Let the good times roll, Búhos Nation! Union Omaha rode the support of the record-setting midweek home crowd on their way to a 2-0 victory over Lexington Sporting Club.
Fans had plenty of reasons to enter Werner Park on Wednesday night: Women in Sports Appreciation Night, $2 tickets on the berm, $2 concessions, and $2 beer. The club announced the promotional night and the fans responded in turn. Even before the opening whistle, it was evident that this was going to be a special night. Not only were the seatbacks and berm filling during warmups, but the energy within the stadium was building up steadily toward kickoff.
Lexington opened the match with the kickoff and showed little patience with their opening possession, booting the ball deep to the corner. Mirroring what the Owls experienced against in Week 19, the visitors seemed to show zero patience in their attack. Lexington opted for stretch passes and direct play two weeks ago and Lexington Head Coach Sam Stockley had similar plans for tonight’s match. As the match wore on, Lexington seemed to settle into shorter passes and combination play, but Union Omaha didn’t show any patience in reading their full game plan and acted quickly to strike first.
In the 24th minute, the Owls were awarded a corner kick and midfielder Conor Doyle stood over the ball, ready to deliver one of three corner kicks in the first half. Union Omaha fans have become accustomed to seeing Doyle deliver picture-perfect corners to JP Scearce, but tonight that same quality of service would combine with forward Steevan Dos Santos. Using every inch of his 6’4” frame, Dos Santos rose up among the crowd and directed the ball into the back of the net for the early lead. For the second straight match, Dos Santos was able to tally one for the Owls. Dos Santos now has five goals this season and Doyle earned his fourth assist. Union Omaha took that lead into halftime, but they had no intentions of holding back.
During the first half, Union Omaha held a slight edge on the possession battle with 55%, but clearly outbattled Lexington in many other areas. The Owls had seven total shots, with Lexington’s only shot in the first half coming in the 41st minute. The home side also executed 80% passing accuracy, almost doubled the amount of passes in the opponent’s half, and also doubled Lexington on accurate long balls. With 45 minutes left to play, fans were eager to see the Owls add an insurance policy and close out the match.
Less than ten minutes inside the second half, Union Omaha was awarded a set piece in a dangerous position. Defender Marco Milanese stood over the ball and delivered a great service into the box, where team captain JP Scearce cooly finished the play with a header. Set pieces have become such an integral piece of Union Omaha’s success this season and JP Scearce added another chapter to that tale. Play would continue back and forth, but the final score ended at 2-0 in favor of Union Omaha.
The win vaulted the Owls into fourth place in the league standings, somewhere the club hasn’t been since May 5th. Next up for Union Omaha is a home match against One Knox. The two sides will go head-to-head at Werner Park on Saturday, August 5th at 7PM CT. If you aren’t able to attend the match live, ESPN+ will broadcast the match as usual. The promotional night for August 5th is Education Outreach, presented by Bellevue University.
Random Facts
- The home victory extends Union Omaha’s undefeated streak to 5 matches, including 4 straight wins.
- According to Union Omaha owner Gary Green, Rashid Nuhu tied a USL record with 31 clean sheets.
- The victory prevented Lexington from becoming the first USL League One expansion side to defeat Union Omaha twice in their inaugural season.
- This was the 14th match in which Union Omaha never trailed for a single minute of the match.
- Tonight’s attendance of 3,524 was the highest-ever home crowd for a midweek match. The previous record was from 07/16/2021, when Union Omaha played Forward Madison in front of 3,304. The previous record for a Wednesday night was on 10/06/2021, when Union Omaha played Fort Lauderdale in front of 3,126.
Postmatch Quotes
Head Coach Dominic Casciato
Thoughts on the evening:
“It’s a big one for us. I think if you look at last week’s game, when we went there, we start the game with the wrong mentality and let ourselves down. We didn’t really show who we are, how good we are, how good our individual players are, and how good we are collectively. Tonight, I think we showed glimpses of that. I think there’s still more to come from this group, but good to get three points on the board and great to have such fantastic support on a midweek game like that.”
On playing in front of the record midweek crowd:
“Amazing. They definitely give the guys an extra 5-10%, so hopefully they keep coming and we look forward to another big crowd on Saturday when we play against One Knox.”
On players recovering from the tough battles:
“I hope everybody’s okay and hopefully we have everybody available for the game, so fingers crossed. I have to go and check out the dressing room now, but hopefully no one’s too bad.”
Stefan Mueller updates:
“Stef is going down for a consultation to Kansas City. Hopefully, within the next 4-6 weeks, he’ll be back with us once that’s taken care of. We’re getting closer to having him back. He’s a big player for us and obviously we haven’t had him since the beginning of the season, so fingers crossed he’s back sooner rather than later.”
On what’s caused the recent turnaround and successes:
“It’s not like we’ve lost a ton of home games. I think, as a team, we’ve kind of figured out ways to win. Away from home, as well. I think earlier in the season, the identity was super, super clear, but we just were switching off in key moments. Hopefully we’ve turned a corner and we’re not switching off in those key moments because a game like tonight, I think if you go back 8-10 games, we would’ve conceded in tonight’s game. The last ten minutes would’ve become edge-of-your-seat stuff because you’re trying to hold onto a lead. Who knows what can happen when the game gets into that stage and the other team is throwing numbers forward. I think the guys are good pros. The guys have figured it out. We’ve spoken to the guys about some different ways of managing leads and holding on. Credit to the guys for being receptive to that. We’ve got good pros in that locker room who can rally the troops and pull everybody together when it’s needed. So yeah, we have to thank the guys and we have good pros. That’s what it comes down to, as well.”
On Saturday’s match against One Knox:
“Yeah, obviously they won last week against Fuego in the last minute. It looks like they’ve maybe brought in one or two players, as well. It’s going to be interesting to see what they’re going to be about on Saturday. We generally know what to expect from them, in terms of whether they play a diamond or they play a back three. We know them pretty well. They play a good style, but so do we. I think we’ve been more than a match for them in both games we’ve played so far this season. I think if you look at that home game, we’re really unfortunate to concede a late penalty out of nowhere. I think we were pretty much in control of 90% of the game. We’re looking forward to the game and looking forward to another big crowd and hopefully another win.”
JP Scearce (team captain and goal scorer)
Thoughts on the evening:
“The win is the most important part. Like I said after the last game, we were really looking forward to this game and we needed a response from the last time we played them, so three points is the most important part about tonight.”
On the secret to winning the battle for the midfield:
“I think they were playing pretty direct. [Head coach] Dom was saying that the second balls were very important, so Conor, Pedro, and I had to dig up the second balls. We had to do whatever it took to win those, so I guess that’s why I was on the ground so much.”
On scoring in his second straight match:
“Yeah, it always feels good to score. Felt good to get that cross from Marco [Milanese] and to be on the end of it. Felt good to get another one in the bag, I guess.”
On playing in front of the record midweek crowd:
“It felt good. I mean, the crowd always brings great energy and it’s the 12th man. They always give us good energy and motivate us to perform, so it felt great, as always.”
On what changed within the club that led to the recent successes:
“At the end of the day, I think we all came together and said we have to stop dropping points and stop dropping games. We all have to do better and that’s what we’ve been doing lately, especially at home. I know we love playing at home and we love playing on our field. I think we have a big advantage because not a lot of opponents are used to playing on our field. We just have to keep winning and hopefully do that again on Saturday.”
On Saturday’s match against One Knox:
“We’re excited. We’re looking forward to that game, as well. Last time they were here, they took three points away from us, so we’re looking forward to that one. Hopefully we come back with a result again.”
Steevan Dos Santos (goal scorer)
Thoughts on the evening:
“It’s always good for the team when we win and of course I’m happy that I could help the team win the game. Our focus was on three points.
On scoring in his second straight match:
“It’s like I said, it’s always good when you score because you help the team. As a striker, you have to score more often than not. I’m happy that I scored the last two games and I’m more happy that we won the last two games.”
On playing in front of the record midweek crowd:
“It’s good when we have our fans here and they go the whole 90 minutes. It’s a good boost for us to keep fighting and to keep going.”
On the tough challenges he faced throughout the match:
“It’s part of the game. I think, because I’m strong, they go harder on me and sometimes I don’t get the calls because they say, “Oh, you are six foot, whatever.” At the end of the day, if it’s a foul on a big guy or a small guy, it doesn’t matter. A foul is a foul. I’m happy to do it for the team and at the end of the game, if we got the three points, it’s worth it.”
On what changed within the club that led to the recent successes:
“It’s like coach said, ‘One day our luck is going to turn.’ Some matches we didn’t win at the last second and it kind of frustrated us, but we knew at some point our luck would turn. You have to fight for your luck and we are happy that now we are better than before.”
On Saturday’s match against One Knox:
“They are a difficult team. We beat them on the road at the last second and we know how difficult they are. We just have to be focused on us because they are another team fighting for the playoff spot. I think we have to focus on us and do what we’ve been doing here at home.”
Rashid Nuhu (clean sheet)
Thoughts on the evening:
“It feels good. We just have to keep it game after game. I know this felt like a comeback against them because when we went over there, they beat us and we felt pretty bad about ourselves, so this game was kind of like a revenge game. To go out there and beat them and keep a clean sheet, that was what we wanted. That’s what we wanted to do to them and we did that and it feels great.”
On earning a clean sheet:
“It feels good for me. More importantly, it’s just the team winning because if you win and you get your team happy, they’re willing to do whatever it is for you. It’s all about a collective group.”
On winning his aerial battles within his own box:
“It’s just staying focused because I know I’m not the biggest goalie out there, so I know teams will put pressure on me so I just have to stay focused and do my best. I did that today, so it feels good.”
On playing in front of the record midweek crowd:
“It feels amazing. They were the ‘plus one’ for us tonight because we needed every bit of support. It felt great and I hope we can get more than that on Saturday.”
On Saturday’s match against One Knox:
“Every game is going to be tough. It’s not going to be easy. No one’s going to come here and run around and let you bet them, so we have to be on our game. We’re just trying to rest up and recover and be ready for them.”
Match Summary
Attendance: 3,524
Injury Report:
OMA: DF #3 Stefan Mueller (Out, Injury)
LEX: None
Goal Summary:
24’: OMA – #10 Steevan Dos Santos (assisted by #22 Conor Doyle)
52’: OMA – #17 JP Scearce (assisted by #5 Marco Milanese)
Substitution Summary:
70’: LEX – #77 Nico Brown replaces #11 Seo-in “Soso” Kim
70’: LEX – #8 Charlie Machell replaces #22 Phila Dlamini
71’: OMA – #7 Noe Meza replaces #9 Pedro Dolabella
71’: OMA – #20 Luis Gil replaces #11 Joe Gallardo
75’: LEX – #3 Owen Green replaces #26 Cesar Murillo Jr.
75’: LEX – #25 Pierre Mané replaces #10 Don Smart
83’: OMA – #26 Dion Acoff replaces #8 Joe Brito
83’: OMA – #44 Alex Steinwascher replaces #7 Noe Meza
83’: LEX – #18 Drew Patterson replaces #14 Khalid Balogun
87’: OMA – #6 Chavany Willis replaces #10 Steevan Dos Santos
Discipline Summary:
8’: LEX – #17 Erick Ceja-Gonzalez (Yellow card)
36’: LEX – #32 Ates Diouf (Yellow card)
38’: OMA – #8 Joe Brito (Yellow card)
45’: LEX – #10 Don Smart (Yellow card)
73’: OMA – #17 JP Scearce (Yellow card)
90’+4: LEX – #2 Tate Robertson (Yellow card)
Who Gives A Hoot? 