Mavericks upended No. 13 UC Irvine, 1-0, at Caniglia Field.
• UNO set several program marks in the victory, including most goals (5), assists (6) and points (16).
Up Next
Omaha travels to Edinburg, Texas to play in the UTRGV Classic next weekend. The Mavericks take on Houston Baptist on Friday, Sept. 1, before playing the host school on Sunday, Sept. 3.
