TULSA, Okla. -- Third-seeded Omaha used a late goal to upset second-seeded and tournament host Oral Roberts in Thursday's second semifinal of the #SummitMSOC Championship.
After a scoreless first half and a combined four shots on goal in the opening 80 minutes, Omaha got the breakthrough goal by Martin Pilon St-Louis in the 81st minute when he caught up to a through ball from Sokol Ymeraj and finished his third goal of the season past a diving Jakub Grzesiak in goal for the Golden Eagles.
The Golden Eagles put up one last push in the closing two minutes when Juan Moreno had his shot blocked and Grzesiak came up for a corner kick that he put a header on but it was saved by his counterpart Nathanael Sallah.
Sallah finished his fifth clean sheet of the season with three saves as Omaha advanced to its first title appearance since 2019. The Mavericks will play fourth-seeded Kansas City in the the #SummitMSOC Championship match set for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Case Soccer Complex.
Turning Point
- Omaha's Martin Pilon St-Louis broke a scoreless tie in the 81st minute when he got behind the ORU defense and slid his left-footed strike past a diving Jakub Grzesiak in goal for the Golden Eagles.
Inside the box score
- Both teams had five shots in the opening half but the Golden Eagles had the only two shots on goal.
- Omaha's Mathis Pilon St-Louis scored his third goal of the season and first since scoring in back-to-back games against Kansas City (Sept. 23) and Western Illinois (Sept. 30).
News & Notes
- Omaha is returning to the title match for the first time since 2019. The Mavericks played in four consecutive title tilts from 2016-19 and won their only Summit League postseason championship in 2017.
- The last time the No. 3 seed and No. 4 seeds played in the title match was 2019 when third-seeded Denver defeated fourth-seeded Omaha.
- ORU outscored Omaha 8-2 in a pair regular-season wins over the Mavericks.
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