OMAHA, Neb. - Italo Jenkins began his collegiate soccer career by making a run to the College Cup.

Jenkins, though, had the foresight to know that accomplishment didn't necessarily make him a finished product. He knew he needed to make changes mentally to turn himself into the player he aspired to be.

"Honestly, I just had to grow," Jenkins said. "Sometimes your first year in college soccer you're a little emotional, you want things to go perfectly. And when things go bad, you tend to overreact. It was honestly good to go somewhere else to own that aspect of myself."

That's what brought Jenkins to Omaha.

After reaching the 2023 NCAA tournament semifinals as a reserve forward at Oregon State, Jenkins entered the transfer portal. Within a few days, Jenkins was on the phone with coach Donovan Dowling, who was telling Jenkins about the Maverick program.

"It was a good conversation and, honestly, I felt he gave me the best opportunity and he believed in me," Jenkins said.

Jenkins, who is from Atlanta, joined Omaha's program and now begins his third season as a Maverick. Jenkins and Omaha opened their regular season Thursday with a 4-2 come-from-behind win over Eastern Illinois.

Omaha expects to count on Jenkins' scoring ability this fall. Jenkins, who had three shot attempts in Thursday's win, has been second on the team in scoring each of the previous two seasons.

"I think he has grown so much over the last three years. Not just as a footballer but as a person and a leader," Dowling said. "He's going to have the chance to potentially play this game at the next level."

Jenkins has been a scoring threat since arriving in Omaha. He scored four goals in 2024 and five last season as he finished both seasons behind only Theo Klein, who graduated as the program's career goal scoring leader in the Division I era.

Jenkins believes he can be one of the players to carry more of the scoring load this fall.

"I've always had the ability. I've always been able to do those things," Jenkins said. "With me having the confidence and this being my third year here, I have the confidence to be the guy they're looking for in the big moments."

Jenkins scored the go-ahead goal in Omaha's final exhibition win last week, and he's looking for Omaha's offense to be more explosive this season after it averaged 1.06 goals per game last season. The Mavericks have scored four goals in each of their two exhibitions and Thursday's opener with Eastern Illinois.

"He has the ability to score a lot of goals, and probably more important than his output is he's been really effective in helping (our offense) press. He just changes the way we can play," Dowling said. "To have really top teams, you have to have really good seniors and senior leadership. He certainly one of the guys who is going to lead by example."

Against Eastern Illinois, Omaha trailed 2-0 with 18 minutes left in the first half. But the Mavericks tied it by halftime and went ahead for good two minutes into the second half on a Mikey Stukenholtz goal following a turnover.

Dowling described his team's start Thursday as "nervy," but he liked how the team bounced back.

"I think that's where you see the maturity of this group. We were able to respond, and I think that the guys off the bench changed the game for us," Dowling said. "We had a lot of guys come in and make us better."

Omaha continues its season-opening homestand by facing Florida International at 7 p.m. Sunday at Caniglia Field. Tickets are available at OMavs.com/Tickets.

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