BOCA RATON, Fla. – Omaha men’s soccer fell to Florida Atlantic (2-0-0, 0-0-0 American) Sunday 2-0 after a two-hour lightning delay at FAU Soccer Stadium. The Mavericks (0-2-0, 0-0-0 Summit) close the opening weekend of the 2025 campaign with a pair of road setbacks after facing FIU on Thursday.
How It Happened
- Once play finally got underway at just after 9 p.m. ET, it was off to the races in a steady downpour.
- The home Owls broke open the tally in the 15th minute with a left-footed rocket to the near post for an Aboubacar Traore goal.
- Fighting through a slippery pitch, FAU earned two corner kicks in the first 24 minutes of the match, though the Owls were unable to convert the set pieces.
- Senior goalkeeper Cole Stewart (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) made his first start of the season for the Mavericks, recording three-straight stops after the early score, including a right-footed save in the 68th minute just before the goal line to keep FAU off the board midway through the second half.
- Donovan Dowling’s Mavs were held without a shot in the first 30 minutes, while the Owls came out with five unanswered shots (two on-target) to begin the match.
- Omaha’s first recorded shot attempt came in the 33rd minute off a Mikey Stukenholtz (Gretna, Neb.) scoring chance, tripping after the follow-through just shy of the 18-yard box to boot the ball over the crossbar.
- The Mavericks’ disciplined attack struggled to mark in the Owl’s attacking third in the opening period.
- Out of the halftime break, Omaha’s press was sharp leading to a free kick on the edge of the area after a hard tackle drawn by senior forward Kaito Ueki (Nerima-Ku, Japan) for a set piece chance. Takeru Chiba (Sendai, Japan) took the free kick and place the ball in front of a diving Alfred Mikkelsen for Omaha’s first shot-on-target.
- The Mavericks would tally two shots-on-target in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
- Both sides shared possession in a tightly-contested final 45 minutes.
- FAU doubled the lead in the 73rd minute with a Mamadou Diarra goal off an assist from Traore and Josh Ainge.
- Traore finished the night with multiple points for Florida Atlantic.
Omaha men’s soccer welcomes Utah Valley to Caniglia Field in the Mavericks’ first home fixture of the 2025 slate at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 31 live on the Summit League Network. Tickets for the match are on sale now at OMavs.com/Tickets or by calling 402-554-MAVS…