GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men’s soccer team will now host Omaha in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship tournament on Thursday, April 29 at 6 p.m.
The winner will meet fourth-seeded Stanford on Sunday, May 2 at 5 p.m. Penn State will battle Massachusetts on Sunday, May 2 at 1 p.m. All these games will be played at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
The Summit League announced Tuesday that Omaha will be its representative at the upcoming NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament, replacing regular-season champion Denver in the field of 36.
The Pioneers were scheduled to play UNCG in the opening round on April 29, but will not be able to participate due to Covid-19 protocols.
Based on league policies, the Mavericks, who finished second in the league standings, were the next team in line to participate. This will be Omaha’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2017.
UNCG (9-2-2 overall) is ranked 23rd in the TopDrawer Top 25 and 28th in the College Soccer News Top 30. UNCG is currently on a six-match unbeaten streak while outscoring opponents 11-3 during that stretch. The Spartans have produced four clean sheets in their last six matches. They have allowed one goal over their final four matches.
UNCG won the Southern Conference by defeating Belmont, 1-0, last Saturday thanks to Mani Austmann’s goal in the 80th minute. Theo Collomb, the SoCon Co-Freshman of the Year, leads the Spartans with seven goals. Austmann has six goals and Fernando Garcia has five goals. Garcia and Austmann earned All-SoCon recognition as did freshmen Emmanuel Hagan and Niclas Wild.
Members of the Summit League, Omaha was the runner-up after posting a 6-2-1 record this season. Both of the Mavericks losses were to Kansas City. Omaha, ranked fourth in the West Region in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, hasn’t played a match since April 2.
Omaha’s top player has been Hugo Kametani. He was named the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week Monday twice this season. Kametani leads Omaha with seven goals and 15 points. Nil Ayats has four goals and four assists for 12 points. Kenji Mboma Dem has added three goals for Omaha, which finished 5-0-0 at home this season.
This will be the first meeting in program history against Omaha.