Owls Settle for a Draw on the Road

After taking the lead three times, Union Omaha finished the match by drawing the Chattanooga Red Wolves 3-3.  The Owls had the hosts on their heels for most of the first half, but a second-half showdown forced Union Omaha to settle for the single point on the road.  A literal last-second penalty save from Rashid Nuhu was the last verse of a long dialogue between the two sides on Saturday night.

In the opening ten minutes of the match, Union Omaha had already amassed two free kicks in scoring position, a corner kick, and a live shot from outside the box.  That steady stream of offensive opportunities never seemed to slow down in the first 45 minutes.  Time and time again, the Owls threatened the goal, but were unable to put substantial distance between themselves and the Red Wolves.  By the time the halftime whistle was blown, Union Omaha was ahead 1-0, thanks to a 21st-minute goal from Pedro Dolabella, his first in league play.

At halftime, the stat sheets leaned heavily toward Union Omaha, thanks for the one-way traffic.  The Owls maintained 55% of the possession, as well as winning 60% of the duels.  Union Omaha dominated in the air, winning 90% of the aerial duels.

Head Coach Dominic Casciato was keen to take advantage of a mismatch because a lot of the traffic in the first ten minutes of the match seemed to go along the left side of the sideline:

When that failed, the next ten minutes from the Owls seemed to be spent more mixing long balls with attacking the right corner.  One thing to notice in this time span is the lack of passing in the middle of the field.  Another thing to notice is the lack of penetrating passes deep in the final third.  The buildup play is developing, as is the accuracy inside the opponents half, but presence of a maestro in the middle to quarterback the offense doesn’t seem to be present at the moment.

By halftime, Union Omaha’s shot map looked like this:

You can see shots on target (green), shots off target (red), blocked shots (blue 20), and the goal (blue 9).  The attacking stats in the first half leaned heavily toward Union Omaha, as well:

Once the second half started, Union Omaha was suddenly playing far more defense than they did in the first half.  The pass maps displayed earlier in the article were 10 minute windows of action.  The image below is the first 20 minutes of the second half.  The Owls had dramatically less passing opportunities:

The heat map in the second half showed the Owls abandoning the first-half mismatch and attacking the right flank far more often:

Another thing to notice here is the greater presence spent in their own half.  Those blotches are a lot bigger and more intense than the first half.

After giving up a goal in the 53rd minute, the Owls put together a quality attacking opportunity, culminating in an Alex Steinwascher goal in the 66th minute.

The Red Wolves equalized in the 73rd, inspiring the Owls to take the lead for the final time of the night in the very next minute of play.

Union Omaha seemed to be comfortable with a one goal lead, but Chattanooga was determined to push the match to the brink, scoring in the third minute of second-half extra time.  In the last minute of extra time, the Red Wolves were awarded a penalty kick, but Union Omaha’s Rashid Nuhu came up big with a save to keep the sides even.

In the postmatch article on the club’s website, Head Coach Dominic Casciato provided some quotes with his thoughts on the match.  “Disappointing to just come away with a point, but Rashid obviously came up big in the last minute with a huge penalty save,” Union Omaha Head Coach Dominic Casciato said. “We had an opportunity early in the second half to kill the game off, which we didn’t take.”  He also took a brief moment to recognize Chattanooga’s effort.  “Credit to Chattanooga for fighting back every time we scored and putting us under pressure,” Casciato said. “Every time you score 3 goals away from home, you’re expected to win the game, but we go again Wednesday now.”

Union Omaha has two matches in Week 11, so stay tuned for some great previews from Jon in the coming days.  He’ll have you fully informed for the upcoming matches.  As always, more episodes of the podcast will keep you updated on the latest Union Omaha happenings, as well as reactions to the latest matches and takes on your questions.

Match Summary

Attendance: Unannounced

Goal Summary:

21’: OMA – Pedro Dolabella (unassisted)

53’: CHA – Chevone Marsh (unassisted)

66’: OMA – Alex Steinwascher, assisted by Conor Doyle 

73’: CHA – Ropapa Mensah, assisted by Ernesto Espinoza

74’: OMA – Joe Gallardo, assisted by Joe Brito

90’+3: CHA – Alex Tejera, assisted by Ernesto Espinoza

Substitution Summary:

61’: CHA – Mayele Malango replaces Pedro Hernandez

64’: OMA – Joe Gallardo replaces Luis Gil

65’: OMA – Alex Steinwascher replaces Noe Meza

70’: CHA – Ernesto Espinoza replaces Ryley Kraft

70’: CHA – Alex Tejera replaces Ualefi

84’: OMA – Chavany Willis replaces Pedro Dolabella

88’: OMA – Junior Palacios replaces Shaft Brewer Jr.

Discipline Summary: 

22’: CHA – Nicolás Cardona (yellow card)

74’: OMA – Joe Gallardo (yellow card)

77’: OMA – Rashid Nuhu (yellow card)