After a contentious 90 minutes and change, Union Omaha was able to find their 5th league win of the season, defeating FC Tucson 2-1 on Saturday night. The Owls even spent a third of the match down a man, after an early (soft) red card was given to JP Scearce in the 30th minute of play. It was what happened between Union Omaha’s goals that took attention away from the victory.
In what could easily be a record-setting occasion, Union Omaha and FC Tucson ended the match having received a combined 14 cards, including 2 soft red cards. The majority of the yellow cards were handed out shortly after the second half began when, after a foul was called, the two teams came together to exchange pleasantries. Less than ten minutes later, FC Tucson would receive a soft red card of their own and the two sides would finish on level player counts. While the cards are what is likely to be talked about, the goals are what ultimately decided the greater scheme of things.
Union Omaha opened the deadlock with a 14th-minute goal from Hugo Kametani, assisted by Kemal Malcolm. In typical fashion, Union Omaha was able to build an attack with less than a handful of passes, but instead of working up the sideline, the link-up play took place straight down the middle of the field. Malcolm was found along the right sideline and sent a quality service into the box and Kametani was able to finish it with relative ease. The goal was Kametani’s first since Union Omaha played Minnesota United in the US Open Cup on May 25th. The assist was Malcolm’s first assist of the season. As suddenly as this goal occurred, the second goal took even less time to develop.
In the 90+1’ minute of play, former Union Omaha player, and current FC Tucson defender, Jake Crull made an errant pass backward toward his goalie. Union Omaha second-half sub, Alex Bruce, was within striking distance and pounced on the opportunity. Bruce sprinted toward the ball, was the first to arrive, and swept the ball wide to avoid the FC Tucson goalkeeper. He made the goal look easy, but it was from a tough angle and in the heat of the moment, so full credit to Bruce for remaining calm and composed enough to score the goal. The unassisted (Editor’s Note: Jake Crull cannot be credited with an assist but we all know what happened – RL) goal is Bruce’s first goal as an Owl.
When the dust from Week 16 action settled, FC Tucson remained in last place in the league. The closest team in the standings is five points away, so if they are going to make the playoffs, they’re going to need a win streak at the end of the season similar to what we saw last year. FC Tucson will host Charlotte Independence on Saturday, July 23rd and kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 PM (CST).
By virtue of their win, Union Omaha jumped three spots to end Week 16 in 4th place and return to the playoff grouping after dropping below the threshold in Week 15. The 4th-place finish to the week is their highest finish since Week 4, when the Owls finished in 2nd place. Union Omaha remains in the thick of the hunt, as teams 4th through 10th are separated by a mere 3 points. Next week, the Owls travel to Greenville, South Carolina for another edition of Belt Week. Tune into the match on Saturday at 6 PM (CST) on ESPN+.
Who Gives A Hoot? 