2019 Omaha Men's Soccer - Year in Review

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The 2019 campaign for the Omaha men's soccer team included another trip to the Summit League Championship, All-Summit recognition, awards in the classroom and program records broken.

Postseason Success

For the fifth time in five tries sine becoming eligible for Division I postseason play, the Mavericks earned a bid to the Summit League Championship. Omaha became the first No. 4 seed to advance to the title match since Oral Roberts in 2010 when Pep Mateu headed in the golden goal in the 94th minute to help the Mavericks knock off top-seeded Western Illinois, 3-2.

Omaha battled Denver in the Summit League Final for the fourth consecutive season with the Pioneers taking the 1-0 victory. Representing the Mavericks on the All-Tournament team were Marcos Bautista, Seth Rinderknecht and Mateu.

All-Summit Recognition

Five Mavericks received All-Summit League honors with Seth Rinderknecht and Marcos Bautista named First-Team All-Summit. Cole Nelson garnered Second-Team All-Summit honors while Pep Mateu and Jeremy Pollard were selected to the All-Newcomer team.  

Classroom Excellence

A trio of Mavericks received multiple awards for their performance in the classroom. Ed Gordon, Stevie Siy and Martin Veys earned a spot on the 2019 Summit League Men's Soccer Academic All-League Team while also landing on the 2019 CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 First Team.

As a team, Omaha earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for their performance in the classroom in 2018-19. It is the third straight season of earning the award and seventh season overall for the Mavericks.

Ledesma Named Defensive Player of the Week

Gonzalo Ledesma earned his first Summit League Defensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 14 after helping the Mavericks to a 1-0 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne.

The South Sioux City, Neb., native netted the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute while helping the Omaha defense stifle the Mastodons. Ledesma and the Mavericks limited Purdue Fort Wayne to one shot attempt in the match.

A New Standard

Three Omaha seniors capped their career in a Maverick uniform by setting all-time program records. 

• Ugo Tritz - .763 save percentage; 0.98 goals-against average
• Cole Nelson - 74 matches played
• Seth Rinderknecht - 66 matches started; 5,939 minutes played

One More Look Back on 2019