Most soccer leagues have very simple schedules: you play a true round robin over the course of the entire season, and all you really have to look for is whether or not you have some stretches where you have a few easy games in a row or run a gauntlet. However USL (like other American professional sports leagues) have unbalanced schedules. You still have your easy and tough stretches, but you typically have to study the schedule a little more intensely. So, let’s get at it.
Stretch 1: Let’s get some points early
4/24: Tormenta
5/8: @ Fort Lauderdale
5/12: @ Revs II
5/16: @ Greenville
5/26: @ Madison
6/2: @ TFC II
6/6: @ Madison
So, anybody familiar with the upcoming Omaha sports calendar had a feeling this was coming when you combine the Omaha Storm Chasers’ schedule with state baseball tournaments taking place at Werner. However, when you look at this stretch up close it’s not as bad as it could have been. Sure, away to Greenville is the end of a stretch with three games in nine days, but having Fort Lauderdale and New England as the other teams is probably all you could ask for. The latter half of that stretch is unusual with us playing only midweek games, but Madison and Toronto are in the same boat as us during that same time as well. If you split this stretch up further, I think 7 points in the first four games would be fine, along with an even split of 4 points in the following 3. However, lose two of those first four games and suddenly we’re needing at least 6 points in the last three, and one of the Madison matches becomes must win.
Stretch 2: Home sweet home
6/12: Revs II
6/19: @ Richmond
6/26: Tucson
7/3: Chattanooga
7/16: Madison
We finally start seeing Union Omaha in person again here, and it starts with exorcising some demons. Only three teams beat us last season, and they’re all part of this stretch. Last year, we only got 9 out of a possible 24 points against these five teams. On the off chance that Jay Mims reads this blog, I hope he prints this page out, circles this part and pins it to the bulletin board. I believe three wins out of these five is a must to build momentum.
Stretch 3: Enough score settling, time to get to work
7/24: @ Tucson
7/31: North Texas
8/7: Madison
8/14: @ Tucson
8/21: @ Chattanooga
8/28: North Texas
This stretch allows us to finally start finding some sort of weekly routine, but this is not the time lose focus. Tucson are a wild card in my eyes this year, but if they turn out to be a good team this stretch become much more brutal. Shak Adams twice in 21 days, North Texas running us around, all the while Chattanooga and what looks to be an improved defense is waiting for us on the road. If I had to pick a time of the season that we stumble into our nadir, this is it. 10 points in these six matches would probably be a huge accomplishment.
Stretch 4: Hill Street Blues special (let’s be careful out there)
9/4: @ North Carolina
9/11: TFC II
9/19: @ North Texas
9/25: Tucson
10/1: @ Tormenta
I see this as a stretch where we can shoot ourselves in the foot if we don’t watch out. We need to make sure we aren’t looking ahead to North Texas when TFC II come to Omaha, and be ready to bounce back against a potentially feisty FC Tucson if North Texas doesn’t go well. I have a feeling if we just worry about ourselves and what we can manage we’ll be fine. Losing only one in this stretch is ideal, it tells me we’re on the right track as we hit the home stretch.
Stretch 5: How bad do we want it?
10/6: Fort Lauderdale
10/9: Greenville
10/16: North Carolina
10/23: Richmond
10/30: @ North Texas
This is where we separate the wheat from the chaff. Four straight at home, potentially a couple of bunnies each followed by some true tests. A chance to let some potential playoff teams know what they’ll have to beat in November, and ideally this results in the road to the Cup ending in Omaha. I think it’s always good to have some tough games before the postseason, but it would be nice to lock up that first round bye sooner rather than later to give us time to get into playoff mode.
There we go, Union Omaha’s 2021 regular season is all set. As I mentioned above, an entire season is a stretch of easy patches and gauntlets. Let’s hope that we are part of everyone else’s gauntlet.
Who Gives A Hoot? 