OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's soccer team will begin Summit League play against Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 11 a.m. at Lakeside Field in Charleston, Ill.
Follow the Match
A link to live stats is 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 Report: Omaha
Last weekend, the Mavericks went 1-1 at the Wolverine Invitational in Orem, Utah. Omaha lost its first game of the season last Friday to Northern Illinois, 1-0. UNO rebounded with a 3-1 decision over Utah Valley on Sunday.
Maverick Bites
• Omaha is off to its best start in program history at 7-1. The Mavericks are 4-0 at home including a 5-1 victory over then No. 17 Virginia Tech. UNO is 2-0 on the road and 1-1 on neutral sites.
• Through eight games, five different Mavericks have scored a goal. Overall, 11 different players have registered a point. Ibisevic leads the team in scoring with six goals and an assist for 13 points. Hamzat is second in scoring with five goals and an assist for 11 points.
Xavier Gomez is third with two goals and leads the team with four assists. Eight UNO players have registered at least two points.
Scouting Report: Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois is 2-3-4 (0-0-0 Summit League) this season. Last time out, the Panthers dropped a 2-0 decision to Wright State. Coming into Saturday's matchup, EIU is on a three-match losing streak.
The Panthers have scored four goals this season. Alex Castaneda, Alessandro, Zach Medawattage and Federico Verlicchi each have tallied one goal. Medawattage leads the team with three points (one goal, one assist).
In goal, Mike Novotny has played every minute with a 0.91 goals-against average and a .862 save percentage.
History vs. Eastern Illinois
Saturday is the seventh all-time meeting between Omaha and Eastern Illinois. The Mavericks hold a 6-0 series lead over the Panthers. Omaha topped Eastern Illinois 3-1 last season in the opening round of the Summit League tournament in Denver, Colo.
Looking Back
Northern Illinois upset then No. 10 Omaha, 1-0, last Friday in Orem, Utah. Jan Maertins' goal in the 38th minute proved to be the lone goal of the match.
The Mavericks responded with a 3-1 win over Utah Valley Sunday afternoon. Omaha scored two goals in the opening 11 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Cole Nelson opened the scoring ledger with a header in the third minute, and
Elvir Ibisevic doubled the score with a header just eight minutes later.
Emmanuel Hamzat scored his fifth goal of the year just before halftime.
All-Tournament Accolades
Emmanuel Hamzat,
Cole Nelson and
Seth Rinderknecht each were named to the Wolverine All-Tournament team. Hamzat and Nelson each scored in the victory over Utah Valley, while Rinderknecht anchored the Maverick defensive line.
Rinderknecht Earns Weekly League Honor
Seth Rinderknecht was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Week for his performance Sept. 11-17.
Rinderknecht collected his first career player of the week honor. He anchored a defensive backline that allowed just two goals in two matches at the Wolverine Invitational.
This and That
• In the first six games of the season, UNO has started 17 different players. Six different Mavericks have played over 500 minutes in goalkeeper
Joseph Ghitis, defenders
Jacob Weiler and
Seth Rinderknecht, midfielders
Xavier Gomez and
Cole Nelson and forward
Elvir Ibisevic.
• Nine players have made their Omaha debuts this year, highlighted by true freshman
Stevie Siy playing 466 minutes of match action and true freshman
Miguel Gomez playing 332 minutes. The duo has combined for five of UNO's 16 assists.
• Outscoring teams 15-5 on the season thus far, Omaha has only allowed two first-half goals and has surrendered only 79 shots (27 on goal). UNO is 2-1 when it concedes the first goal and 5-0 when scoring first.
Looking Forward
Omaha returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 26, hosting Creighton. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Caniglia Field, and Owen Godberson and Harrison Popp will have the radio call on OMavs.com. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
