Union Omaha converted two penalties in the first half and added a second-half header to take three points on the road against Northern Colorado Hailstorm, with a final score of 3-2.
Many eyes were on Windsor, Colorado ahead of this match, as third-ranked Northern Colorado Hailstorm welcomed fourth-ranked Union Omaha into Future Legends Complex for a high-profile matchup.
From the opening whistle, Northern Colorado pushed high and applied pressure early. Even with the ball, Hailstorm was carrying the vast majority of the possession and executing high levels of passing accuracy throughout the first half. Despite the early pressure, Union Omaha was still able to find their own possession and make good use of it on the other side of the field.
The Owls found their first goal in the 36th minute, when a handball was called against Northern Colorado defender Lucky Opara inside the box. Union Omaha midfielder Joe Gallardo stepped up to take the penalty kick and sent Hailstorm goalkeeper Johan Peñaranda the opposite direction. The converted penalty kick gave Gallardo his third goal of the season.
Hailstorm even up the score two minutes later when Opara scored a goal of his own, but Union Omaha would take the lead again just before halftime. After Hailstorm team captain Rob Cornwall was called for a foul in the box, Union Omaha team captain JP Scearce stepped up to take the penalty. Despite Peñaranda diving to the correct side of the goal, Scearce converted the penalty with a great balance of power and placement. The converted penalty was Scearce’s sixth goal, making him the club’s second-highest goalscorer of the season.
Despite Hailstorm winning the possession battle and having greater passing accuracy, Union Omaha was able to find more shots in the first half. More to the point, the Owls took every single shot, except for one, inside of Northern Colorado’s penalty area. Hailstorm was only able to take two shots inside of Union Omaha’s penalty area, thanks to the defensive efforts of the backline. All combined, the Owls had 11 clearances in the first half and won the majority of the duels – in the air and on the ground. Union Omaha’s defense also had 11 interceptions, which helped cut off Hailstorm’s momentum, while also churning out offensive opportunities on the other end of the field.
Union Omaha added an insurance policy in the 80th minute, when midfielder Conor Doyle delivered a corner kick straight to the head of Pedro Dolabella, who was able to send it against the flow of traffic and tuck it into the far side of the goal. The capitalized set piece gave Dolabella his fourth goal and Doyle his sixth assist of the season.
Northern Colorado tried to make things interesting in the 87th minute, when Opara was able to find his second goal of the evening, but it ended up being too little too late. The final whistle was blown shortly after and Union Omaha collected their three points.
With the win, Union Omaha elevated themselves to second place in the league standings. The Owls return to Werner Park on Saturday, August 19th as they host the Chattanooga Red Wolves for Hispanic Heritage Night. Make sure you have tickets to that match, as Union Omaha looks to extend their undefeated streak at home to seven matches, including a potential sixth straight home victory.
Random Facts
- Union Omaha currently sits in 2nd place in the league standings. This is the highest ranking the Owls have had all season. The last time Union Omaha finished the week in 2nd place was Week 25 of the 2022 Regular Season.
- With the win tonight, Union Omaha has done something they’ve never done before in club history: win four consecutive regular season matches in a row. The Owls have managed to win three consecutive matches on two other occasions (2023 & 2021), but have never reached four straight wins until this moment.
- This was the first time Union Omaha won on the road against Northern Colorado Hailstorm.
- This was the seventh match this season in which Union Omaha scored three or more goals, which is still an ongoing single season club record. No other club in USL League One has matched this feat this season. The closest club is Northern Colorado with six matches.
- This is the first time in club history that Union Omaha has converted two penalty kicks in a single match.
- Union Omaha has converted 11 penalty kicks in club history. JP Scearce leads the club with 5 goals from the spot. No other player in club history has converted more than one penalty kick for the Owls.
- Northern Colorado is the only club that has featured a player who was able to score a brace against Union Omaha this season. Lucky Opara had a brace against the Owls tonight. The two other occasions were Trevor Amann.
- Union Omaha has played 22 matches so far this season. In the first 11 matches, the Owls had 2 wins, 6 draws, and 3 defeats with 15 goals scored and 17 conceded. After 11 matches, Union Omaha was sitting in 9th place in the league standings. Since then, the Owls have won 8, drawn 1, and lost 2, scoring 21 goals and conceded 13, resulting in a 2nd-placed finish.
- To expand even further on the previous stat: if you were to divide every USL League One club’s season into two halves and calculate their point totals, no club has scored more points in the second half of their season than Union Omaha. The Owls have scored 25 points, while the closest club is North Carolina at 22 points.
- No Union Omaha team in club history has seen more players score goals for the club. This season, there have been 13 different players who have scored a goal. The next closest team had 12 players (2022 & 2021).
- With an assist tonight, midfielder Conor Doyle has tied his single-season assist record of 6 assists. The last time he achieved this feat was 2021. Only two other players have had six assists or more in a single season: Ethan Vanacore-Decker (2020 – 6 assists) & Devin Boyce (2021 – 9 assists).
Match Summary
Attendance: 1,446
Availability Report:
NCO: GK – #1 “Lalo” Delgado (Out – Injury)
NCO: FW – #30 Valentín Sabella (Out – Injury)
NCO: FW – #10 Irvin Parra (Questionable – Personal)
OMA: DF – #3 Stefan Mueller (Out – Injury)
OMA: FW – #7 Noe Meza (Questionable – Injury)
Goal Summary:
36’: OMA – #11 Joe Gallardo converts the penalty kick
38’: NCO – #7 Lucky Opara unassisted
44’: OMA – #17 JP Scearce converts the penalty kick
80’: OMA – #9 Pedro Dolabella (assisted by #22 Conor Doyle)
87’: NCO – #7 Lucky Opara (assisted by #10 Irvin Parra)
Substitution Summary:
56’: OMA – #9 Pedro Dolabella replaces #11 Joe Gallardo
57’: OMA – #28 Shaft Brewer Jr. replaces #20 Luis Gil
65’: NCO – #27 Bruno Rendón replaces #18 Jackson Dietrich
73’: NCO – #10 Irvin Parra replaces #22 Stefan Lukic
75’: OMA – #44 Alex Steinwascher replaces #5 Marco Milanese
85’: NCO – #11 Marky Hernández replaces #19 Billy King
87’: OMA – #13 Anderson Holt replaces #26 Dion Acoff
90’: OMA – #6 Chavany Willis replaces #10 Steevan Dos Santos
90’+1: NCO – #47 McCain Clarke replaces #4 Rob Cornwall
Discipline Summary:
43’: NCO – #4 Rob Cornwall (Yellow card)
75’: OMA – #17 JP Scearce (Yellow card)
82’: OMA – #28 Shaft Brewer Jr. (Yellow card)
90’+5: NCO – Manager Éamon Zayed (Yellow card)
Who Gives A Hoot? 