UNI soccer falls to Omaha in narrow 1-0 loss

Thursday, August 20

Cedar Falls, Iowa

4 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

0-3-0, 0-0-0

Omaha

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Omaha	0	1	1
UNI	0	0	0

Photo by: UNI Athletics

UNI soccer falls to Omaha in narrow 1-0 loss

8/20/2026 7:09:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score FINAL RESULTS Photo Gallery

Panthers pressure Mavericks but held scoreless to close out season-opening homestand.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI soccer team got a boost in net by the strong collegiate debut of freshman goalkeeper Hailey Luedtke, but were unable to capitalize on second half offensive ball movement in a 1-0 loss to the Omaha Mavericks on Thursday in non-conference play.

Despite being outshot by a 15-4 margin with only one shot attempt on goal, Northern Iowa put together one of its best showings offensively on the young season with multiple possessions pushing inside Omaha territory.

UNI also debuted its new lavender kits as part of its Cancer Awareness Game on Thursday, with players wearing different colored hairbands in support of the fight against the various forms of cancer.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In a scoreless first half, the Panthers got their lone two shot attempts off the feet of Shaelee Franck and Alli Saviano, while the UNI defense defended six shot attempts, including four on goal, all saved by Luedtke.

Omaha would break the scoreless tie in the 57th minute as Lauren Schmidt connected with Kendall Dobberstein's right foot for the 1-0 Maverick lead. In a game where UNI maintained only 42% possession of the ball, Kylie Knief would record Northern Iowa's only two shot attempts of the second half, as Luedtke saved six shot attempts on goal.

Luedtke would finish the afternoon with ten total saves, a season-high for the Panthers in goal and the most by a single UNI keeper in a game since Caitlin Richards' 13 saves against Illinois State in the MVC Tournament during the 2020-21 COVID season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

UNI falls to 3-5-3 all-time against Omaha with Tuesday's loss.
In addition to Luedtke, Aly Arena and Zoe Borowicz also made their collegiate debuts against the Mavericks.
Northern Iowa's ten saves in goal by Luedtke were the most in a single-match for the Panthers since Kennedy Buntenbach and Thordis Melsted combined for ten saves last season at Milwaukee.

UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Sunday, Aug. 23 for its first road contest of the season at Northern Illinois. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. No livestream will be available to watch the match.

UNI women's soccer action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Panther Soccer), X (@UNI_Soccer) and on Instagram (@unipanthersoccer). Schedule and roster information, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.