OMAHA, Neb. - The short-handed IUPUI men's soccer team missed an opportunity to sew up a spot in the upcoming four-team Summit League Tournament, dropping a 2-1 count at Omaha on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 8). Freshman
Emmanuel Usen tallied his sixth goal of the season to pull the Jaguars even early, but Omaha ultimately netted the game-winner midway through the second half.
"I thought the boys played absolutely well," IUPUI Head Coach
Isang Jacob said. "We answered early, which was key. This is a very difficult place to play, which is why they're undefeated here (in Summit League play). I could not have been more proud of the effort today and all season long for that matter.
"I'm very proud of how the boys represented IUPUI today."
Omaha (8-5-2, 3-2-1 Summit) went in front just five minutes in when Michael Jaime played a long ball to Mark Moulton, working along the right side. Moulton crossed a pass in front of IUPUI goalie
Eduardo Cortes to Vance Rookwood, for an easy finish in close. On the ensuing kickoff, IUPUI (5-8-2, 2-3-1) responded as
Clint Hoffar sent a long ball over the top to Usen, working through the middle of the Mavs defense. The rookie striker blasted a shot off the underside of the crossbar for his sixth score of the year.
However, UNO's Felipe da Silva found the game-winner in the 66th minute. After having missed on a header attempt at the far post just moments earlier, Logan Mendez served a corner kick to the near post where da Silva tucked a shot in just inside the post for his second score of the year.
Omaha made the one-goal advantage stand, holding the Jaguars to just six shots, two of which came in the second half. Freshman
Uriel Macias missed on a header late and paced the IUPUI attack with half of the team's six shots. Cortes finished with seven saves while UNO's Joseph Ghitis had two stops in the Mavs' win.
IUPUI was limited to just two subs on Saturday as Jacob's squad was down five starters for a myriad of reasons.
The Jaguars will now pay close attention to scores on Saturday night as Oral Roberts takes on Eastern Illinois and Denver hosts Western Illinois. The four-team Summit League Tournament will be played at Denver's CIBER Field on Nov. 13/15 next week.
