DENVER, Colo. – Omaha meets top-seeded and No. 9-ranked Denver in the Summit League Champi-onship final Saturday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. (CT). The tournament champion will earn the league's auto-matic bid to the 2018 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.
How They Got Here
The Pioneers advanced to the championship after defeating fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois, 1-0, in the day's first semifinal match. Andre Shinyashiki, the leading scorer in the NCAA, scored the game's lone goal in the 12th minute.
The Mavericks punched their ticket to the finals with a 1-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the second semifinal.
Noor Hamadi redirected a
Hugo Ellouk shot for the game-winner in the 70th minute.
Where to Watch
Saturday's championship match will be aired on Altitude Sports and simulcast on ESPN3. Links to live stats are available on OMavs.com.
First Touches
• Omaha advanced to its third-straight Summit League Championship with a 1-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Senior
Noor Hamadi's first goal of the season proved to be the game-winner in the 70th mi-nute.
• Freshman
Hugo Ellouk and sophomore
Diego Gutierrez each assisted on the goal.
• Gutierrez led the Mavericks with three shots and two on goal.
• Junior
Ugo Tritz made three saves in the victory and posted his fifth shutout.
• Gutierrez and senior
Denzel Woods earned First Team All-Summit League honors on Wednes-day.
• Tritz, junior
Marcos Bautista and freshman
Martin Veys each garnered Second Team All-League honors.
Getting to Know the Omaha Mavericks
Omaha is 7-7-1 overall and finished in second place in The Summit League standings with a 4-1 record. The Mavericks have won four of their last five matches.
Diego Gutierrez leads Omaha in most offensive categories including points (21), goals (seven) and as-sists (seven).
Martin Veys has 11 points on five goals and an assist, while
Denzel Woods has six points on two goals and a pair of assists. Sophomore
Mitch Hammer has two goals and an assist. Seniors
Noor Hamadi and
Billy Hoffmann and junior
Marcos Bautista round out the goal scorers.
Hugo Ellouk and junior
Seth Rinderknecht each have two assists, while
Fred Frimpong has one.
Ugo Tritz has anchored the Mavericks between the posts this season. The Metz, France, native has allowed 11 goals in 1,069:55 minutes, averaging 0.93 per game. He has a .796 save percentage after saving 43 shots. He ranks second in save percentage, third in fewest goals allowed and goals-against average and fourth in saves.
Matt Smith made four starts, going 0-4 with a 2.00 goals-against average.
Getting to Know the Denver Pioneers
• Denver is 14-3-2 overall and captured the Summit League regular season title with a 4-0-1 mark.
• The latest United Soccer Coaches Poll ranks the Pioneers No. 9.
• DU is 4-1 in its last five matches and hold an 11-0-1 mark at home.
Tracking the Pioneers
• No. 9 Andre Shinyashiki's 60 points and 28 goals lead the NCAA. Shinyashiki is the three-time Summit League Offensive Player of the Year.
• No. 26 Kenny Akamatsu has 14 points on three goals and a team-best eight assists.
• No. 12 Moshe Perez has 10 points on two goals and six assists.
• No. 30 Will Palmquist earned Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year honors and has a 6-3 rec-ord. Palmquist has a 0.65 goals-against average and an .818 save percentage.
Series Facts
Denver leads the all-time series against Omaha, 6-1-2. Earlier this season, the Pioneers topped the Mavericks 4-3 in Omaha, Neb.
UNO and DU are playing in its third-straight Summit League Championship final. Denver defeated Omaha 2-1 in 2016. The Mavericks and the Pioneers tied 1-1 last season before UNO won an 11-round shootout 9-8.
