Andrew Nelson
CONTRIBUTOR
University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Caniglia Field hosted a doubleheader of soccer matchups to kick off the men’s season, as well as showcase the growing inter-city rivalry of the women soccer programs between Omaha and Creighton.
The men’s team got things started with a 3-1 win over San Francisco.
It took under ten minutes for the Mavericks to score the first goal of the 2016 season on a Mark Moulton shot under the San Francisco goalkeeper. Just under five minutes later, the Dons answered with a goal to tie it at 10:22 in the first half.
Early in the second half, freshman forward Elvir Ibisevic dribbled around two defenders and sent a shot that hit the net giving the Mavericks the lead, later sealding the deal with Cole Nelson’s first ever goal for Omaha.
The Mavs outshot the Dons 11 to 5 on the evening with Omaha’s Joseph Ghitis earning the win in goal.
Omaha hit the road again, this time for a regular season contest against the University of Connecticut that took place at 6 p.m. Sunday.
The Omaha women’s soccer faced off with crosstown rival Creighton during Friday’s second game of the night, falling by a similar score of 3-1. The Mavericks went down late in the first half and although tying briefly, never recovered in the sec-ond half.
The Bluejays scored the first goal in the 38th minute on a goal deflected off a Maverick defender that shot past goalkeeper Haley Shelton.
Carlie Cook was back at it again scoring Omaha’s lone goal of the game in the 67th minute off a penalty kick.
Creighton scored two minutes later after a free kick got the ball in front of the goal where a Bluejay forward headed the ball into the net.
After arguing with officials over a handball on Creighton, causing the go-ahead score, Haley Shelton was issued a red card and ejected from the game, which caused the Mavs to play the remainder of the game a woman down.
Shelton allowed two goals with six saves in her minutes in net.
After coming in as replacement for Shelton, Katlyn Schochenmaier made three saves and allowed one goal.
In the 89th minute, Creighton put the game away with a goal bringing a final score of 3-1, outshooting Omaha 15-5 on the night.
The Lady Mavericks were back in action Sunday at Cangilia Field with a noon matchup against North Dakota.
