By: Jack Hoover
Last season, when the Omaha men’s soccer team took on Clemson, the atmosphere around the game had a slightly different feel to it. For that game, Omaha athletics introduced a new promotional event: pooches at the pitch. For every fan who brought their dog to the game got a five-dollar ticket for berm seating. In addition, the first 150 dogs got special Maverick gear.
This year, Omaha athletics brought back a Pooches at the Pitch promotion that was twice as big. The deal and the giveaways stayed the same, but the event was done as a double header for both men’s and women’s soccer games on Sept. 27th. With the first game kicking off at 5:30 and the second not getting over until 10:30, dogs lined the pitch at Caniglia Field for nearly five hours.
The event brought together two of an Omaha Maverick fan’s two favorite things: dogs and soccer. The comfort that the dogs brought their owners was likely needed as well as on-field, the games were quite stressful. The women’s team won a narrow 1-0 game while the men’s team lost in overtime 2-1. So while the Mavericks may not have been winners on the field in both games, the pooches off the pitch helped make for a memorable night.
