Mateu's Golden Goal Sends Mavericks to Summit League Final

Thursday, November 14

Denver, Colo.

2 p.m. CT

Omaha

4-8-4, 2-2-1

No. 1 Western Illinois

5-13-1, 4-1-0

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Omaha	1	1	1	3
Western Illinois	0	2	0	2

Omaha senior Pep Mateu celebrates with his teammates after scoring in the fourth minute of overtime to propel the Mavericks to the Summit League Championship with a 3-2 win over No. 1 seed Western Illinois.

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

Mateu's Golden Goal Sends Mavericks to Summit League Final

Nov 14, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

DENVER, Colo. – Omaha senior Pep Mateu headed in the golden goal in the 94^th minute to give the Mavericks a 3-2 overtime victory over top-seeded Western Illinois and send Omaha to their fourth-straight Summit League title match.

The Mavericks are the first No. 4 seed to advance to the title match since Oral Roberts did so in 2010.

Goals
OMAHA: 29' – Mitch Hammer (Assisted by Junior Noutoua and Diego Gutierrez)
WIU: 55' – Daisuke Otsuka (Penalty Kick)
WIU: 74' – Daisuke Otsuka (Assisted by Arian Mehrang)
OMAHA: 79' – Marcos Bautista (Assisted by Miguel Gomez)
OMAHA: 94' – Pep Mateu (Assisted by Diego Gutierrez and Mitch Hammer)

How It Happened

Diego Gutierrez sent the ball forward to the right side of the net where Junior Noutoua stopped the ball on the dime and flicked a back-heel pass backwards to Mitch Hammer, where the Cave Creek, Ariz., native put the ball into the back of the net to give Omaha a 1-0 lead in the 29^th minute.
The Mavericks played with a one-man advantage when Summit League Defensive Player of the Year Paul Kirdorf was handed a red card.
The Leathernecks tied the match at one with a penalty kick in the 55^th minute when the Mavericks were called for a hand ball in the box.
Western Illinois took the lead in the 74^th minute when Daisuke Otsuka chipped in his shot over a leaping Jeremy Pollard to give WIU a 2-1 advantage.
Miguel Gomez fired the ball into the middle of the box from the left side before Marcos Bautista received the ball with his left foot, turned and blasted a strike into the goal to tie the match at 2-2 in the 79^th minute.
Hammer chipped the cross in to the box where Mateu headed the waist-high ball just inside the left post in the 94^th minute.

Inside the Box Score

Omaha outshot the Leathernecks 14-7, including 10-3 in shots on goal.
Hammer's score was his first of the season and third of his career.
Bautista becomes the second Maverick with more than one goal scored this season while Mateu's game-winner was the first goal of his career.
Omaha's three goals matched their season-high from a 3-1 victory over Western Illinois earlier this season.

What's Next
The Mavericks will play No. 3 Denver for the Summit League Championship on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. CT in Denver, Colo. The Pioneers beat No. 2 Oral Roberts, 2-0, in the other semifinal. It's the fourth straight year the Mavericks and Denver have met in the championship game.