Happy Friday, Búhos Nation! We here at Who Gives A Hoot Media hope you’ve had a wonderful week. It’s nice waking up every morning knowing that your local club is gearing up for the Championship. Just as you wake up every morning to prepare for the workday, know that Union Omaha players are waking up with the same sense of purpose. Let those good vibes continue to carry you into Werner Park as you support Union Omaha one last time in 2021.
I think we can agree on one thing: no one ever told the Owls, “Never force anything in your life. If it’s meant to be, it will be.” Nope. Union Omaha took the field at Werner Park last Saturday knowing full-well they were going to force the issue and take what they deserved. After an eventful 90 minutes, they succeeded in doing just that. So before we turn our attention to the Championship, let’s take one more look at the semifinal against FC Tucson.
Before the opening kickoff, there were a few interesting roster decisions made by Union Omaha coach Jay Mims. Defender Jake Crull was chosen to start at the left back position, which is usually designated for Damiá Viader. In lieu of that decision, Mims opted to push Viader up to left side of the midfield. Interesting decision, but the rationale makes perfect sense: maintain stability on the backline and push Viader further up the field, allowing him to get involved in more of the action via an advanced offensive position. Also, with as much space as FC Tucson gifts their opponents, it was really smart of Mims to let Viader take ownership of more space on the field. He’s been a great addition to the offense, knows how to score goals, creates plenty of opportunities in the box with his crosses, has the speed to make up any lost ground, and has the awareness to float into threatening spaces.
The other roster adjustment was moving midfielder Conor Doyle to the middle. Because Damiá Viader moved up to the left midfielder position, Jay Mims decided to slide Doyle inside. Again, this is an intelligent move. By pairing Doyle up with JP Scearce in the midfield, Mims is assuring quality defense in the middle of the field, while relying on their combined passing acumen to generate quality offense on the other side of the field. With FC Tucson lining up in a 4-3-3 (even if they didn’t maintain it), having two dependable, defensively-gifted midfielders to pressure the lone opposing midfielder in the middle of the field was the right call. You can look at just about any offensive and defensive statistic from the regular season and you won’t have to read much before you come across both of these names. They are most reliable with their aerial duels on defense and have a look-forward-first mentality when holding possession. While the duo may not be your scoring options in the midfield, they don’t have to be. With the amount of offense they generate, it’s perfectly okay for them to let scoring goals take a back seat.
Jay Mims and his coaching staff did a masterful job of preparing for this match. They positioned players to flourish and impressed upon the team three simple ideas that would lead to success:
- Cooler heads prevail.
- Crash the goal.
- Limit your touches, move the ball quickly.
From the opening whistle, Union Omaha let it be known that there was going to be no space granted and no respect for play development afforded to FC Tucson. Case in point: the video below. This play happens within the first 30 seconds of the match. After FC Tucson wasted their opening kickoff, Union Omaha goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu, in expected fashion, launched the ball up the field. Watch as Union Omaha forward Evan Conway and FC Tucson midfielder Mohamed Kone prepare for the impending duel. You’ll see that as those two come together, FC Tucson defender Luca Mastrantonio abandoned his defensive post to assist Kone. As Union Omaha midfielder Devin Boyce picks up the loose ball, the damage has already been done. FC Tucson central defender Kaelon Fox and his right back Noah Franke could have been in a man-up situation, but were suddenly facing man-to-man coverage. FC Tucson left back Maximiliano Schenfeld had to scramble toward the middle to apply pressure on Boyce. The play was developing too quickly for Schenfeld to be impactful, so Fox and Franke had to set a high line of defensive pressure, losing their defensive markings on Damiá Viader and Greg Hurst. Another result of Schenfeld’s movement inside was the real estate that was suddenly available for Union Omaha midfielder JP Scearce. Without hesitation, Scearce sprinted into space and directly toward the back post. With a simple through ball by Boyce toward the goal line, Viader was all alone to make a low, driving pass to the back post. Unfortunately, Scearce was just out of reach of the pass and the ball continued toward the sideline. It very easily could have been a 1-0 scoreline inside of 30 seconds, but Búhos fans wouldn’t have to wait long to celebrate another attack.
In the second minute of play (yes, you read that correctly), Doyle was able to collect the second ball from an aerial challenge. Instead of looking backward to pass and settle into possession, Doyle pushed the ball up to Union Omaha right back, and team captain, Ferrety Sousa. What you’ll see next is an example of great combination play among the three teammates. By committing to one-touch passing, you can see how quickly the FC Tucson’s defense, namely Maxi Schenfeld, get lost in the dust. After Boyce sent the pass into the corner, you can already see Sousa picking up his head and looking into the penalty area for an offensive opportunity. While he’s doing that, Schenfeld has no option but to put on the afterburners to merely keep up with Sousa. Schenfeld didn’t have the option of maintaining composure in the corner. He needed to get there as quickly as he could. Realizing Schenfeld had only forward momentum, Sousa performed a simple cutback to evade him again. Since Schenfeld was caught over-committing again, FC Tucson forward Kevin Rodriguez was next in line to apply pressure. Rodriguez was originally marking Boyce, but had to leave him and divert to Sousa, instead. All Boyce had to do was pull up on his run into the attacking third, provide an option for a drop pass and he could suddenly drive at the goal. After yet another quick exchange of passing between Boyce and Doyle, Boyce had a window of opportunity to take a shot on goal. Boyce’s shot careened off the near post and was redirected to a perfectly-positioned Evan Conway ready for the easy tap in. Let the onslaught begin.
Those 1-2’s, sometimes called wall passes, that you’re seeing in those videos are highly effective ball-movement techniques to cut through the defense quickly, take advantage of space, and eliminate defenders from the rest of the play. Union Omaha did a great job of planning for FC Tucson because, while they respected the speed of their defensive adjustments, the Owls utilized a great strategy to limit the time they have to move personnel, limit pressure, and capitalize on open space.
In the 31st minute, Luca Mastrantonio tried to force the ball up the middle to Daniel Bedoya, but his pass wasn’t handled well by Bedoya. In his defense, it’s tough to settle a slow-moving lob with two defenders, in this case Devin Boyce and JP Scearce, in hot pursuit. It looks as though Bedoya was trying to split Boyce and Scearce with a pass to Mohamed Kone off his thigh, but couldn’t get enough power on it. Either way, the ball was given up and Scearce was able to jump on it with a toe-touch pass to Evan Conway before Kone could make a proper attempt at a clearance. When Conway turned, Kaelon Fox was there to usher him toward the sideline. If Maxi Schenfeld had kept his positional discipline and remained at left back, Conway wouldn’t have anywhere to go. Given his absence, Conway was able to carry the ball further into the attacking third. You can see Conway thinking about cutting across Fox to get inside of him, but Kone was making up ground quickly. Instead, Conway continued on course toward the goal line. Greg Hurst was wide open between the goal area and the penalty spot, but there were too many defenders and the window was too small to make a viable attempt to pass to him. As the angle on goal was getting tougher and tougher, Conway sent a low ball toward the back post. Even goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley thought Conway was going to make attempt on the near post, so when Conway aimed for the back post, Lapsley’s momentum was carrying him away from the shot. Conway didn’t put his laces through the ball, but countered with accuracy. The ball gently tucked itself just inside the far post and Union Omaha’s lead doubled.
After the goal was scored, the Union Omaha players came together to celebrate and Maxi Schenfeld became irate. Just two minutes prior, Schenfeld earned a yellow card after a physical challenge on Devin Boyce. Despite this knowledge, Schenfeld walked toward the celebrating players, gesturing toward them, and filing his grievances with the referee. In his approach toward both the players and the referee, he became enmeshed with Union Omaha players, quickly resulting physical altercations. While attempts were made to separate the players, the referee awarded Schenfeld with a straight red card. For those that are unaware, it is possible for a player to have a yellow card and still receive a straight red card. Two yellow cards do equal a soft red, but a single yellow card can be followed up with a hard red, if the referee deems the offence is worthy. If you look closely and slow down the video, Schenfeld seems to punch Damiá Viader in the face. It’s hard to see in real-time, but seeing how the referee was within an arms reach of both Union Omaha players and Schenfeld, he clearly saw the retaliation. The red card was awarded for violent conduct, Schenfeld was sent to the locker room, and FC Tucson was forced to play down a man for the remaining 59 minutes of the match. The replay clearly shows Boyce taunting Schenfeld after the goal, which is why Schenfeld was so upset. As a result of Boyce’s actions, he was deservedly awarded a yellow card.
There’s no doubt that Maxi Schenfeld had a case against Devin Boyce, but by getting himself in the thick of the Union Omaha post-goal celebration, he was baiting a physical altercation. He could have eschewed himself away from the celebrations, raised his concerns with the referee, and come out of the incident still carrying a single yellow card. Schenfeld then made an even worse decision: throw a punch. He knew he was sitting on a yellow card, so it was already risky behavior to get as mad about the situation as he was, but to throw a punch? That’s just plain inexcusable. As a result of his red card, he took himself out of the match and set his teammates up for failure. There was still an hour left in the match, his team was down 0-2, and now FC Tucson was expected to generate a comeback? Schenfeld showed obvious disrespect toward Viader for punching him, but also toward his teammates. As a professional athlete, he has to control his temper better than that. That was Schenfeld’s fourth red card of the season. His other three red cards all came in the 86th minute or later and never resulted in a goal for the opposition. His previous red cards may not have cost his teammates a match, but this one sure did.
I will give full credit to the FC Tucson players and coach Jon Pearlman – they didn’t give up. If anything, they sped up their play, restarted play as quickly as possible, and carried themselves with the belief that even though the odds were slim, they still believed they had a chance. Pearlman deserves credit for his adjustments following the incident. It would be easy for a coach to panic, make immediate substitutions, and overreact. He didn’t. He gave his players instructions and watched the remainder of the half to see which players he could depend on. The players that were still going all out deserved to stay on the field in the second half. He also took time to consult with his coaching staff before halftime, and during it, to formulate their next moves. He kept his cool, looked for options, received ideas from his staff, and reacted accordingly. Good job, Pearlman.
To open the second half, Jon Pearlman opted to substitute midfielder Manu Ferriol on for Mohamed Kone. This was a smart move. Ferriol is a speedy and fierce competitor who likes to move up the field. Kone, whether by design or personal preference, likes to sit back. By subbing on Ferriol, Pearlman was sending a message that his team wasn’t going to look to absorb Union Omaha’s attacks. They were going to press hard and look for fast breaks.
Fortunately for fans inside Werner Park, they wouldn’t have to wait long for the first goal of the second half. In the 49th minute, Rashid Nuhu sent a goal kick into FC Tucson’s half. Evan Conway was able to get up for the aerial duel and get a glancing header on the ball. Not only does the glancing header move the ball up the field, but it gets the ball to the ground sooner. This was perfect because Greg Hurst had already started his run through the FC Tucson backline. Because the ball was directed to space and falling quickly, Hurst was in a great position to pounce on the loose ball and continue toward the net. Hurst took one touch to settle the ball before sending a shot on goal. Wallis Lapsley did a good job of advancing beyond the goal area as a response to Hurst as he advanced on goal. He was trying to limit Hurst’s shooting angle and possibly force him into more touches on the ball. Unfortunately for Lapsley, the shot didn’t deflect off his hands the way he wanted it to and the ball was served on a silver platter for Damiá Viader to slot into the lower corner. If you’re looking for a textbook case of why you crash the goal whenever a teammate is taking a shot, consider this video an early holiday gift to you and yours. The Owls were now leading 3-0, with 41 minutes remaining in the match.
On the resulting kickoff, FC Tucson took a shot on goal. It wasn’t a great attempt by any measure, especially since Rashid Nuhu was able to settle the ball of his chest. FC Tucson’s message was clear: they were in desperation mode. That desperation would turn to further misery when Union Omaha was awarded a corner kick in the 53rd minute. Damiá Viader was able to send in a threatening cross, but Luca Mastrantonio successfully won the aerial battle and got his head on it. Threat averted, or so he thought. Waiting outside the 18-yard box was Devin Boyce, zeroing in on the falling clearance. Executed with perfect technique, Boyce sent an absolute rocket of a volley into the lower corner of the goal. This kind of a shot is incredibly difficult to make, but Boyce made it look easy. Almost identical to Nick Firmino’s volley against Greenville on May 16th, Boyce showed how much confidence he’s riding on at the moment. He had multiple defenders closing in on him very quickly, but he committed to the shot, leaned forward, watched the ball come off his laces, and had the perfect balance of power and precision.
In the 60th minute, Jay Mims decided to make a couple of smart substitutions. Austin Panchot was subbed on for Evan Conway and Toby Otieno came on for Devin Boyce. The result was already in hand, so Mims was smart to let Conway start his rest and recovery early. Removing Boyce was also smart because he was sitting on a yellow card. It was unnecessary to keep Boyce in the game and let each passing minute be another possible opportunity for him to earn a second yellow card, forcing him to miss the Championship.
In the 63rd minute, Kaelon Fox made a throw-in to Manu Ferriol, who continued the run down the line. Ferriol’s door to the corner was shutting quickly, so he split Conor Doyle and Ferrety Sousa to feed a pass to Shak Adams. Illal Osumanu was riding closely on Adams, so Adams did well to the shield the ball from Osumanu and open himself toward the middle. All it took was a single glance to realize that there were a lot of black jerseys advancing quickly from the middle, so Adams was forced to direct the ball back toward the sideline. Without hesitation, Ferriol sent a curling cross-field pass to midfielder Charlie Dennis. Jake Crull was able to beat Dennis to the ball, but instead of immediately clearing the ball, Crull tried to make a cut and play out of the back. Dennis saw through this and lodged a physical challenge against Crull. After a balanced duel, involving pushing and pulling from both players, Dennis won the ball and dribbled into Union Omaha’s box. He was able to deke Daltyn Knutson and found extra space closer to the penalty spot. Not wanting to waste any more time, Dennis let loose a shot that not even Rashid Nuhu could defend. It was a great individual effort by Dennis and showed his determination, even in the face of obvious defeat.
Not wanting to give any sense of hope to FC Tucson, the Owls went back on the hunt. In the 70th minute, FC Tucson was given a corner kick. Greg Hurst was able to bring the ball down and start dribbling up the field, but couldn’t get too far before Manu Ferriol provided a challenge worthy of putting Hurst on the ground. The resulting loose ball was quickly picked up by Toby Otieno and immediately fed forward to Emir Alihodžić. Before even taking a touch on the ball, Alihodžić had already picked out a sprinting Austin Panchot on the other side of the field. As a result, a long ball was fed over the FC Tucson backline and Panchot was on goal with time to spare. I’m pretty sure Panchot was able to book FC Tucson’s flight back home in the time he took to line up his shot. Panchot’s celebration afterward was enough to tell the FC Tucson players that their airline tickets were already confirmed.
At first glance, it looks as though Austin Panchot is well offside, so I decided to do a little bit of work. In the screenshot below, you’ll see that Panchot is onside. The grounds crew for Werner Park mowed the grass such that there were different shades of grass, depending on which direction the mower traveled across that grass. The stripping mowers and rollers, assuming these are the tools used by the grounds crew, bend the grass in opposite directions, making it easier to gauge distance and where the second-to-last defender held the line. I used a quick photo-editing tool to simply draw a line along the delineated shades of grass closer to the half line from Panchot. By doing this, I’m actually giving FC Tucson the benefit of the doubt because it will be a shallower line, but even using this angle between the two players shows Panchot is onside. Because Charlie Dennis is putting on the brakes at the exact moment Panchot is continuing his run, he looks like he’s offside. The Assistant Ref made the right call in keeping their flag down.
In this moment, Búhos fans were treated to witnessing Union Omaha score the most goals they’ve ever scored in a single match. During the 2021 Regular Season, Union Omaha tallied four goals on four separate occasions. With five goals under their belt, there was only one remaining record to break: win differential. The Owls have never won a match by more than four goals. After Panchot’s goal, Union Omaha was sitting at four goals. With 20 minutes left in the match, challenge accepted.
Union Omaha fans and players would have to wait until the 83rd minute before witnessing the last record being broken. Toby Otieno carried the ball into FC Tucson’s half and spotted John Murphy waiting for the pass on the outside. Murphy showed good technique at widening the field as much as possible because his heels were on the sideline as he waited for the pass. This ensures the entire ball will not go out of bounds, opens the field, and he has his hips ready to either cut back toward the half line, or to let the ball roll across his body and attack the corner. After taking his first touch, Murphy does just that: takes the corner. Gio Calixtro went in for a challenge, but Murphy’s touch was too quick and Calixtro was left out of the play. Kaelon Fox, who had been marking JP Scearce, had to quickly shift toward the corner so as to not give away the goal line. As a result, JP Scearce was wide open at the top of the box. Murphy passed the ball to Scearce, who let his first touch take him toward the goal line and Murphy’s cut inside the box toward the penalty spot acted as a pseudo-basketball pick. From here, Scearce aimed for the upper 90 of the far post, but Wallis Lapsley was able to parry the shot away, only for it to fall right at the feet of Emir Alihodžić, who sent the record-breaking ball into the net.
For the first time in club history, Union Omaha was able to tally six goals in a single match and set a record for win differential with five goals separating the two sides. Oh yeah, and Union Omaha punched their ticket to the Championship. For the second straight season, Greenville Triumph and Union Omaha are lined up to decide the champion of USL1. This time, however, the match will actually occur and it will be in Werner Park.
I need to give props to FC Tucson, though. With as much vitriol as I caste their way in the semifinal preview, this match did not do them justice. The players fought hard and turned their season around, so it’s unfortunate that one player decided their ultimate destiny. The FC Tucson players have every right to feel robbed of a grand opportunity. They have every right to harbor resentment toward Maxi Schenfeld. However, any possible resentment needs to be quickly assuaged. The match is over, the season is over, and there’s no better time to look forward to next season than now.
Ultimately, FC Tucson should be proud of how far they were able to make it, especially when there were plenty of dark days early in the season. There are a lot of changes to come in the offseason and the FC Tucson we saw on Saturday will not be the same team we see compete next season. For that reason, FC Tucson should bring the players into the locker room and celebrate together one last time. You never you know when you’ll see your teammates again, so live it up.
Who Gives A Hoot? 