OMAHA, Neb. - On a perfect fall night for soccer, Omaha and Creighton battled to the wire in a physical 2-1 Bluejays win befitting the Dodge Street Derby rivalry. The game drew 1,542 fans, including 298 Omaha students, the largest crowd of the season and fifth-largest in Mavericks men's soccer history.
A flurry of late second half shots couldn't find their mark for the Mavericks (6-3-3), who outshot Creighton 11-9 after intermission. The teams were level with sixteen shots each for the match. while Omaha had six shots on goal to Creighton's five.
The Bluejays (5-4-3) scored the only goal of the first half on their first shot of the match. Jackson Castro's 4th goal of the season, assisted by Ryuesei Shimonishi and Gavrilo Civric, came at 12:19.
Despite nearly equal possession time, the Mavericks fell behind 2-0 at 75:39 into the match on Miguel Ventura's unassisted goal, his first of the season.
Omaha finally found the net, and raised the volume at their home stadium, when
Italo Jenkins pounced on his own rebound from five yards out and drove home his second goal of the season at 78:24. Creighton goalkeeper Blake Gillingham was up to the challenge from there. He finished with five saves, including one on a blistering try by
Theo Klein in the final minute.
The 2-1 loss marks the first setback for Omaha on their home pitch this season. They are now 4-1-3 at Caniglia Field in 2024.
Omaha resumes Summit League play next Wednesday night at first place Denver, ranked third in the nation in the Uniuted Soccer Coaches poll. The Mavericks return home to Caniglia Field Saturday, October 19 at 4 p.m. to face Oral Roberts. Tickets for Omaha home games are available at OMavs.com/tix. All remaining Mavericks games are scheduled for broadcast on the Summit League Network.
