The Queen City reigned supreme on Saturday night as Charlotte Independence scored two late goals against Union Omaha to win 2-1. With 2,902 fans in attendance at American Legion Memorial Stadium, the Jacks earned a result after a pair of late goals from forwards Iván Luquetta and Khori Bennett. This was the first ever match between the two sides and the only match that will take place in Charlotte during the 2022 season. The remaining two matches between Charlotte Independence and Union Omaha will take place at Werner Park in Omaha, Nebraska in May and again in July.
Union Omaha entered the match in third place, a victory away from the top of the league, and an enormous amount of confidence on their side. Before the match began, the Owls were also undefeated across all competitions and coming off of two straight clean sheets in league play. This was a group of men ready to continue that run of hot form and put the league on notice.
The first half of the match was a relatively even affair. Aside from the possession favoring Charlotte (58% to 42%), both sides had nearly identical stats. Union Omaha pressed hard, especially along the right side of the attacking third. Forward Noe Meza had a header on goal in the first minute of play, but Union Omaha was unable to register a shot on goal for the remainder of the half. On the other side of the field, Charlotte was able to create chances of their own, but with two shots off target and three blocks from Union Omaha’s defense, they were unable to score a goal, let alone register a shot on target. After the halftime whistle blew, both teams had plenty to think about as they made their way to their respective locker rooms.
The second half began much like the first did, but with each passing minute, it was clear that the metaphorical temperature between the two sides was rising. Charlotte was pressing very high, but losing challenges. While Charlotte was gaining confidence by continuing to control the greater portion of the half with their possession, they didn’t look as confident against Union Omaha’s offensive onslaught.
In the 65th minute, Union Omaha midfielder and captain Conor Doyle passed the ball to forward Hugo Kametani. The forward was just outside of the penalty area, toward the left side of the attacking third. Kametani was able to get a cross into the box, where forward Noe Meza was waiting for the service. Though Meza wasn’t able to win the first aerial challenge, Charlotte defender Diego Rocha’s heading clearance failed greatly, as Meza was able to bring down the second 50/50, turn his body toward the goal, and slip the ball past Charlotte goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas for the goal. The goal was Meza’s first in league play, but second across all competitions.
With less than half an hour left to play in the match, Charlotte made a key substitution. In the 78th minute, Charlotte forward Iván Luquetta replaced defender Diego Rocha. Luquetta, alongside fellow second-half substitute Ayrton Páez, continued to press high and open up offensive opportunities for the Jacks. Charlotte fans would have to wait until the 83rd minute to see a payoff from the second-half adjustments.
After a deep ball from Charlotte defender Tomás Maya, Carson Talboys was able to recover the ball just before going out of bounds. Teammates Omar Ciss and Miguel Ibarra came to the rescue and relieved some of the pressure on Talboys. After setting up a triangle around Union Omaha players and completing a few passes amongst themselves, Ibarra was wide open for the drop pass. Ibarra took a couple of touches and used his right foot to send a beautiful cross into the box. Waiting on the other end of the cross was Luquetta and Union Omaha defender Daltyn Knutson. The aerial battle was won by Luquetta and he was able to head the ball just inside the near post. The goal was his first ever with his new club. With the score tied, neither side seemed willing to share a point from a draw.
Union Omaha had a couple of key passes from Doyle and second-half substitute Kemal Malcolm. The passes made their way into Charlotte’s box, but only one of the passes led to a chance on goal. Malcolm would also have a couple of chances in the box, but both ended up going wide of the goal. The Owls were generating chances, but only Charlotte was able to produce a goal before the final whistle.
Three minutes into extra time, Charlotte was able to force a turnover in their own half. Within seconds, the Jacks were moving into position in the attacking third. After the center referee gave advantage to Charlotte, Ibarra kept the ball at his feet, turned to the right sideline, and fed a pass to Koa Santos. The on-loan defender from Charlotte FC sent a great cross toward the back post. Khori Bennett made a simple run past Union Omaha defender Emir Alihodžić and put himself in prime position to head the ball toward the goal. His header went immediately to the ground. As the ball bounced off the ground, Union Omaha goalkeeper Kevin Piedrahita was able to get his hands on the ball and deflect it toward the back post. The deflection off the post was immediately cleared by Knutson, but as the balled sailed into the distance, the decision was already made: goal scored by Charlotte. In the middle of Charlotte’s calls for a goal, the center referee looked to the assistant referee along the right sideline, who was confident enough to make the decision that a goal had been scored. The final whistle blew not long after that and Charlotte successfully completed the comeback win, earning three points in the process.
The loss dropped Union Omaha to sixth place in the league. Their next match is on Wednesday, May 11th at Caniglia Field, as the Owls look to be the first USL League One side to make it to the Round of 16 of the US Open Cup. The next league match for Union Omaha is on Saturday, May 14th against the Richmond Kickers at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.
Charlotte’s win lifted the club into a five-way tie for first place, based on points. On May 7th, the Jacks take the road for the first time this season and face off against South Georgia Tormenta FC. The match is likely to be the headliner for next week’s slate of matches because both clubs are tied for first place.
Stay tuned to Who Gives A Hoot for the latest reactions, commentary, and analysis of this match and more, including a deep dive on this match later this week. You can also subscribe to the website and podcast to receive notifications as soon as content is released on those platforms. Make sure to follow all of our social media accounts for even more content related to Union Omaha.
Scoring Summary:
65’ – OMA: Noe Meza, unassisted
83’ – CLT: Iván Luquetta, assisted by Miguel Ibarra
90+4’ – CLT: Khori Bennett, assisted by Laukoa Santos
Substitutions:
45’ – CLT: Aryton Páez replaced Will Vint
72’ – OMA: Dion Acoff replaced Yoskar “Edu” Galván-Mercado
72’ – OMA: Kemal Malcolm replaced Noe Meza
78’ – CLT: Iván Luquetta replaced Diego Rocha
89’ – CLT: Héctor Acosta replaced Omar Ciss
90+2’ – OMA: Isaac Bawa replaced Dion Acoff
Discipline Summary:
38’ – CLT: Omar Ciss (Yellow card)
86’ – CLT: Aryton Páez (Yellow card)
86’ – OMA: Jay Mims (Yellow card)
90+6’ – OMA: Jay Mims (Yellow card, Red card)
Who Gives A Hoot? 
Thanks Rich. J R Opperman Ph.D
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