Saturday, August 17
Omaha South HS - Collin Stadium
7:00 PM
Omaha
vs
Penn State (Exh.)
Mavs Meet Penn State in South Omaha Classic
Aug 16, 2013 | Men's Soccer
The Omaha men's soccer team begins its third season by welcoming the 2012 Big Ten regular-season co-champion Penn State for the South Omaha Classic presented by First National Bank, a highly anticipated exhibition match at Omaha South's Collin Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. The match will be played at Collin Stadium to showcase the squad to the South Omaha community. Maverick sophomore Chava Garcia, who was a 2012 Summit League All-Newcomer Team selection with four goals and three assists, is an Omaha South graduate. The Mavs' opponent, Penn State, won a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament last year and finished with a 9-5-3 overall record. A strong connection exists between the two programs, as Omaha head coach Jason Mims was an assistant for Penn State head coach Bob Warming at Saint Louis, Creighton and Penn State, and he played for Warming at Saint Louis.
South Omaha Classic Game Information
Free t-shirts will be handed out to the first 1,000 fans through the gate on Saturday evening at Collin Stadium. Anyone who purchased a ticket to the women's exhibition match against Drake on Thursday night will receive free admission to the South Omaha Classic. Otherwise, tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children. UNO students get in free with their MavCard. A large crowd is anticipated for the Mavs' 2013 preseason opener. The school record for attendance was set in the Mavs' very first home game when 1,647 fans showed at the UNO Soccer Field for the Mavs' match against UC Irvine on Aug. 28, 2011.
The Teams
The Mavericks finished 5-10-1 overall and 3-3-1 in The Summit League in 2012. Their 10 points in conference play put them in a tie for fourth place with Fort Wayne in the final conference standings. It was just the second year of existence for the men's soccer program and the improvement from year one was drastic, as the Mavs went 1-11-1 in their inaugural season in 2011. Matt Grosey finished the season with 65 saves to rank fourth in the conference, and his five wins in net tied for third among all Summit League goalkeepers. Vance Rookwood finished with 12 points on a team-leading five goals and two assists. Chava Garcia had four points and three goals to finish with 11 points. The Mavs garnered a plethora of postseason conference awards. Felipe da Silva, Rookwood and Grosey were named to the All-Summit League Second Team. Da Silva and Garcia were also members of the All-Newcomer Team.
The Nittany Lions went 9-5-3 overall and 3-1-2 in the Big Ten last season to earn a split of the conference regular-season title, their first since 2005. The 2013 Nittany Lions return six starters from last year's team, including All-Big Ten second-team selections Owen Griffith (MF) and Andrew Wolverton (GK). Drew Klingenberg was an All-Freshman team pick. Penn State lost four All-Big Ten performers to graduation but 2012 Big Ten Coach of the Year Bob Warming has a strong class of 10 newcomers.
Series History
UNO and Penn State have never met on the pitch before, but the matchup seemed destined to happen when Jason Mims became the first head coach in UNO men's soccer history. Mims played for current Penn State head coach Bob Warming at Saint Louis for three seasons, then coached as an assistant on his staff at Creighton for 10 seasons, combining to help Creighton to eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances and six Missouri Valley Conference championships. Mims then went with Warming to Penn State to turn that program around before he came back to Omaha to lead the Mavs. “He's been with me since 1997, and I've watched him grow and develop as a coach,” Warming said when Mims was hired at UNO. “I regard him not only as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, but as one of the top coaches in the country. I'm familiar with what it takes to start a successful program, as is Jason, and I encourage the greater Omaha community to support those efforts.”
Up Next
The Mavs continue their tough preseason schedule at No. 6 Creighton on Friday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m.
Mavs Halfway Through Division I Transition
The Mavericks have now completed two full years of their four-year transition to Division I and are therefore ineligible to compete in the conference tournament and NCAA Tournament until the 2015 season. The 2013-14 season will see UNO's teams going through a full Summit League schedule for the second time.
Mavs Show Improvements in Second Season
The Mavs' first year of existence went about as one would expect, a final record of 1-11-1 and a lot of freshmen and sophomores gaining experience. But in year two, the Mavericks made huge strides, finishing with a final record of 5-10-1 and a Summit League record of 3-3-1. With no seniors on the roster and 16 of 21 players being freshmen and sophomores in 2012, the Mavs were a surprise in The Summit League, finishing in a tie for fourth place in the league standings after being picked last in the preseason poll. Against the top three teams in the league, the Mavs claimed a draw and two overtime losses. In its first year in The Summit League, UNO's high-powered offense finished second in the league with 26 goals on the season. In conference play, the Mavs were third with 11 goals scored and gave up just seven goals, the second fewest in the league. The Mavs carried that momentum into the spring season, defeating two-time defending College Cup participant Creighton in an exhibition match in April.
Mavs Excel in Classroom in 2012
The Mavericks earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award after posting a cumulative GPA of 3.02. It was the first time the Mavericks were eligible for the award after completing one full academic year as a program. Omaha was one of just four Summit League institutions to have both the men's and women's soccer teams recognized.
Players Mentioned
Tuesday, September 01
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
