Preview: Union Omaha vs. South Georgia Tormenta FC
| USL League One 2020 Stats | ||
| Union Omaha | Tormenta FC | |
| Final Record | 8-5-3 (2nd Place – 29 Points) | 5-4-7 (8th Place – 19 Points) |
| Home | 5-1-2 (2nd Place – 16 Points) | 2-3-3 (8th Place – 9 Points) |
| Away | 3-4-1 (2nd Place – 13 Points) | 3-1-4 (6th Place – 10 Points) |
| Goals Scored | 20 (Tied for 6th Place) | 19 (Tied for 8th Place) |
| Goals Conceded | 15 (9th Place) | 22 (Tied for 4th Place) |
| Clean Sheets | 6 (Tied for 2nd Place) | 4 (Tied for 5th Place) |
It’s time for Spring Cleaning, which means you need to make room for all of your Union Omaha gear because the 2021 season is right around the corner! On Saturday, April 24th, Los Búhos start their second season in USL League One with a match at home against South Georgia Tormenta FC. It’s been a long offseason, but well worth the wait.
As you probably already know, Union Omaha finished their inaugural season in second place. Even though USL League One Final was cancelled due to COVID-19, the Big Green Belt is pretty nice. It’s easy to get a sense of unfinished business among the fans, so you can only imagine that same sense is exponentially higher in the locker room.
The roster is filled with leaders from last season, as well as new, hungry players looking to etch their place in the clubs history. If you’ve followed the roster changes in the offseason, it’s clear as day that the Front Office is working hard to make sure last season wasn’t a fluke. With the influx of quality players, it’s going to be interesting to see the lineup on their first match day. The situation isn’t as clear when looking at Tormenta FC.
After only winning two of their first ten matches in 2020, Tormenta FC made a managerial change: then-manager John Migalrese moved aside to serve as the club’s Technical Director and Vice President of Soccer Performance and Ian Cameron took over in his stead. The club improved, winning three of their last six matches, but still only managed to finish in 8th place.
The Front Office for Tormenta FC was also busy, seeing literally half of their roster exit, including all of their forwards. The strength of their current roster lies in the middle of the field, both on defense and in the midfield. With the forwards included in the roster, it’s tough to say how dramatically they’ll affect the final score.
Look for Tormenta FC to clog up the middle third of the field, disrupt play early with aggressive challenges, strive to steal a goal here and there, and end the season with a lot of draws. They’ll likely follow a gameplan involving three D’s: disrupt, delay, defend. With the speed up top and the strength in the midfield for Union Omaha, Tormenta FC is going to have to risk pressing early on the counterattacks, wait for the backline to set up, and bunker in for anything in the final third.
Meanwhile, Union Omaha has added quite a few players to load the already strong roster. With players signing up top and in net, the Owls look to reinforce their options with depth and versatility. USL League One recently ran an article of ten players to watch for in the coming season and three of them were on the roster for Union Omaha. Now imagine reinforcing that roster with equally adept players, some with proven results in the league last year.
There’s plenty of excitement around Union Omaha and it’s only going to get better as the team showcases their grit and pedigree against clubs like Tormenta FC. It’s going to be a great day, so make sure to get to the stadium early, tailgate with the fans, buy some new merchandise, and make some noise until the final whistle. ¡Viva Búhos!
Who Gives A Hoot? 