MIAMI - Omaha men's soccer (0-1-0, 0-0-0 Summit) held FIU (1-0-0, 0-0-0 American) scoreless for 60 minutes Thursday, though the Panthers would find the twine four times in the final 29 minutes to emerge victorious with a 4-1 decision Thursday in the season opener for both sides.
- Omaha's attack was persistent early on with the Mavericks garnering two early corner kicks, including a second-minute set piece off a corner, executed by senior midfielder Oskar Kvarnback (Stockholm, Sweden), though the shot was aimed right at FIU's goalkeeper Nigel Van Haveren.
- FIU's first real response came in the 13th minute off a corner kick of its own, but the Panthers narrowly missed their top goal scorer in the six-yard box.
- Yoshiki Igarashi (Tokyo, Japan) shined in his Omaha debut with the graduate student midfielder turning on the jets in the 15th for a 3-on-1 opportunity, eventually stopped by FIU's back line.
- Omaha was called offside twice in the first 20 minutes.
- Donovan Dowling's Mavericks drew first blood with a 24th minute penalty goal, booted beautifully by sophomore forward Bradley Takamo (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) for his first career goal. The penalty came after Van Haveren fouled Omaha's Italo Jenkins (Atlanta, Ga.) for a rare goalkeeper foul.
- Omaha had several more chances as the first half progressed with three shots-on-goal and the home Panthers held without one in the first 45 minutes.
- 16 minutes into the second act, FIU's Scott Neil took the rebound off bodies in the box to connect with Pasquale Capriati to level the tally, capping a run of home side scoring chances.
- Junior Kamy Ndione (Osaka, Japan) made his first career start in goal for the Mavericks and was brilliant for two-thirds of the match, recording four saves without allowing a goal in 60 minutes.
- A header to the back of the post by Eduardo Mustre, his first of two goals on the evening, gave FIU its first lead of the season at 2-1.
- Mustre followed up to log a brace just shy of two minutes later off another Neil assist to give FIU a 3-1 advantage. Neil finished the night with three assists.
- Jenkins had a late chance for Omaha, slipping the shot off the left post and out of play in the 75th minute.
- Enrique Mutsoli sealed the victory for FIU with an 87th minute score to give the home side its fourth goal of the night.
Omaha men's soccer faces Florida Atlantic in the second leg of the Sunshine State trip on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
The Mavericks welcome Utah Valley to Caniglia Field on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 5 p.m. CT for the team's home opener live on the Summit League Network. Tickets for the matchup with the Wolverines are available now at
OMavs.com/Tickets or by calling 402-554-MAVS.
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