Union Omaha vs. Greenville Triumph
Werner Park, Papillion, Nebraska
4 PM (CST), ESPN+
Can you feel the electricity in the air? No, I’m not talking about the electricity from all of the people hanging their Christmas lights early, or the ones taking up space in the Werner Park’s parking lot. I’m talking about the USL League One Championship. Today will be the deciding moment for both Union Omaha and Greenville Triumph as they take the field at Werner Park to decide who gets the belt and the USL1 Cup.
These two clubs were at set to face each other last year in the USL League One Championship, but due to COVID concerns, the match was cancelled on October 29th, 2020 – mere days before kickoff. Greenville was awarded the cup as a result of their superior points-per-game average. But today, there won’t be any last-minute scramble to determine the winner based on statistics. This year, the winner will be decided on the field.
Union Omaha, and their fans, had to wait 177 days from the day the Championship was cancelled last season to the start of the Búhos season this year. That’s a long time to have that nagging sense of incompleteness. Now, 210 days later, we find ourselves with another round of the budding rivalry between Union Omaha and Greenville.
Greenville coach and US Soccer Hall of Famer John Harkes brings his disciplined, technical, and cerebral squad to Omaha looking to confirm their belief of being the better club. This is a team that hasn’t lost a match since August 28th. They were one of the hottest teams as the regular season ended and they kept that momentum going into the playoffs.
One reason for the continued success of the club has to be the backline, as well as they’re depth at goalkeeper. With a defensive backline consisting of Tyler Polak, Brandon Fricke, Evan Lee, and Abdi Mohamed, Greenville has maintained their success, even despite midseason woes, injury spells, and lineup fluctuations. The Triumph have only allowed six goals more than Union Omaha, but also racked up 14 clean sheets. If the number of clean sheets doesn’t jump out to you, consider this: each club played 28 matches in the regular season. That means Greenville was able to prevent their opponent from scoring a single goal against them in half of their matches this season. That’s incredible and deserves recognition.
Another reason for the sustained success is Greenville’s depth at goalkeeper. Dallas Jaye had been the man in the net for the Triumph since 2019. He won the 2019 and 2020 Golden Glove award, as well as the Goalkeeper of the Year after last season. As the 2021 season rolled on, John Harkes started noticing increased competition on the training ground from backup goalkeeper Paul Christensen. At some point this season, Harkes made the difficult decision to bench Jaye and start Christensen. [Editor’s note: was it really that hard after Jaye cut his hair?] It would have been easy for Harkes and Greenville to continue riding the coattails of Jaye for another season, but Harkes showed he is capable of making tough decisions and ones he feels are necessary for the continued success of the club. After Jaye was able to accumulate six clean sheets, Christensen filled his shoes perfectly and continued on to earn eight clean sheets.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention Greenville’s prolific goal scorer, Marios Lomis. So far this season, Lomis has scored 15 goals in 27 appearances – good enough for second place in the Golden Boot race. When Greenville takes the field, they basically reserve the attacking third for him, let him loose, and watch him rack up the goals. The next highest goal scorer on the team is midfielder Aaron Walker with five goals, followed by forward Lachlan McLean with three goals. The strength of Lomis is also the weakness of Greenville. With proper planning and execution, Lomis’s role on the field could be diminished and with it goes Greenville’s scoring security blanket.
These two clubs have faced each other three times in the past two seasons and both clubs have a win, a loss, and a draw. Each club has scored three goals in the series, as well. The last meeting between the two came on October 9th, 2021 and Greenville returned home with a 1-0 win, thanks to an early 12th minute goal from Marios Lomis. Not to make excuses for that match, but neither Evan Conway nor Greg Hurst started that match and Union Omaha played a very passionless first half. As soon as the second half began, which involved both Conway and Hurst being subbed on, Union Omaha controlled the entire second half, peppering the Greenville goal with shots and creating one-way traffic in their half of the field.
Greenville is a very patient team who loves to play out of the back. They also love square passes and drops, seeming to choose those passing routes over pushing the ball forward. Whenever the goalie has the ball, whether it’s a goal kick or the result of a drop pass, you’ll notice that the entire team immediately spreads out to the dimensions of the field. They aren’t going to bomb the ball up the field and take their chances. Instead, they’re going to stay calm, look for an open teammate, and not take a risk. As a result, this means they take their time to build their attacks. It’s a very calculated maneuver. With the field dimensions inside Werner Park, they won’t be gifted that kind of time and space. It will be interesting to see how they plan for their second overall visit to Werner Park.
If Union Omaha players want to set themselves up for the best chance of winning today’s match, they have to keep this condensed. Greenville is comfortable with time and space, so Union Omaha has to jump on that and make them uncomfortable for the entire match. This “condensed” word also pertains to Union Omaha players. They need to keep their lines close, force repeated duels, and elicit irrational decisions from Greenville players due to panicking from constant pressure. This increased pressure will also work toward defending against Aaron Walker, who has been very successful at orchestrating the Greenville offense. If Union Omaha can limit his influence on the flow of the match, they’ll have a greater chance of success, as well.
On offense, Union Omaha needs to keep Evan Conway and Greg Hurst involved. With the strong cast of supporters in the midfield, this is bound to happen. Also, continue crossing the ball as much as they have been all season. Paul Christensen has a lot of confidence right now and is not afraid to leave the goal line in favor of punching away crosses. If enough bodies can fill the box and the cross can draw him out, Union Omaha is in prime position for more tap-ins.
At the end of the day, today is about celebration. It’s been a great season for both clubs and these two are creating a rivalry that any soccer fan would appreciate watching. The production from both sides is at a high level, the coaches operate with high tactical intelligence, and the fans seem to have taken a liking to one another, as well. Make no mistake, though: Union Omaha wants the Cup and the Belt and are ready for today’s match. It’s going to be a good one, so if you aren’t at Werner Park, sit back and relax. If you are in Werner Park, don’t ever let your pants touch your seat. Stand up, get vocal, and make sure Union Omaha knows they have the full support of every fan in attendance.
Today’s tailgate will be starting extra early, so head over to Werner Park for the 11 AM start. This week features BBQ, which is bound to disappoint no one. On the way to the stadium, get yourself even more hyped by listening to the latest episode of the “Who Gives A Hoot” podcast. They fellas had a live episode last night, which you can find on Instagram. If you forgot your scarf, or are in the mood to continue collecting more merchandise, there will be a booth set up with discounted prices on all of its items. We can’t wait to see you at the stadium. ¡Viva Búhos!
Who Gives A Hoot? 
Great piece.
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