By Jackson Taylor
Sports Editor
The Omaha men’s soccer team’s home winning streak of 21 games was snapped on Saturday as they suffered a loss to conference opponent Western Illinois.
Despite an early second half lead for the Mavericks off of a goal from Felipe da Silva, Western Illinois stung Omaha with a pair of late goals to win 2-1. With the loss, Omaha drops to 7-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in conference play.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early attack as Mark Moulton sent a header just over the crossbar in the 3rd minute and Fazlo Alihodzic put a shot on goal in the 5th. Goalkeeper Josh Ghitis and the Omaha defense kept WIU to just 3 shots on goal in the first half. The first half also saw 23 fouls and four yellow cards between the two teams.
After the first half went scoreless, Omaha finally got on the board in the 48th minute as Felipe da Silva scored off a rebound.
WIU evened the score at 1-1 in the 84th minute as Drew Whalen headed a free kick over the head of Ghitis who was running out of the box to clear the ball.
Omaha got their final good look to take the lead in the 86th minute when Fazlo Alihodzic placed a shot passed WIU’s goalkeeper. The shot was called off due to a slight offside infraction.
Minutes later, WIU’s Tyler Chavez split the Omaha defense and snuck the game winning goal past a diving Ghitis.
Omaha’s next game is on the road against No. 9 Denver on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m.
