Despite a great match by the Owls on Wednesday night, Alan Pulido’s 120th minute winner broke the hearts of everyone in Búho Nation. That’s why it has taken me three days to be able to write this. The boys played their hearts out against a slightly rotated, but still very strong Kansas City team in front of the largest crowd of the year at a beautiful venue and a perfect night weather wise.
The loss hurt, but the circumstances around the match couldn’t have been better. The pre-match tailgate with the combined might of the Omaha Parliament, South Stand Supporters Club, and the Blue Cauldron only served as a reminder of what soccer in Omaha can be—united in our love of the sport while still fierce rivals on the pitch. The supporters on both sides carried the match on the wings of 4,733 souls chanting at cross purposes, but still in unison. It was perhaps the pinnacle of professional soccer in the Omaha area. If you were there, you’ll remember it forever.
For those that weren’t, I doubt this recap will do it justice, but I’ll try.
Coach Dom did what he always does in the lineup, but some of the positioning would be different in line with the gameplan the staff had come up with. The normal back 3 would be more often supplemented with the wingers staying home and helping defend a dangerous Kansas City attack. The midfielders rotated in and out of their areas looking to make Sporting uncomfortable while looking for opportunities to get forward and counter. Our forwards stayed pretty close and looked to take advantage of their pace to cause chaos when able.
The only major change was the massive absence of Steevan Dos Santos, injured in the weekend’s victory against Tormenta FC. He wasn’t completely absent—his tall form stood sentry on the stairwell to the media booth for most of the first half. Though his presence and spirit were a huge lift to the team and fans, you could tell in his eyes that he wished he could take the field and fight with his teammates. It was yet another marker of how huge this match was for our club and the city.
On the other side, Peter Vermes didn’t hesitate to put out a strong team sheet, even with some rotation. Though he gave four players their first starts of the season, and left top keeper Tim Melia at home, his squad was nothing to sneeze at. Led by Serbian international Nemanja Radoja wearing the armband and 2024’s top scorer Erik Thommy, the visitors had pace, experience, physicality, and would use it well.
The opening minutes of the match were something the Owls have not had to deal with much this season—heavily favoring Sporting KC. This seemed to be the game plan, however, as Omaha stayed compact and organized as the visitors mounted several physical and quick attacks up the wings. The defensive plan looked to be working as KC could not find many clear shots at goal, and what they did find were easily handled by Rashid Nuhu.
The other thing the hosts would deal with is what seemed to be a heavy amount of calls (or no calls) going in their favor. One that would set that tone early was a waived off penalty plea in the 12’. Pedro Dolabella found Aaròn Gòmez sprinting freely across the middle of the back line toward the left side of the box. A great pass through looked to open Aàron leaving Khiry Shelton no choice but to topple him over from behind. What seemed to be a clear penalty was waved away by the referee, and soon KC was back on the attack.
Quick sequences shortly thereafter put Rashid to the test, but he showed himself equal to the best the MLS side could muster. Turning away Thommy shortly after diving to parry away a shot from Filipe Hernandez showed that our captain would be more than capable of dealing with most of what would get thrown at him.
During all of this, I never felt like the defense was going to buckle the way they did the last time these two teams met. In the quarterfinals of the 2022 US Open Cup, Kansas City ran rampant after scoring just 10 minutes in. Eventually, the score settled at 6-0. This Union Omaha team was almost completely different from that team two years ago, but the lessons seemed to still be there. Playing good defense, rotating positions, and not giving the KC strikers room to maneuver was working brilliantly, so I didn’t think another demolition was in store. However, I also didn’t see a lot of teeth in our attack, and that was troubling.
You can imagine how pleasantly ecstatic I was to see us go ahead in the 31’. Dion Acoff, who had been left alone on the right side for a vast majority of the first half, took the ball just inside midfield and started to work his magic. Dribbling past Robert Voloder, he sped his way up the right side, drawing scrambling defenders toward him. His centering pass was slightly errant, as Marco Milanese left it for Joe Gallardo, and Joe couldn’t quite get a toe on it to turn and shoot. The chaos favored the Owls, however, as Lagos Kunga picked up the ball and rifled a shot that deflected off a defender and past the flailing John Pulskamp. The ball hadn’t even settled in the net as the crowd erupted and the smoke let loose celebrating our first goal against Sporting, and a lead in the match.
(I want to note here that I actually had to apologize to the SKC social media manager, who was sitting next to me in the booth, as I probably deafened her with my scream. It was about this point that I abandoned any pretense of neutrality I was trying to maintain. Sorry, not sorry.)
After the goal, KC redoubled their efforts to get something—anything—past our defense and on to net. They would manage to get a couple of free headers on crosses into the box, but the most dangerous of them from William Agada went mercifully wide. Zorfan Bassong also danced his way into the front yard, but the defensive discipline held strong to take us into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Halftime was not restful. The energy and adrenaline of that first half had me, and most of the stadium, unable to sit down. I kept running back and forth looking for something to drink, and thinking about what would come in the second half. I could tell that the defense was holding, but didn’t know how long it might be before one mistake might put the visitors in on goal. There were signs of some tiredness—long sprints on the larger Caniglia Field and a pretty physical game could take their toll at any moment. Still, for the most part, I found myself pretty optimistic that we could hold on to the lead. The boys were disciplined, Rashid seemed on the top of his game, and the crowd was backing them with every tackle, block, and counter. I found myself believing more than ever “why not us?”
Of course that optimism took a cauldron-sized dent about three minutes after the restart. Pedro, who’d been having a really good game stifling the midfield, got caught in possession on the wrong side of the midfield line. Marinos Tzionis took the ball off of him and sprinted toward the top of the box. Our defenders tried to get themselves compact and in position, but Tzionis unleashed a shot early that managed to skim along the turf toward the near post. Rashid seemed to get a bad read on the ball, but dove and almost got to it. Unfortunately, the ball skipped right past him, into the post, and bounced in.
Just as quickly as the smoke had gone off for our earlier goal, you could hear the air leave the Union Omaha supporters. The traveling KC supporters, who had made a makeshift blue wall behind the goal, erupted in a mixture of celebration and released frustration at the equalizer. It was definitely game on from there.
The home support quickly rallied and started spurring on the team even more fiercely against the now rising chants from the KC supporters. Union Omaha was still on the back foot, still having to play defense, but the counter was still a dangerous weapon, and almost saw us through.
Looking for a way upfield, Mechack Jerôme would find Aàron splitting the center backs on a perfect run. The pass and run caught Pulskamp flatfooted near his goal, and the ball bounced up perfectly for Aàron to run onto. Rather than take a touch and attempt to round the keeper, Aàron would opt to try to chip the ball up and over. The shot was just barely over the bar, but it put Sporting on notice that we weren’t just going to sit back and play for penalties.
As the half went on, that chip would prove to be our most threatening chance to reclaim the lead. There were still great moments of pace and physicality, but you could tell that the energy was starting to drain from the defending and countering. Our first substitutions came just in time with about 15’ to play in regulation as Dom brought on Missael Rodriguez’ fresh legs for Lagos and Brandon Knapp to replace a depleted Pedro, who left all the gas he had in that midfield.
This, and a couple of other subs, were just enough to see the Owls in to extra time. KC kept pressing, their Blue wall kept screaming, but the defense kept holding their own even as the likes of Johnny Russell started making their presence known from the bench.
The extra time period brought more of the same. Ryen Jiba would have a good chance go just wide early in the frame, while Russell would blast a shot off the far post that would’ve beaten Rashid easily. It wasn’t fully back-and-forth, but more like a heavyweight fight where the underdog kept waiting for a chance to counter-punch, but had to keep their gloves up more often than not.
That is at least until very late in the second half of the extra time period, when the refereeing would wave off yet another penalty shout from the Owls. Brandon found some good space on the right side to dribble in toward the box. There he found Joe with position and his back toward two KC defenders. Joe received the ball and tried to turn his man, but found himself getting caught under the arm and forced down and off the ball inside the box. The contact was there, but once again the ref decided there wasn’t enough to make the call (better the match be decided by 10 penalty kicks than one, I guess).
Of course, only a few minutes later, the referee would be saved from the dreaded PK shootout by a great shot from Alan Pulido. Up to this point, I had been nervously awaiting the outcome, praying for the clock to tick down and the whistle to take us to another shootout. That was until I saw Missael start a moment of chaos on the left side.
Being a Liverpool supporter, I have a certain amount of trauma from seeing great players slip in unfortunate areas. The thought of Steven Gerrard flashed before my eyes as Missael made a great defensive hustle play to take the ball off the KC attackers and toward the touch line, but slipped down in his attempt to keep it in.
That slip caused a minor scramble, with the defenders getting to the ball, but unable to clear when pressed by the Sporting attackers. I remember thinking to myself “please, no…they’re going to score off Missael keeping that ball in.” Then I could only watch helplessly as my psychic powers (which never come off for the lottery…) proved true.
Full credit to Tzionis, who again hurt us when he turned Joe on the left side and dribbled toward the box to find Pulido. Even fuller credit to Pulido who took the shot, knowing Rashid was shielded and might not be able to react to it in time, and put it perfectly into the bottom corner. Full credit to the team that came in, took the lower division side seriously, and walked out with another US Open Cup victory.
And full glory to those stalwart Búhos, and their supporters, who took a top-tier team to the very brink of defeat.
After the match, Coach Dom was proud of the team, but obviously hurt by the “moral victory” this would prove to be. “I think everybody did a great job. Joe was excellent with the ball, without the ball,…obviously, the back line I could name the whole team. Everyone gave a good effort. We knew there were going to be moments in the game…that we had to suffer and sacrifice, and the guys did that. They best they could, and I’m really, really proud of them.”
But most importantly, and echoing the feeling of everyone there, the Coach recognized what this game meant for the city and the club. After praising the UNO staff for “rolling out the red carpet for us”, he went on to say “I think the city of Omaha was very excited about this game. Hopefully, some of those fans that came to watch Kansas City will come and watch Union Omaha now in our league games and our cup games to come. Omaha’s a great soccer city, and events like this are only going to help it get stronger.”
Indeed it will. Even in heartbreaking defeat, you can tell that this club and this city are on the verge of great things to come. And when it does, it will make the heroic efforts of our Owls even that much more special. That is the magic of the Open Cup.
The Positives:
Everything. Every bit of effort from the club. Every single fan that attended. Every single moment from a match that acquitted both sides very well in this competition. Pure. Cup. Magic.
The Negatives:
That we lost. A couple of mistakes led to the final scoreline, but even in that negative there is no shame. Mistakes happen, and the team kept fighting. You can’t expect complete perfection, and Wednesday was a night that called for it.
That and the feeling of what might have been.
Interesting Facts:
- Dom’s gameplan was very well executed. The defense was on for 68.4% possession against, gave up 23 shots, yet only 7 of those were on target. The opposition got 37 touches inside the box, had 14 corners and still only managed 1.11 xG. The goalscorers, Tzionis and Pulido, were held to just the 1 shot on target each for a .25 and .17 xG respectively.
- This was the first US Open Cup match that the Owls have lost at home. It’s also the first loss at home since the USL League One Semi-Finals last year. However, they haven’t lost at home regulation since a 3-0 defeat to Charlotte Independence on June 3, 2023.
- Union Omaha has never lost to anything less than an MLS club in the US Open Cup (SKC twice, St Louis City once).
Key Events:
Union Omaha Goal: 31’ – Lagos Kunga (Unassisted)
Sporting KC Sub: 45’ – Memo Rodriguez ON; Filipe Hernandez OFF
– Daniel Salloi ON; Khiry Shelton OFF
Sporting KC Goal: 48’ – Marinos Tzionis (Unassisted)
Union Omaha Yellow Card: 57’ – Luca Mastrantonio (Foul)
Sporting KC Sub: 62’ – Alan Pulido ON; Erik Thommy OFF
Sporting KC Yellow Card: 66’ Memo Rodriguez (Foul)
Sporting KC Sub: 69’ – Johnny Russell ON; William Agada OFF
Union Omaha Sub: 76’ – Missael Rodriguez ON; Lagos Kunga OFF
Union Omaha Sub: 77’ – Brandon Knapp ON; Pedro Dolabella OFF
Sporting KC Yellow Card: 78’ – Johnny Russell (Foul)
Union Omaha Yellow Card: 81’ – Brandon Knapp (Foul)
Union Omaha Sub: 93’ – Ryen Jiba ON; Marco Milanese OFF
Union Omaha Yellow Card: 97’ – Joe Gallardo (Time Wasting)
Sporting KC Yellow Card: 97’ – Nemanja Radoja (Foul)
Sporting KC Sub: Andreu Fontàs ON; Zorhan Bassong OFF
Union Omaha Sub: 99’ – Zeiko Lewis ON; Dion Acoff OFF
Sporting KC Yellow Card: 108’ – Robert Voloder (Foul)
Union Omaha Sub: 117’ – Adam Aoumaich ON; Nortei Nortey OFF
Sporting KC Goal: 120’ – Alan Pulido (A: Marinos Tzionis)
Who Gives A Hoot? 