Men's Soccer to Face Challenging Slate in 2016
May 18, 2016 | Men's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha men's soccer head coach Jason Mims has announced his squad's 2016 slate of matches. The Mavericks' schedule features a total of 20 competitions, including 11 matches at Caniglia Field this season.
"The people that know our program well understand how driven and competitive we are," Mims said. "The fall schedule will be no exception to any of this. It goes without saying this our most challenging schedule to date with all of the successful teams we have lined up for 2016."
The Mavericks will face five teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, including the 2015 national champions and another that made the quarterfinals.
Omaha opens its season with the annual Black/White Intrasquad Scrimmage on Wednesday, Aug. 10. The Mavericks will visit University Park, Pa. for an exhibition match with Penn State on Saturday, Aug. 13 and host Marquette in the South Omaha Classic exhibition on Saturday, Aug. 20.
They will kick off the regular season at home, hosting San Francisco on Friday, Aug. 26 before hitting the road to visit Connecticut on Sunday, Aug. 28. UConn advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and had a top-40 RPI last year.
UNO will play the next four matches in Omaha. The Mavericks welcome NCAA Tournament qualifier Drake to Caniglia Field on Friday, Sept. 2. The Omaha Derby is set for Monday, Sept. 5 as the Mavericks visit crosstown foe Creighton. The Mavs host DePaul on Friday, Sept. 9 before welcoming Penn to Caniglia Field on Sunday, Sept. 11. The Drake Bulldogs finished last season with 13 wins and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Creighton Bluejays were a No. 12 overall seed in last year's tournament and advanced to the tournament quarterfinals.
UNO will then hit the road for a swing through the Golden State when they face Cal on Friday, Sept. 16 and Stanford on Sunday, Sept. 18. The Golden Bears spent time in the National Rankings last season and finished with a top-40 RPI. Stanford was the No. 8 overall seed in last year's NCAA tournament and captured the 2015 College Cup.
A four-match homestand begins with a non-conference match with Air Force on Friday, Sept. 23. Omaha opens conference play against IUPUI on Sunday, Oct. 1 before a non-conference match with Valparaiso on Monday, Oct. 3. UNO wraps up the home stand against Summit League foe Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 8.
Omaha will play four of its final five regular season contests on the road. UNO will play Summit League matches at IPFW on Saturday, Oct. 15 and Western Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 22. In between the two matches, the Mavericks will visit Bradley in Peoria, Ill. on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
UNO wraps up its home schedule on Saturday, Oct. 29 as NCAA Tournament qualifier and defending Summit League champion Denver visits Caniglia Field. The Denver Pioneers were a No. 13 national seed last season and had a Top-20 RPI last season.
The Mavericks will close out the 2016 regular season with a road match at Oral Roberts on Saturday, Nov. 5.
"To be successful in any program you have to go challenge yourself on the road in tough environments and I believe we have accomplished this for next fall," added Mims. "Leadership will be very important with this schedule as we have lost eight seniors from last year's team and the returners and new players will have to have had their best summer to date to make sure we are prepared for the fall."
All dates and times are subject to change, and fans are encouraged to stay tuned to OMavs.com for additional updates and season ticket information.
For more information on the Mavericks, follow @UNOMensSoccer on Twitter and /UNOMensSoccer on Facebook.
Schedule Notes
- Eight different conferences are represented on the 2016 regular-season schedule including two teams each from the Big East, Missouri Valley and PAC-12.
- Five teams that participated in the 2015 College Cup appear on this year's schedule. All five teams advanced to the second round, including quarterfinalist Creighton and national champion Stanford.
- Cal, Connecticut, Creighton, Denver and Stanford finished in the RPI top-40 last season.
- The Cardinal finished the season ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA-NCAA National Poll. Creighton (No. 6), Denver (No. 17), Connecticut (RV) and Drake (RV) also finished the season either ranked or receiving votes.
- Omaha will be playing Air Force, Cal, Connecticut, Creighton, San Francisco and Penn in the regular-season for the first time.
