On a brisk Saturday evening, the men’s soccer dug deep and managed to edge out the Omaha Mavericks 1-0.

The Pioneers (8-3-3) improved to a Summit League best 3-0 with the win while the Mavericks (3-8-1) fell to 1-2.

A game that featured a scoreless first half and three yellow cards came down to a single goal in the 63rd minute by senior midfielder Zach Bolden. Bolden had six shots on the day and his lone goal came on a chip pass from redshirt junior midfielder Reid Hukari into the middle of the box. Bolden settled the ball and buried it just inside the right post.

“It was a scrappy, grinding-type game … but good teams try to find ways to win,” said head coach Bobby Muuss.

The teams combined for 23 shots and 25 fouls. Aside from Bolden’s goal, neither team saw a clean shot on net. Bolden’s first goal was waved off after the head official ruled a questionable handball on Bolden right before he took the shot.

Bolden, who is tied for the conference lead in points (15) was critical of the five shots on goal by the Pioneers.

“We just need to focus on our finishing, and force the goalie to make more stops.”
The 1-0 victory marked the team’s third straight shutout and gave the Pioneers their ninth straight unbeaten game, one shy of the school’s Division I record. Junior goalkeeper Oliver Brown now has five shutouts on the season and currently leads the Summit League with a 0.97 goals-against average.

“Oliver did well in this game. He did his job, he was clean and he didn’t give up any rebounds,” said Muuss.

Next Saturday’s game against Eastern Illinois is the team’s last home game of the season. The team will be looking to make it a memorable night for the seniors.

“These guys have been through a lot here and have really changed the culture of the program and we want to send them out on a positive note here on CIBER,” Muss said about the six seniors on the team.

Bolden, a senior himself, says “we’ve put four long years in here and we want to go out on top.”
It won’t be easy for the Pioneers. Despite their record, Eastern Illinois (1-9-2) is coming off a win that finally broke an 11 game win-less streak and will be looking to make up ground in the Conference.

Muuss is still confident in his team, though.

“We’re capable of a lot more than we showed here and we’ll be ready to go on Saturday,” he said.