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Omaha Athletics

Sophomore Brett Perkins of Gretna (second from right) celebrates scoring his first career goal, the game winner over Oakland University August 22, 2024.
Omaha Athletics
Brett Perkins celebrates his first career goal, the game-winner over Oakland
2
Winner Omaha OMA (1-0-0, 0-0-0)
1
Oakland OAK (0-1-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Omaha OMA
(1-0-0, 0-0-0)
2
Final
1
Oakland OAK
(0-1-0, 0-0-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Omaha OMA 1 1 2
Oakland OAK 0 1 1

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Mavericks Claim First Season-Opening Win Since 2017, Downing Oakland 2-1

After road victory, Omaha hosts Florida Atlantic in the home opener Sunday

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Sophomore midfielder Brett Perkins drove home a rebound late in the match to lift Omaha to a 2-1 season-opening road win over Oakland University. It was Omaha's first win to kick off a men's soccer campaign since 2017. 

In a matchup of schools expected to challenge for titles in their respective leagues, Omaha scored first in the opening half when senior Martin Lago's direct kick from inside the midfield circle  deflected off several Golden Grizzlies for the goal at 41:37. It was Lago's first career goal in 20 matches as a Maverick.

Oakland leveled the match just under 13 minutes after halftime on a bicycle kick goal from sophomore Andriy Bilous. Jack Lomparens was credited with an assist.

The game winner came in the 82nd minute after Oakland goalkeeper slid into a blistering try by Theo Klein from deep in the box. Perkins, the second year player from Gretna, closed in and scored from fifteen yards out at 81:17. It was Perkins' first career goal.

"We're really happy with the resilience to give up the equalizer and not panic, we always felt like the goal was gonna come," head coach Donovan Dowling said. "And happy (for) Brett being there and putting it in, and us to be able to deal with a little bit of chaos there at the end."

The Grizzlies outshot Omaha 14-8 (6-5 shots on goal), their final try from just inside the box by Lomparens was fired high in the 88th minute. Mavericks senior goalkeeper Nathanael Sallah had five saves for his 15th career win. 
 

Inside the Box 

  • Lago's shot came from inside the midfield circle on a free kick following a yellow card given to Markus Wienerroither. The ball actually deflected off multiple defenders in front of the goal, but its momentum resulted in the goal credited to Lago rather than an Own Goal. 
  • It was Dowling's second win in two matches over Oakland. The first came in the second match of the 2022 season in Omaha, the first win of his head coaching career. 
  • Dowling called it a difficult environment on the road, saying it was "a little bit nervy for some guys."
  • There were 17 fouls in the match, 10 by OU with two yellow cards. No Mavericks were carded.
  • Seniors Sallah, Lago, Naz Astwood and Thore Boehm were the only Mavericks to play 90 minutes.
  • After representing the Summit League in last year's NCAA tournament, Omaha was selected to finish second in a pre-season poll of coaches, the highest in Dowling's tenure. Oakland was voted the favorites in the Horizon League in a poll of its coaches.

Up Next 
The Mavericks return to Caniglia Field for their home opener Sunday at 6 p.m. against Florida Atlantic University. It will be the first meeting between the two schools in men's soccer. 
 

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