After an early goal in the second half, Union Omaha was on the cusp of winning their first match since Week 7, but One Knox converted a penalty kick in second half extra time to hand the Owls their fifth draw in seven matches.
Union Omaha entered the match with a clean bill of health, seemingly assisted by the bye week in Week 14. USL League One newcomer One Knox had three defensive players mentioned on their injury report, which the Owls used to their advantage by putting pressure on the visitors soon after the opening whistle.
One Knox’s goalkeeper, Sean Lewis, was called into action early in the match thanks to a shot from Joe Brito, his only of the evening. Mere minutes later, team captain JP Scearce made an attempt of his own to beat the keeper, but drove the shot just wide of the post. Lewis was kept on his toes in the first half, facing a total of seven shots – three from inside the box and four from outside.
Both sides seem to favor carrying the ball down their attacking left side, which lended a lot of looks from the fans at how each side would settle their possession, transition out of pressure, and build their next attack. By halftime, Union Omaha had claimed 55% of the possession with 85% total accuracy in their passing, which still held relatively strong at 76% in the opposing half. Union Omaha also kept One Knox’s defense busy with handling crosses. Before the break, the Owls had 14 crosses into the box. The pressure was there, now the home side simply needed to put one in the back of the net. Búhos Nation wouldn’t have to wait long to celebrate in the second half.
In the 48th minute, after Union Omaha’s Steevan Dos Santos won a direct kick in a favorable position, team scoring leader Noe Meza stepped up to deliver a beautiful, finesse-filled strike that rose over the defensive wall and snuck inside the near post. The goal was his seventh of the season, keeping him only one goal behind the current Golden Boot leader. Union Omaha maintained the lead and with each passing second, the home fans were drawing closer to the field with anticipation to witness the team’s first win since late April, but One Knox had a chapter yet to be told in the night’s drama.
Late in the second half, after the fourth official had already held up the sign alerting the fans of the six extra minutes, One Knox earned a corner kick. With the ball in the air, Union Omaha’s Alexis Souahy battled for prime position to clear the incoming threat, but the ref called a foul against him, gave him a yellow card, and awarded a penalty kick to the visitors. One Knox’s second-half sub Ilija Ilic converted the penalty kick and brought the scoreboard to an even level. Though the ref continued more time for play, the result would stay the same.
Union Omaha conceded their eighth equalizer of the season, far and away the league leader in that category. Of the 18 total goals conceded this season, Union Omaha has allowed 12 in the second half. It was also the second time that the Owls have ever drawn against an expansion side in their first meeting.
Next up for Union Omaha is a home match against Tormenta FC on Saturday, June 24th. The promotional night for that match is Pride Night, which comes on the heel of the club’s recent release of their Pride jersey. Kickoff is scheduled for 7PM.
Postmatch Quotes
Head Coach Dominic Casciato
General thoughts on the evening:
“Yeah, I think it was a tough one for us to take because I think we were in control of the game for most of it, especially after scoring. I thought we looked pretty comfortable with it and [One Knox] didn’t really cause us any problems. I think it’s a foul on Alexis [Souahy] in the build up to the corner. I think that should be a free kick to us and not a corner and then we probably see the game end. Tough one to take, but again, a lot of positives: we defended well and played some good stuff, so you’ve just got to stay positive and keep moving forward. And these decisions that are going against us, they’ll start going our way soon and when they do, we’ll be unstoppable.”
On match tactics (i.e. the heavy play along the flanks, outside crosses):
“Yeah, obviously with every opponent, we watched three, four games of them going into it and we noticed some stuff with Knoxville that we thought we could expose them in certain areas.
So that was one area you look to exploit tonight.”
Thoughts on the penalty call:
“I haven’t seen it. I haven’t seen it, but I don’t think it should have been a corner because I think it’s a foul on Alexis [Souahy]. When Alexis makes the clearance, the big center forward smashes him once he clears it, so it should be a free kick to us. I don’t think it should be a corner, but I haven’t seen the penalty, so I don’t know. I’d have to see it.
On a clean injury report, yet sights of Eddie Gordon in a boot:
“I think that’s the fashion these days. I think Eddie likes wearing a big black boot now. So yeah, that probably explained that one.”
On the upcoming match against Tormenta:
“Yeah, obviously a quick turnaround for us. They had a good season last year. I know their staff, I know it’s a good club and they’ve got some good players, but I will be ready for them and looking forward to the game on Saturday.”
Team captain JP Scearce:
Thoughts on the match:
“Obviously frustrated. Frustrated with the results. Started out pretty good. We’re dominating in the first half, dominating in the second half as well. Second half, we dropped off a little bit, which is natural because we’re holding on to lead and guys are cramping up, getting subbed off, so we’re on the defensive end a lot, but just frustrated to give it up like that at the end. I didn’t see if it was a pen or not. I think it was a questionable call, but it is what it is.”
On wearing the armband:
“Yeah, I mean, it obviously feels good to wear the armband. We all know Conor [Doyle] is the main captain, but if he’s not on the field, then it feels good to be the leader on the team, but at the end of the day, it’s just an armband that goes around my arm. Everyone on the field is a leader on the team. Everyone off the field is a leader, as well. It just feels nice to wear the armband, but everyone’s a leader on the team.”
On the intense battles in the midfield:
“Yeah, it was. I mean, we had them played in a little bit with the break we had, but it was a tough game, obviously. Very, very humid and hot. It was tough to run out in the field, but I’m just used to it. I’m used to playing as a box-to-box midfielder. I’m just used to running that much, covering all that distance.”
On the Tormenta match on Saturday:
“We’re obviously looking forward to it. After the results we’ve been getting, we want to turn this luck around and get on the winning side. For me, it’s a special game because we got a few of the guys that used to be on the team with Toby [Otieno], Dalton [Knutson], and Johnny [Murphy]. It’ll be good to see those guys and play against them. Hopefully we can come out with a win.”
Noe Meza:
General thoughts on the match:
“I thought it was overall a pretty good performance. I thought defensively we were pretty solid, not giving up very many chances. We created a few. I was glad to get the free kick early in the second half to set the tone and then I think we were really unfortunate with the call against us right at the end of the game.”
On scoring, staying in the Golden Boot race:
“I’m just trying to pay attention to getting back on the right track in terms of getting wins. I’m really happy that I keep scoring. More importantly, I just want to do what I can to get the win.”
On Saturday’s Tormenta match:
“I think there’s a lot of positives to take out of this game. We’ll build from it. The good thing is it’s a quick turnaround, so we’ll be ready for Saturday.”
Marco Milanese:
General thoughts on the match:
“I think it was a good performance by the team. I think we needed to manage the results better at the end and a very subjective goal at the end influences the results, but I think with this effort good results will come soon.”
On his busy, intense night of defensive battles:
“Yes, it was a very good game defensively, I think, until the end when the ref got back there. I am a little bit tired, so I need to recover also because we play Saturday. It’s a quick turnaround and I really need to focus on Saturday right now.”
On being included in the offensive side of the ball:
“Yes, I’m trying to work. I’m more of a defender and I’m trying to work every day on my attacking side. I’m getting better. In the second half, I stayed a little bit more inside to protect the result.”
On Saturday’s Tormenta match:
“We’re going to start scouting them tomorrow and see what their weak points are, but I think we need to focus on ourselves now because I think we’re starting to turn around. The performance is getting better. Even if the result doesn’t show it, but we are analyzing the game and we see that we’re creating more chances every game. I think that it’s going to be a tough game because they’re a good team, but we need to win it, so our focus is on scouting tomorrow, recovering, and preparing for the game.”
Who Gives A Hoot? 