It looked as though the Owls were well on their way to yet another draw, but with mere seconds left in stoppage time, Union Omaha defender Dion Acoff scored a goal to gain the lead and ultimately secure victory on the road against One Knox.
The beginning of the match seemed to carry a tone of caution, with both clubs moving the ball carefully and testing out the opponent’s movements. Whether it was the level of opposition or the fact that temperatures were in the mid-80s with a humidity level close to 70%, the evening proceeded with slow deliberations at first. Once Union Omaha midfielder Joe Brito took his shot in the eighth minute, it would only take a few minutes before the scoreboard operator sprung into action.
In the tenth minute, after a Union Omaha foul gifted a set piece to One Knox in a dangerous position, the hosts would take the early lead. The Owls were able to clear the initial threat from One Knox’s Callum Johnson, but Sean O’Hearn was able to force the ball back into the penalty area, where Dani Fernández was able to put it away for the early lead. The home side’s celebrations were short lived, as Union Omaha would soon score the equalizer.
Just five minutes later, the Owls were also gifted a direct kick inside the attacking third. Peter Swinkels, One Knox goalkeeper filling in for an injured Sean Lewis, had every right to believe that Union Omaha’s Noe Meza would take the free kick. Little did he know the threat possessed in the foot of the other man lined up for the shot – defender Junior Palacios. As both men stepped up to take the kick, Palacios followed through with his attempt and what resulted was an absolute rocket hurtling directly at Swinkels. The goalkeeper had little to no time to react before the ball was already creating shockwaves in the net directly behind him. The teams would finish the first half on equal terms, but the second half still had plenty of drama left to unravel.
The first half stats were fairly even in some respects. The two sides split possession down the middle, both had an overall passing accuracy of 70%, and even the foul count was split evenly, with both clubs conceding eight. The biggest difference in the first half was One Knox’s offensive production. The home side had a total of seven shots in the first half, with four being on target. Five of the seven shots were inside Union Omaha’s penalty area. Meanwhile, Union Omaha had only collected three total shots, with one being on target. As Union Omaha fans have come to expect, Head Coach Dominic Casciato and his technical staff were able to make some adjustments at the break and the second half would tell a completely different story.
While the first half had Union Omaha playing more defensively, the second half turned out to be a true battle in the middle third of the field. Union Omaha’s central defensive midfielders, Conor Doyle and team captain JP Scearce, shone as they thwarted oncoming traffic and quickly turned attacks the other direction. Doyle was perfect on night with his duels, going 9/9 when combining his ground and aerial duels. Scearce won 14 duels, while also winning 7 of his 10 aerial duels. Despite facing the huge responsibility of minding the middle of the field, the duo combined to only give up three fouls in the entire match. As the second half progressed, it wasn’t without its contraversies, though.
The first point of contention came in the 76th minute, when midfielder Joe Brito received a pass as he was entering One Knox’s penalty area. As he took more strides inside the box, it looked as though there was a legitimate case for a penalty, as Brito looked to be shoved to the ground from a One Knox defender. Despite Brito’s pleas for a penalty, the play resulted in a goal kick for the home side.
Another point of contention took place in the 82nd minute, when Union Omaha defender Luca Mastrantonio went in late for a sliding challenge against Jimmie Villalobos, sending the home side’s midfielder into a series of rolls. Without hesitation, the center ref reached for his back pocket and issued the red card. This was the third straight match, featuring Union Omaha, where one of the sides was awarded a red card. In this instance, it was Union Omaha’s third red card in three matches and fourth of the season. For the eight remaining minutes, plus stoppage time, Union Omaha would be forced to play a man down.
After 90 minutes, the two sides were awarded 4 minutes of stoppage time and all signs seemed to point to yet another draw for Union Omaha fans. In the last minute of stoppage time, with seconds to spare before the final whistle, defender Dion Acoff received a pass from Luis Gil and dribbled into One Knox’s penalty area. It was like straight out of a Hollywood production: the thumping heartbeat, the time slowing down, and Acoff winding up the final shot of the match. The ball traveled across the goal area and tucked itself into the far netting, resulting in pure jubilation from the visitors. Even goalkeeper Ian McGrane trekked across the entire length of the field to take part in the celebrations. Soon after the ensuing kickoff, the clouds opened up, the rain began to pour and the center ref blew the final whistle.
The win gives Union Omaha a valuable three points and lifts them above Richmond Kickers to assume sixth place in the updated league standings. The Owls stay on the road as they travel to Lexington, Kentucky to face off against Lexington Sporting Club for the first time ever. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 6 PM CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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Random stats
- This was the second goal scored by Junior Palacios. His last goal came in Week 7, when he delivered an identical direct kick to help Union Omaha defeat Northern Colorado at Werner Park with a final score of 3-2.
- This was the fourth assist from Luis Gil, which ties him with Joe Brito for club leader in assists for the 2023 Regular Season.
- This was Dion Acoff’s first goal of the 2023 season. His last goal came in Week 23 of the 2022 Regular Season, where he scored the game-winning goal against Chattanooga Red Wolves in the 90’+1 minute.
- Tonight’s goal from Acoff, in the 90’+4 minute, ties a club record for the latest goal scored by an Owl. The last time someone scored that late in a regular season match was JP Scearce, when Union Omaha defeated Central Valley Fuego at Werner Park in Week 4 of the 2022 Regular Season.
- In tonight’s match, One Knox held the lead for only 5 minutes, the shortest lead any club has held over Union Omaha this season. The previous shortest lead occurred during Week 11, when Forward Madison led Union Omaha for only 7 minutes before the Owls were able to find an equalizer.
- This is the first time Union Omaha has risen above the playoff threshold since Week 8 of the 2023 Regular Season.
- There have only been five matches this season, including tonight’s match, in which the opponent scored first. Tonight was the first time that Union Omaha was able to secure a victory after the full time whistle. On the flip side, Union Omaha is undefeated when scoring first this season.
- This is the first time in club history where Union Omaha won, yet no midfielder or forward scored a single goal. *This excludes own-goals as a contributor to the victory.
Match Summary
Attendance: *Not reported
Injury Report:
ONE: GK – Sean Lewis (Injury)
ONE: DF – James Thomas (Injury)
OMA: DF – Eddie Gordon (Injury)
OMA: DF – Stefan Mueller (Injury)
Goal Summary:
10’: ONE – #13 Dani Fernández (assisted by #40 Sean O’Hearn)
15’: OMA – #18 Junior Palacios
90’+4: OMA – #26 Dion Acoff (assisted by #20 Luis Gil)
Substitution Summary:
45’: ONE – #11 Frank Ross replaces #12 Callum Johnson
45’: ONE – #14 Jimmie Villalobos replaces #40 Sean O’Hearn
45’: OMA – #20 Luis Gil replaces #9 Pedro Dolabella
45’: OMA – #26 Dion Acoff replaces #18 Junior Palacios
64’: OMA – #11 Joe Gallardo replaces #10 Steevan Dos Santos
64’: ONE – #3 Kyle McDowell replaces #18 Derek Waldeck
64’: ONE – #91 Gio Calixtro replaces #10 Ilija Ilić
90’+1: OMA – #6 Chavany Willis replaces #7 Noe Meza
90’+1: ONE – #30 Jan Erik Leinhos replaces #8 Angelo Kelly-Rosales
Discipline Summary:
9’: OMA – #18 Junior Palacios (Yellow card)
37’: ONE – #5 Jalen Crisler (Yellow card)
45’+1: ONE – #4 Jordan Skelton (Yellow card)
69’: ONE – #91 Gio Calixtro (Yellow card)
82’: OMA – #4 Luca Mastrantonio (Red card)
89’: ONE – #13 Dani Fernández (Yellow card)
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