Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. - The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team fell to Summit League opponent Omaha 2-0 Saturday afternoon following two first period goals from the Mavericks. The loss drops the Panthers to 2-9-1 overall and 0-3-0 in conference play while Omaha remains perfect in the Summit League with a 2-0-0 conference record and a 5-4-3 overall record.

Junior goalkeeper Mike Novotny finished the match with a season high five saves. Alex Castaneda also recorded new season highs leading the Panthers with four shots, three on goal.

The Mavericks set the tempo early as Fazlo Alihodzic put Omaha in front 1-0 following the assist from Seth Rinderknecht in the 12th minute.

EIU picked up the pace following Omaha's goal out shooting the Mavericks 8-4 throughout the first half, but the Panthers could not find that equalizing goal.

Instead, Omaha managed to add to their lead against the run of play in the 42nd minute. The Maverick's Ethan Bowman was able to find Emmanuel Hamzet making a run on the left side of the penalty box. Hamzet snuck by Novotny to slip the ball into the back of the net and put Omaha up 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Castaneda and Miguel Carillo each finished the first half with one shot on goal.

The two teams both came out firing to open the second half as each squad recorded two shots and two saves in the opening minutes, but the score remained deadlocked at 2-0 throughout the rest of the match.

Carillo finished the match recording two shots with one on goal while teammates Trevor Kerns, Christian Sosnowski, Kris Luke, and Davis Wegmann recorded at least one shot.

Both teams recorded 11 shots in the match with Omaha out shooting EIU 7-4 in shots on goal.

EIU continues the season on the road this coming Tuesday (Oct. 11) heading to DeKalb to face Northern Illinois at 7 p.m.