Loss prevents conference title for Mavs

The UNO soccer team entered Saturday's regular-season finale against Central Missouri needing the win to secure the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's conference title. The Mavs came up short, though, when their potent offense was shut out in the 1-0 loss to the Jennies in Warrensburg, Mo.The Mavs (13-5-2, 12-2-2 MIAA) mustered only two shots in the first half and seven total for the game.

"We're disappointed," head coach Don Klosterman said. "We're proud of how they played, they competed really hard. That's all you can ask, that's all we ask them to do. They're disappointed, too, but we did some great things."

The Mavs came into the final weekend on top of the MIAA standings, but a 1-1 tie against Southwest Baptist and the loss to the Jennies put UNO in second place with 38 points, two behind Truman.

The loss on Saturday snapped a 10-game unbeaten streak for UNO, which had recorded six shutouts in that time span. Central Missouri improved to 13-5-2 overall and 12-3-1 in the conference.

"They came out with a good approach," Klosterman said. "They're a bigger, more physical and stronger team so that makes it very tough."

The Mavs and Jennies were scoreless through the first hour of the game until Central Missouri's Lindsay Hoerl scored on a rebound off the top crossbar in the 61st minute to give the Jennies the deciding 1-0 advantage. The ball took an odd bounce on the crossbar that proved favorable for the Jennies.

"Nine times out of 10 that ball bounces out of bounds," Klosterman said. "But this time it bounced back into play. There's nothing you can do."

The Mavs applied heavy pressure in the final moments of the match. Freshman defender Danielle Archuleta and sophomore forward Jerica Kuncl each put shots on goal in the last two minutes, but Central Missouri's Lauren Bamvakais saved both attempts to secure the win.

"The second half was probably the best we've played in a really long time," Klosterman said. "The first half we didn't handle their pressure very well. They really controlled things in the middle of the field and we couldn't get anything generated. The second half, we turned that around and did a much better job in the midfield. We were able to keep the ball on their end of the field."

Kuncl and redshirt freshman forward Nicole Baier led the Mavs with two shots each. Junior goalkeeper Lauren Fox played all 90 minutes in net for the Mavs and had two saves with one goal against.

The Mavs were still in position to claim the MIAA crown after their 1-1 tie against Southwest Baptist on Nov. 5 in Bolivar, Mo.

UNO scored first when senior midfielder Lindsey Nealon put in her third goal of the season in the 72nd minute to give UNO a 1-0 lead. The goal was made possible by a beautiful assist from sophomore defender Maggie Olsen.

"It was one of the best goals we've scored maybe all season, maybe in a couple of seasons," Klosterman said. "Olsen kept the ball alive and carried it down the end line and put in a good cross to Nealon. A world-class goal."

The Mavs tried to hold on for the win, but a goal by the Bearcats' Lindsey Boden in the 86th minute tied the match at 1-1.

"We just couldn't hold on," Klosterman said. "They kept after it, give them plenty of credit. They played a good game and kept the pressure on us. It was kind of an unfortunate thing, we had our chances. We missed several break-away chances. We had chances to score and put the game away, and you have to put teams away and we didn't do that."

The score remained tied after two 10-minute overtime periods. The Mavs were outshot 7-3 in the overtime minutes but did have two shots on goal.

Baier led the Mavs with three shots, two on goal. Fox played all 110 minutes in net for the Mavs, saving five shots while allowing one goal.

With the loss on Saturday, the Mavs' playoff fate is undetermined as of press time. The NCAA tournament brackets will be released on Monday evening.