Omaha Downs No. 23 UNC-Greensboro for First NCAA Tournament Win in Program History

From OMavs.com: The Omaha Mavericks made history Thursday night defeating No. 23 UNC-Greensboro in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament, 3-2. It marks the first NCAA win for Omaha, and the Mavericks advance to the second round to play No. 4 Stanford on Sunday.

With the win, Omaha improves to 7-2-1.

How It Happened

• The match got off to a slow start as the teams got a feel for each other. Stevie Siy and Kenji Mboma Dem managed shots in the first twenty minutes, but both would go off target.
• The Mavericks found some luck in the 32nd minute as Ed Port took the ball into the left side of the goal area. UNCG's goalkeeper charged to handle Port, but Port sent a quick pass in to Nil Ayats who was there to send it into a wide-open net for Omaha's first goal of the match. At the break, Omaha led 1-0.
• In the first twenty minutes of the second half, the Spartans applied pressure to the Omaha defensive. They fired off nine shots and forced Jeremy Pollard to make three stops in goal.
• Hugo Kametani took some pressure off with a goal in the 68th minute to add to the Mavericks' lead. Kametani broke through two UNCG defenders and fired a shot from just inside the box to beat a charging goalkeeper.
• The Spartans didn't give up and knotted the game with back-to-back goals scored in the 72nd and 77th minute.
• Neither team would get another look until Kametani netted the game winner in the 87th minute on a header off a free kick into the box.
• Mavericks win 3-2 and advance to the second round of the tournament.

Inside the Box Score

• The win Thursday night marked the first NCAA Tournament win in program history for Omaha. It is the Mavericks' second appearance. They previously played in 2017 following the Summit League Tournament when Omaha won the title.
• The win also marked the first time the Mavericks downed a ranked opponent since Aug. 27, 2017. Omaha beat No. 17 Virginia Tech, 5-1.
• Bob Warming became the only head coach to take four different teams to the NCAA Tournament Thursday.
• Bob Warming and Grant Warming become at least the second father son duo to see the tournament as a coach-player and coach-coach. Bob coached Grant as a player in the tournament while both were at Penn State and now have coached the 2020 squad together.
• Kametani's two goals ties him for the single season scoring record. He is tied with three other former Mavericks with nine goals.
• Tonight's match marked the third time this season Kametani scored two goals in a game. He now has three game-winners on the year.
• UNCG out-shot Omaha 18-8, 5-4 on goal. Kametani tallied four for Omaha.
• Port now has four assists on the season, Mitch Hammer's was his second of the season.

Up Next

Omaha advances to the second round to face No. 4 Stanford. The teams will take the pitch Sunday, May 2 at 4 P.M. CT. Live stats and stream links will be on OMavs.com as they become available.