It took more than 90 minutes for Union Omaha to score against Chattanooga, but the late, equalizing heroics from Chavany Willis earned the Owls a point, extended their unbeaten streak to seven matches, and kept themselves above the playoff threshold. In front of 5,167 people and under a beautiful Nebraska sky, the Owls continued to show their ability to grind and find results.
Union Omaha looked strong in the first 15 minutes, creating several quality possessions and building their attack, but Chattanooga capitalized on an early goal that would set the tone for the rest of the match. With a pass deflecting off of a Union Omaha defender, Chattanooga’s Pedro Hernandez was able to get to the ball first as it crept into the penalty area, took one touch on the ball, and placed the ball in the back of the net.
The rest of the half was an equal battle, with spare chances for both sides. Chattanooga owned the ball for large stretches of the half, earning 61.5% of the possession. They needed the possession because they were losing a lot of the duels before halftime. Union Omaha ended up winning 56.3% of the duels, with 68.8% of the aerial duels. The three shots on goal in the first half from the Red Wolves would be the only shots on goal for the rest of the match. The second half told a very different tale.
Union Omaha started the second half with a steady stream of higher-quality possessions. Chattanooga was held at bay and rarely found themselves able to generate any offense. Frustrations started to grow from the Red Wolves, conceding 4 fouls in the first 11 minutes of the second half, matching the total amount of fouls they conceded in the entire first half. Just five minutes into the second half, Chattanooga’s Pedro Hernandez earned his first yellow card for a harsh tackle. In the 66th minute, Hernandez would receive a second yellow card and his marching orders to the locker room. For the remaining 24 minutes, plus stoppage time, Union Omaha would play up a man, while still down a goal.
Offensive opportunities were easier to come by for the Owls and they were able to take more shots inside the box, double their shot total from outside the box, and more than tripled the amount of crosses they were able to perform. There was only one statistic that was still eluding them: goals scored.
As the frustrations from the large crowd inside Werner Park grew, Union Omaha was able to relieve some of that tension with some aforementioned heroics. After the fourth official raised the board and alerted the crowd of the five additional minutes of stoppage time, urgency among the crowd was at a premium. As Joe Brito received the ball along the right sideline, he immediately turned up field to link up with Dion Acoff. The short pass inside to Acoff was followed with an evasive maneuver to avoid a few Red Wolves defenders and he had some space to work with. The center of the field, right outside the penalty area, was wide open and Chavany Willis took advantage of the opportunity. As he floated into space, Acoff set him up with a trickling pass that was primed for a banger. What followed was a world-class strike from Willis that rocketed into the upper corner of the near post. Chattanooga goalkeeper Carlos Avilez went horizontal to block the shot, but he had no chance and could only watch as the ball sailed past him.
In a video posted to social media, Union Omaha head coach Jay Mims said, “[I’m] happy for the guys to get that goal. We just never stopped fighting. We never stopped until the very end.”
The draw kept Chattanooga in 8th place, with only one win in their last six matches. Week 19 doesn’t favor the Red Wolves much, as they play at Central Valley on Wednesday and then host Greenville on Saturday.
With the draw, Union Omaha jumps a spot and ends Week 18 in 6th place, above the playoff threshold for the 6th time this season. The Owls still have at least a game in hand on their neighbors, with as many as three games in hand on league-leading Greenville Triumph. Union Omaha travels to Central Valley for the first time on Saturday for their lone match of Week 19.
Union Omaha has officially entered the second half of the 2022 season, so there is still plenty of drama to come. The Owls have played six home games and ten away games, which means they have nine home games and five away games left in the season. If you don’t already have your tickets for those remaining home games, reserve your ticket now and be at Werner Park in person to witness all of the action to come.
When you’re looking for more Union Omaha content, make sure to check with Who Gives A Hoot Media for articles, data breakdowns, and weekly episodes of the podcast. With 14 games left in the season, we’ll keep you up to date on the latest happenings within the club.
Match Report:
Goals:
20’ – OMA 0 – 1 CHA: Pedro Hernandez (Unassisted) – unlucky deflection off OMA defender
90+3’ – OMA 1 – 1 CHA: Chavany Willis (Assisted by Dion Acoff)
Discipline:
50’ – Yellow Card: CHA Pedro Hernandez
66’ – 2nd Yellow Card (Red Card): CHA Pedro Hernandez
67’ – Yellow Card: CHA Aaron Lombardi
Substitutions:
45’ – OMA: Noe Meza on for Hugo Kametani
45’ – OMA: Eddie Gordon on for Gabriel Claudio
63’ – OMA: Alex Bruce on for Kemal Malcolm
63’ – OMA: Dion Acoff on for Luis Gil
71’ – CHA: Rey Ortiz on for Alex Tejera
81’ – OMA: Chavany Willis on for JP Scearce
82’ – CHA: Josue Cartagena on for Juan Galindrez
86’ – CHA: Jorge Luna on for Jimmie Villalobos
86’ – CHA: Jonathan Guadarrama on for Rafael Mentzingen
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