Will The New Signing Jump Start A Slumped Offense?
The signing of 28-year-old Mexican forward Patricio “Pato” Botello Faz will come as welcome news to a team, and a fanbase, that has seen a drought of goals from open play this season. As much as this team doesn’t look on paper like it needs help up front, the stats have proven otherwise.
This is an offense that was expecting to have an electric Lagos Kunga dribbling his way through opposing defenses while Aarón Gómez and Sergio Ors Navarro provided a lethal cunning in the box. Mehdi Ouamri and Kemy Amiche were supposed to be able to change out and keep the pressure and striking going either during rotational starts or as a super-sub style attack to put games out of reach or, failing that, claw back points from losing positions.
To say that this has been lacking would be an understatement. While Aarón’s presence has kept options open in the box, he can’t do it alone. Now, he won’t have to.
Pato should bring a little more balance and a lot more threat to the front—or at least something different for opponents to plan to. At 6’0”, he won’t be a towering target for Dion or Charlie to pick out on their crosses, but his experience and body type should be a massive presence in the box. He’s got a good first touch, an eye for positioning, and has playing time recently with Las Vegas Lights FC (18 Appearance, 4 Goals) and Detroit City FC (41 Apperances, 13 Goals) where he seemed to have hit his stride. He did spend some time in the infancy of league one appearing for Lansing Ignite in 2019 and South Georgia Tormenta in 2020.
So he does know how to score, he knows how to take touches and distribute, and he’s not going to be the type to let center backs push him around in the box. That’s good.
There are concerns though.
First, Pato hasn’t played since 2023 with Las Vegas Lights FC as he is coming of an Achilles’ injury that sidelined him last season. While I would expect that there has been ample rehab time and ability to work out and trust the healing, it’s always a wild card when someone is coming back off a significant injury. The 25-day contract is probably a chance to mitigate that and for Coach Casciato and staff to see exactly what he has when he goes at full speed.
The second concern is that of his age. He’s 28. Not old by too many standards, but there’s some concern that he won’t have the speed to offset Aarón or one of the other strikers. Many times this season we’ve seen a break up the middle that either our strikers couldn’t get to or that they couldn’t outpace their defender to get in on goal. With the way that our wingers are able to pace an attack, the forwards have to be able to keep up and give them support instead of just sending another cross into an area filled with defenders. Coupling this with his injury recovery above, and it will be interesting to see if he has the quickness to make defenders choose between conservatively marking him or marking another threat.
I have to say that those concerns are, at worst, not dealbreakers, and at best, me overthinking things. He’s still an exciting signing, and a clue that Dom and staff are taking the offensive outage seriously while there’s still time to do something about it. I’m very much anticipating his debut, getting to see what he can do on the pitch and, with any luck, him proving every one of my concerns wrong on his way to sparking Los Búhos back into a team that defenses fear.
It’s an early tune that’s starting to become an trend.
Despite dominating possession and large parts of the match, Union Omaha found itself on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline Sunday night in Naples. Joe Gallardo scored his second of the year from the penalty spot to cancel out Andrés Ferrín’s penalty opener, but that was all the Owls could put past familiar foe Lalo Delgado. A strike from Ian Cerro on the verge of halftime and a bolt off the foot of Jayden Onen in the second half were enough to see FC Naples get back on track after having lost three straight league matches.
Coach Dominic Casciato only made two changes to the starters from the Texoma match – Brandon Knapp back in the starting lineup for Dion Acoff and Anderson Holt coming on for Samuel Owusu. However, the formation shifted slightly. Anderson shifted the defensive back three over leaving Marco Milanese with the central duties and Brent Kallman playing out on the right. With Dion completely absent from the lineup, Joe Gallardo moved to the right side with Laurence Wootton moving up to balance Sergio Ors Navarro.
For FC Naples, there was a fair bit of shuffling to do given the recent run of red cards that has plagued Matt Poland’s side. While Delgado, Jake Dengler, and Jayden Onen found their way back to starting after serving suspensions, Karsen Henderlong and Joel Serrano were unavailable for their own red cards in the last match. Mark Gratacos entered the lineup for Luka Prpa with Gustavo Fernandes giving way so Dengler could fit into the Naples back line.
The shuffles by both sides were intended to spark a change from their recent runs of form, and as the game opened it looked like Union Omaha were going to be able to do just that.
Early possession and passing heavily favored Los Búhos as they managed to pin Naples back with some really good ball movement. However, each time they moved forward, Naples would find just enough to either cut out the final pass or clear any crosses that came about.
A little miscue at the back on those clearances almost handed Omaha their first great chance of the night. In the 12th minute, a heavy touch in attack fell to Brecc Evans whose attempted clearance caught Sergio square in the chest. The Spaniard took the ball down and popped a through pass to Aarón Gómez just inside the penalty box. With two defenders around him, though, Aarón was unable to bring the ball down to get a shot off.
The ensuing clearance managed to hit Laurence this time, and the chested ball fell back toward Aarón. After a couple of quick passes, the ball came to Charlie Ostrem who tried to pick out Laurence on a run to the back post. The Naples defense was quick to respond to this one and finally forced the ball out of play. Any danger was summarily relieved after the throw in what would end up being a pretty accurate display of how the rest of the night would go.
Though the stats were very one-sided toward the Owls, Naples ended up finding a breakthrough just 8 minutes later. After another frustrating attack stalled out, the hosts found themselves on the counter with a long ball played down the right side to Ferrín. With a step on Marco, the Colombian drove into the box with an eye on testing Rashid’s reflexes. Marco found himself jostling to recover and extended his arm into Ferrín’s back, causing him to flop over inside the box. Though perhaps exaggerated, and maybe a little soft, the push from behind was enough for referee Rodrigo Albuquerque to point to the spot and give Marco a yellow for his trouble. Having won the penalty Ferrín also took the honor of the spot kick, a well-placed ball to Rashid’s right that froze the keeper in place and handed an unlikely lead to Naples.
Even though a goal down, Omaha didn’t give up their share of possession as they pressed for a quick equalizer. Nothing seemed to be able to break down a disciplined Naples back line until they returned the penalty favor 9 minutes after taking the lead.
After some head tennis in midfield, Brandon was able to pick out a solid run by Aarón into the left side of the box. The ball bounced in front of the striker, and as he tried to shield it off from the encroaching defense, Dengler wrapped his foot up and around Aarón to try to clear the area. The contact, though perhaps also soft, was high and enough to bring Aarón down in a heap near the end line. Once again, without hesitation, Albuquerque pointed toward the spot. After some stalling by Delgado, Joe stepped up and sent the keeper to his left as the ball rocketed in to the right to equalize the score.
The game drawing level did nothing to change the story of the first half. Omaha would attack, generally up the wings. Naples would break down the attack and start a counter. Omaha would find a way to deal with the counter and start back up on the possession again. It grew more and more frustrating as the clock ticked toward halftime, but it still felt like a breakthrough was coming.
Unfortunately, that breakthrough went the hosts’ way.
After getting some offside relief on a biting counter attack that nearly put Julian Cisneros on the scoresheet, Union Omaha’s luck ran out almost literally on the stroke of halftime. On a desperation clearance that was just looking to clear their lines, Naples got another gift as the ball bounced to Brent trailing back. The defender tried to head the ball somewhere, but without a good touch it fell right into the path of Cerro. With Rashid off his line expecting to corral Brent’s header, Cerro needed only to chip the ball up and over the stranded keeper and into the net. Just like that, the halftime team talk changed as Dom and crew had to figure out how to make up for another goal that shouldn’t have been.
Instead, the second half went almost exactly the same as the first half. Lots of possession and passing continued to fall in Omaha’s favor, but the final ball never came. As if to put salt in the wounds of frustration, Onen’s 49th-minute thunderbolt took the air out of the match and the faith in a turnaround to bed.
After a throw in on the Naples right side, Max Glasser found room just enough to beat his man for a perfect cross into the box. Despite having three Owls in the box to cover two attackers the ball slipped past Ferrín, who took two of the defenders with him, and directly to Onen about 12 yards out. The ensuing volley’s power and placement left Rashid no time to act as it settled into the top of the near post netting. Against the run of play yet again Naples managed to capitalize and do what Omaha could not—finish.
Once Omaha found themselves two goals down, the play started to become more desperate. The visitors still controlled possession and passing, but any half chance that appeared opened up for a shot from range or an ill-advised dribble to try to make anything happen. Crosses flew in, but were easily dealt with by a well-drilled team that had the luxury of sitting compact and making sure nothing got past them. The more they sat back, the more they were able to stymie the Owls until the final whistle blew on a night that saw Naples back to form and Union Omaha still looking for answers.
The Good:
If I had to find a bright spot tonight, I’d be Anderson Holt. The young defender found himself in the starting lineup and did a great job in the position he was asked to hold down. He didn’t let a lot of things past him, and when he did he did well to try to put the attacker off long enough for help to arrive. He was able to get up to support the attack on occasion, and had a few good passes that could’ve opened up some opportunities if anyone could’ve gotten on the end of them before being closed down by the Naples back line.
I said at the beginning of the match that I was concerned about the lineup, but it wasn’t so much because Anderson was in there. He’s a solid choice at starter, and I’m happy to see his development continuing on a good trajectory.
The Bad:
Grab your coffee (or your whiskey). This is going to be a bit.
1) I’m going to start off with Brent again. This isn’t going to take the same form as the rant I had on him a few games ago, however. This match felt quite different than calling out a veteran who isn’t acting like one.
That’s because the last few games he’s actually been really solid. I was getting my apology/retraction article ready because ever since I wrote what I did about him, he started getting steadily better. He communicated a lot more effectively. He wasn’t making cheap emotional fouls. In fact, he was extremely gracious about the yellow card he did take in Texoma last match for a tactical foul. It was purely professional, and he conducted himself as if it was, even giving the ref a pat on the shoulder as if to say “fair point, no objections”.
And honestly, this isn’t even about the mistakes in the match. You can argue he needs to be more decisive on the header that led to Cerro’s goal. There were several times late where he was up in the box to receive crosses, yet he headed them more away as if he were a defender. Stuff happens sometimes, and especially when you’re desperate for any goal from open play you can get.
But I noticed something about him between his run of improved form and his efforts against Naples. Dom had him in the center of the backline earlier, and he started to truly anchor that defense. Sunday saw him return to the right side of the formation with Marco holding down center to make way for Anderson on the left. And suddenly, the performance went down.
I’m not trying to say he can’t play the right side of a three center back formation, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed that his struggles early had him playing in the same position. I also won’t put Onen’s goal directly on him (as one of three in the box who didn’t do a damned thing to stop him receiving that cross). However, he moved in on Ferrín’s decoy run and left Joe all alone behind them to recognize Onen’s threat and move in to stop—something that ultimately he was unable to do. Should Joe have seen that earlier? Maybe. Remember though, Joe isn’t a natural defender in the same way that Brent is.
I admit this might be an eye test thing, but it makes me wonder why Dom decided to go with the personnel he did—especially without Dion in the lineup at all (what’s up with that, by the way!?)—after Brent’s struggles early in the season. Then again, maybe someone with more than 100 MLS caps to their name should be able to slide right on occasion and be ok.
2) While I don’t prescribe to any religion in my adult years, my childhood taught me at least one valuable thing that I can bring to soccer: One prays at the cross, not cross and then pray.
We have done a LOT of crossing then praying this year, if you haven’t noticed. We’re used to seeing that, though, especially with the likes of Dion and Charlie up the wings. They are fast, can get space, and have a very good touch on their passes.
But the opponents are seeing that, as well, and they’re ready for it. Some stats will show what I mean.
Vs. Naples – 39 crosses (9 accurate – 23%), 0 goals Vs. Texoma – 30 crosses (6 accurate – 20%), 0 goals (unless you count an olympico) Vs. Portland – 22 crosses (8 accurate – 22%), 1 goal (off a corner) Vs. Madison – 19 crosses (5 accurate – 26%), 0 goals
That doesn’t bode well. It means the crosses aren’t finding people in good enough positions to beat the keeper. My thought is that there are two reasons for this.
First, our box presence is much diminished from last year. We don’t have a massive body that can shield off a defender and meet the ball or use their movement in space to get a more free header away. Aarón is good, but he’s not able to make those back post runs or just tower over his marker. And Brent tried to do what he could in the closing minutes of this match, but he apparently doesn’t have the head for goal that a natural striker (or Virgil van Dyke) can call upon. With the targets gone, who receives these crosses.
Second, and part of the reason we’re missing the presences in the box, is that I think teams have figured us out a bit. We haven’t tried to go through the middle as much this year—understandable considering Lagos’ injury and the loss of Pedro Dolabella. The one match where we were able to do whatever we wanted on the pitch, through the pitch, up the wings, and anywhere was against Tormenta. Which was also our last victory.
So without a viable attack through the middle, opponents don’t have to be as concerned with shutting that down. Stay compact in the box, step to anything that tries to dribble in the middle, but keep back and wait for the cross. If you watch Naples, that’s how they dealt with our attack. And so many times we’d get a cross in and they were waiting there with a well placed header or a pair of defenders to harass the attacker into not making a clean touch on the ball.
The other thing the cross and pray attack does is leave us vulnerable to clearances and long balls that turn into counters. That’s what led to both of Naples’ first half goals. With the attackers up there’s not a lot of help back if a defender makes a mistake on his clearance, or worse, loses his man and ends up in a foot race.
Unfortunately, until we find a way to play through the middle or a better target for our crosses into the box, we’re going to be praying a lot.
3) I don’t need to tell anyone reading this how bad our season has started. But I will anyway.
This is the first time in the history of the club that Union Omaha has ended a round of matches and found themselves in sole possession of last place. Even in 2022 when we had the down year off the first title. Even in 2023 when we started slow before torching the league. Even in the 2020 season when we hadn’t even kicked a ball. Even if it was on 0 points to start a season, there has always been someone tied with us on points and preventing us from being sole occupants of the cellar.
Until Sunday.
With Texoma’s resurgent form and the rest of the league having played a few more games than we have, there’s a little bit of a hole to dig out of. This is something never experienced by the Búho faithful, and it’s hard to see things getting better quickly.
The silver lining there though – Madison and Greenville (our next two opponents) are struggling as well. The Mingos have scored as many goals on the season as we have (in one more game) and if you take out Greenville’s three goals in the opener, so have they. If things are going to turn around in a hurry, it has to start with some wounded opponents, or the season could get away from us quickly. As I joked on the socials—we can’t play Tormenta every week.
An Observation:
Speaking of Tormenta, and running back to the theme of Union Omaha’s troubles with dominating possession and losing games, I want to touch on something Ian Cameron recently said. As posted by Luke Martin in his Tormenta coverage (@lukermartin.bsky.social), the South Georgia coach is finding himself at the same wit’s end that we seem to be regarding owning games yet giving up goals without getting our own in return. Coach Cameron’s comments following a recent loss:
“It’s easier to counterattack. It’s easier to create chances that way. And we’ve got to have a wholesale look at if our game model is the right thing. I’ve been pretty strident in the last few years that it is. I’ve been trying to teach the boys to control the ball, have a high percent of possession, but the reality is at this level, you see it across the board, that when teams have 68 percent plus possession, I think tonight was probably 75 percent, then they rarely win at this level and it’s really frustrating and it’s a real challenge.”
If you read the remainder of the comments, and Luke’s article, you can understand how a coaching staff might look to see if they need to blow everything up and start again. Doubly so for a fanbase who would rather have 30 percent possession and a 2 points-per-match average than 70 percent possession and a stunned look as another counterattack goal goes in.
I don’t know if all the data backs coach’s comments, but it can sure feel that way. And as I mentioned above, Union Omaha’s style makes us very susceptible to the counter. Don’t take this as a questioning of Dom or his tactics. We’ve been in the doldrums before and he’s found a way to put it together to get us to the top of the league. But I also can’t turn a blind eye to the facts that in every match we’ve dropped points in we won possession and passing, but somehow couldn’t win the one stat that matters.
Then again, if I had a fool-proof solution to what seems to be a league-wide problem, I wouldn’t be sitting here tossing grenades from the peanut gallery.
Whatever happens, we won’t be the only ones needing to brace for some frustration this season. And that means the team is going to need the supporters, and we’re going to need each other.
A few drinks might not hurt as well.
Key Events:
Union Omaha Yellow Card: 19’ – Marco Milanese (Tactical Foul) (3rd)
FC Naples Goal: 20’ – Andrés Ferrín (3rd) (Penalty) 1-0
I’ve been trying hard to do a recap this week, but I haven’t really had my mind on it. We all know what happened in Albuquerque. There were occasional chances – including Chelo Martínez’s attempt to chip the keeper from midfield (curse you crossbar!) during a turnover in play. There was some heroic goalkeeper play from Rashid Nuhu – 10 saves from 12 shots on target kept the Búhos in it long after they probably shouldn’t have been. But ultimately a controversial (though correct for a competition without VAR) penalty (Talen Maples – 42nd minute) and a brilliant breakaway from Marlon Vargas (90’ + 3’) doomed Omaha to their first ever competitive defeat at the hands of a USL Championship team.
All credit should go to New Mexico United here. They out possessed (61-39), out-shot (18 and 12 on target – 12 and 2), out-passed (499-304) and overall outplayed Union Omaha in almost every facet of the match. And even though it didn’t look like it was that much of a disparity on the field, the stats all pointed to a pretty dominant performance for the hosts. Most telling was the 3.68 xG stat (0.48 for UO) and 31 touches inside the box. By far those are the most of either stat the Búhos have given up all year. It was literally by Nuhu’s hands that there was even a breath of a chance by the time the second goal went in to seal the points.
But unfortunately, that’s not what the focus of this piece is. The moment of the game that has to stick out to me is a stupid, short-sighted, and inexplicable red card taken by Brent Kallman in the 90’+5’.
With the game sealed and already past the minimum amount of additional time put on by the referee, a long headed clearance fell just in front of New Mexico’s David Bruce, who looked to retrieve the ball and end any hope of a consolation for Omaha. Brent, in tandem with Marco Milanese, managed to cut Bruce off from the line and started to marshal the ball out for a potential throw. There was a standard bit of pushing and shoving from both players as the ball rolled toward the touchline, but what should probably have been a quick throw in and a call for full time turned into yet another fracas around the veteran center back. Instead of tossing the ball to a teammate, Brent chose to throw the ball deliberately and directly into Bruce’s head.
This of course started a meeting on the pitch as the two sides vehemently disagreed on the issue at hand. Kalen Ryden quickly moved forward to get into Brent’s face. Dion Acoff stepped up to defend his teammate. The referee shows the red as a line of Owls starts forming in an attempt to keep New Mexico from getting at Brent — who at this point is attempting to bypass his teammates to continue jawing at the rest of the host squad.
Wait a second…this sounds familiar. Almost as if late in the previous match against San Antonio, Brent had done something that caused another on-pitch fray and resulted in pushing, shoving, and a single card given to the instigator of the event. Luckily for Omaha, that card was only a yellow.
While the cameras didn’t catch exactly what happened with Brent in that Open Cup game, speaking to some of the fans who watched it, their version indicated that Brent pulled down Jorge Hernández down by his ankles – behind the play – and got on top of him. As soon as the referee saw the commotion, he whistled play dead and that’s when the teams got into some shoving and defense of their teammates. It easily could’ve ended in red cards for multiple players—not an ideal scenario when hanging on to a 1-0 lead late in a knockout tournament.
Coach Dominic Casciato immediately substituted Brent in the San Antonio game, realizing that the referee had given them a bit of a break by not seeing/sending off the veteran defender. It didn’t end up in a loss, and so I didn’t discuss it with him post-match, but I can’t imagine he was happy with his player after what happened.
I’d expect he’d be even more livid about the New Mexico incident.
So why do I care about this so much—or at least enough to dedicate a full piece to this? First off, it’s unacceptable behavior for someone of Brent’s experience and talent. To go even further though, this team can’t afford it on any level.
Quite simply — Brent Kallman is proving to be a liability.
When you look at some of the decisions he’s made on the pitch, it doesn’t stack up to the quality and leadership that we expected when Union Omaha signed him. And that’s before his recent shenanigans. Middle of the pack stats for his performances aren’t enough for someone of his caliber, either. He’s supposed to be setting the tone and elevating the guys around him. He’s not doing that. While earlier in the season one could point to a lack of time in training with the club, two months in there should be improvement showing, not regression.
But lets get back to the issue at hand — the red card-worthy provocations.
Even if Brent was the worst center back in the league, he has to be available to be on the pitch. Dom’s style of play puts a lot of wear and tear on the defenders at times, and it’s a position we’re not very deep in. Blake Malone is out for a long time with his injury. Ryen Jiba hasn’t been seen for whatever reason. Samuel Owusu and Joshua Ramsey have yet to really settle in to being part of the regular lineup. There’s not a lot of room for someone who is supposed to be a stalwart in defense doing something stupid like getting sent off for fouls of frustration or hot-headedness. Someone as young as Anderson Holt, you could call this a lack of maturity. In someone like Brent Kallman, it comes off as a lack of control and, to some extent, a bit of selfish pride.
And worse still, the fans are saying similar things.
The biggest worry among the supporters is that this type of lashing out will eventually cost Union Omaha a match. It well could have against San Antonio, but in New Mexico the game was already decided. And this weekend, we travel to Breese Stevens Field to take on our best friends in the whole league.
If anyone knows how to get under an Owl’s skin, it’s the Mingos. In last year’s three meetings (1 draw, 1 PKs loss, 1 regulation loss) the teams combined for 21 cards and 74 fouls. None of them red, but there were plenty of hard challenges, bad fouls, and always words exchanged between the two sides. While the organizations have a respect for each other, the players always seem to turn it up on the pitch. Add that to the most annoying corner kick call in USL 1, and it can provide an environment that would rattle the most even-keeled member of an opposing team.
So rest assured, the Mingos are already planning for how to piss Brent Kallman off. In a game like this, that might make all the difference.
I don’t want to completely destroy the man here. I understand there are circumstances where we lose our heads. I understand that it can happen in succession. I understand that these players are human.
But I also understand that it has to stop. It puts the team in a bad situation, it doesn’t set the veteran example he was brought in for, and when it’s indefensible even to the fans, you have to know you aren’t in the right.
To close this out, I’ll say this to Brent (who I doubt is reading this, but just in case…). You are a Búho. You are a local. You have chosen to wear our crest on your chest, and we accept and support you for that. We want you to succeed. We want you to be the best you can be. But so far, this ain’t it. We can’t be proud of what you’ve done to this point, but we want to be proud of what you will do for us going forward.
We need a veteran leader. Please, go make us proud.
Union Omaha kicked off their run in the 2025 US Open Cup by defeating USL 2 side Flatirons FC 1-2. Playing on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines, the hosts had good spells of possession and compact defense, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a first-half cannon blast from Aarón Gómez and a second-half converted penalty by Joe Gallardo. Shjon Andrews was able to pull one back late to make things a little nervy, but Union Omaha’s defense held to continue their streak of opening round wins.
Still battling injuries and experimenting with the formation, Dominic Casciato put out what was billed as a 4-3-3, but found more fluidity than that during the match. The Boss Búho made four changes from the last starting lineup in Greenville, opting to give 25-day contract keeper Cole Jensen the start with Russell Shealy making the bench. Joe got the start in place of Brandon Knapp, while Anderson Holt came in for Blake Malone, who wasn’t listed on the team sheet. Marco Milanese took a place on the back line and the Captain’s armband with Dion Acoff on the sidelines.
Coach Levi Rossi rolled out a 3-4-3 formation which included former University of Nebraska-Omaha midfielder Luke Smith, Anderson (a defensive standout who scored 10 goals last season for Colorado State University-Pueblo), and former Colorado Rapids midfielder Sam Hamilton. But despite the relative youth and inexperience of the team, Rossi had them well disciplined within his formation.
Though the beginning of the match would set a theme of ping pong in the midfield, the Owls would find a very good chance less than 5 minutes in. With the press on after a Flatirons throw in, Charlie Ostrem recovered the ball in the attacking third and started a switch to Marco who found Joe in massive space on the right side. Joe pressed up and whipped a perfect ball across the face of goal that had four Búhos in position to tap in. The ball missed all of them, with Mehdi Ouamri having the closest chance, but unable to make contact. It was a warning shot of what this offense could be, even if that wasn’t fully realized through the rest of the match.
The early press brought in a few more opportunities as the amateur side had trouble dealing with the coordinated shifts, but each time the Owls got in a good position, the Flatirons defense managed to compress just enough to repel any attacks. Many times there were crosses to be had, but either no one was there to get on the end of them or the passes sailed well away from their intended targets. Of the 16 crosses attempted during the game, only 4 were considered accurate, three of them from Joe on the right side.
As the game reached the 15-minute mark, Flatirons started to grow a little into the game and make inroads to the Omaha half. A couple of chances developed thanks to some good footwork or a misplayed pass, but each time the defense was able to force the hosts into an errant pass, a wild cross, or, usually, a tackle and a turnover. This continued on both sides of the pitch as each team seemed just a single pass away from truly opening up their opponent.
The Owls almost put together that pass as Isidro Martínez slipped a beautiful through ball to Aarón as he split the defenders. He was in one-on-one against Matteo Conci, but the AR raised the flag for what looked in real-time like an easy call, but on replay was much closer than thought. It was a great flash of brilliance to see the run and hit it with the through ball, if not just slightly mistimed.
The attacking momentum would finally break through soon after though.
In the 27th minute, a good run of possession allowed Omaha to work the ball down into the right corner where Joe beat his man to get a lofted ball into the box. Kemy Amiche got a head on it over the Flatirons defense and it fell to Charlie directly in front of goal. Charlie’s headed shot was saved by Conci, but the keeper couldn’t hold on to the ball as it fell to Aarón. The forward dribbled toward the left side of the goal before unleashing a cannon of his foot that left Conci with no chance to save and the visitors up 0-1.
The goal didn’t seem to energize the Owls as much, nor did it deflate the Flatirons, and the remainder of the half went pretty much the same as the first half. Every time there was an opportunity for either side, the defenses would collapse back into shape and divert the attacking momentum.
The game did start to get a little more physical, and a few rough fouls that might have gone for yellow cards in League One play got waved away with just a warning and some discussion. This was particularly of interest as the half came to a close.
Just after the clock struck 45’, A Flatirons free kick sailed perfectly into the box, but missed the oncoming attackers. Cole stepped up to claim the ball beautifully, but was clattered into by Jackson Vander Ven, who was leading with his foot to try to get a touch on the ball. Cole went down hard, but though the referee gave the foul, he didn’t deem it dangerous enough for any sort of a card.
With Cole back up and in action, the half ended with four minutes of additional time announced, but only two given. Either way, it was a chance to reset and try to capitalize on the good moments from the first half.
Making two changes coming out of halftime, Mark Bronnik and Prosper Kassim found their way on in place of Mehdi and Kemy as Dom continued to look for a bit more spark in the attack. Despite the energy that Mark brought to the position, the game continued mostly the same way as the first half. Neither team really was able to find a way through the defense, the cutting pass lacking or the defense collapsing well just in time.
In fact, Flatirons would take the majority of second half possession (59-41), and significantly outpassed the Owls both in number and in accuracy. But the teams would only combine for 3 shots total in the second half, showing the inability for either side to get clear chances on goal.
Union Omaha would only contribute one shot to that total, but it was the shot that ended up being the match winner. Some good pressing in the Flatirons half saw a wayward pass find Mark as if it had been a through ball meant for him. With the defenders moving toward the young striker, Mark laid it off to Prosper for a clear chance on goal. The pass took Prosper away from the goal, however, and his dribble allowed Vander Ven to come in and block the shot. The ball popped up and, as Vander Ven was trying to control it, hit the outstretched hand of the defender just inside the box. The referee had no hesitation pointing to the spot. It was a but of a harsh call, considering the direct threat to goal was not there, but it was still an accurate penalty decision.
Joe stepped up to take the penalty and placed it high into the left side of the goal. Conci guessed correctly but wasn’t able to cover the top side of the net as the ball flew in to double the Owls’ lead.
There was no comfort in the two-goal lead as the chaos continued into the final 10 minutes of the match. Both teams seemed to continue to play the same way, but fouls and free kicks would end up putting the hosts in a good position to score.
That’s what happened in the 84th minute when Smith popped free kick toward the box from about 30 yards out. The ball found the head of Tobi Osifodunrin (a name I’m STILL trying to pronounce) who flicked it on to Andrews. No stranger to scoring goals, Andrews beat Anderson to the header and Cole was left with no choice but to pick the ball out of the net and go again.
Thankfully, that would be the last truly dangerous attack for Flatirons as the defense managed to hold. A free kick in the 90’ might have given some trouble, but Brent Kallman headed the ball away cleanly right before a Flatirons attacker could get to the ball and snuffed out the danger. It capped off what was a really good performance by the defense, considering the match at Greenville, and allowed Búho Nation to breathe a sigh of relief at the final whistle.
What’s Next:
Union Omaha gets a chance to rest a week before returning to USL League One play at South Georgia Tormenta FC on March 29. The Ibises have never beaten the Owls, but look dangerous after a spirited performance losing to Richmond and a consecutive clean sheets against AV Alta FC and Harbor City of the UPSL.
After that, the lads head off to Des Moines on April 2 to face the USL-2 side stacked with some really good, though retired, professionals in Round 2 of the US Open Cup. This will be the third time in four years that Union Omaha has played Des Moines in the USOC, but the first time the team will travel to Des Moines for the match.
The Good:
The good news is that we scored a goal and the defense stepped up. Having Marco in the back seemed to help some, despite the fact that Blake wasn’t in the lineup. Brent played a lot more like the veteran he is, including some good challenges and well-timed tackles to disrupt the Flatirons’ offense. The wingers looked like they knew what to do defensively, and the midfield held strong when the ball came through their areas. Cole wasn’t tested too much, but he passed the ones he had to, and the goal wasn’t his fault.
Aarón’s goal was the kind of goal we scored a lot last year and the kind of thing we’re going to need to see more off. Set up by Charlie getting a good head to the ball on a well played cross-and-flick, Aarón showed the instincts and striking ability that we know he has. It was a very good play to put us up and on the road to a victory.
The Bad:
The rest of the offensive performance wasn’t great. There were times where we’d get the ball in dangerous areas, but couldn’t make the final pass to open up a shot. There were a lot of times that the pass wasn’t on, but they tried it anyway, leading to either a turnover or just enough of a block to force a recycle of the play. There were other times, like Joe’s first cross of the game, where players were there but didn’t react fast enough to run through the ball and put it on net.
While I don’t believe we should shoot for shooting’s sake, I look really hard at our shots statistic for this match. Over the whole match we attempted five shots. three of those were on target. One of those was the penalty. All of those shots came from inside the box and were part of only nine touches we had in the opposition box for the game. (For contrast, we held Flatirons to only four touches and one shot inside the box—which resulted in their lone goal).
There were moments of excellence, but not creating those chances to shoot makes you rely on luck more often than not to get your offense going. The penalty, though correct, was lucky. Without that, we’re facing extra time and penalties against a team with nothing to lose. That lack of effective firepower could’ve seen us out of the Cup, and in even more of a morale pit than we were after the Greenville opener.
This is something we’ve got to get right, or else we could start the season with two losses.
Key Events:
Union Omaha Goal: 28’ – Aarón Gómez (1st) (Unassisted) (0-1)
Union Omaha Subs: 46’ – Mark Bronnik ON; Kemy Amiche OFF – Prosper Kassim ON; Mehdi Ouamri OFF
Flatirons FC Yellow Card: 58’ – Orlin Hernandez, Jr. (Bad Challenge) (1st)
I’m going to start this by saying that I am a massive fan of promotion and relegation (Pro/Rel). I love the idea that every game might mean something and that I’m not going to have to suffer through a team doing their best to lose on the chance of drafting the next franchise player. I love the idea that those who have earned their place in the league (for better or worse) are where they deserve to be and not where they paid to be. I also realize it’s not a system for every league, and that’s ok.
But the announcement this morning of the USL committing to a Pro/Rel isn’t without some trepidation on my part, especially as it pertains to a team like Union Omaha.
The USL has been discussing some form of Pro/Rel at least since the formation of USL League One in 2019. The traditional naysayers of this structure were right, at the time, for all the reasons why not to implement it at that time. Money is always the first consideration, and generally the first thing to sink implementing a new idea. In this case, the league has needed to get established and make sure teams were financially stable just to exist, let alone move back and forth between divisions. Even that has seen casualties with teams like FC Tucson and CV Fuego leaving League One while Northern Colorado Hailstorm, Lansing Ignite, and Rio Grande Valley have ceased operations all together.
Also at issue were US Soccer’s (USSF’s) Professional League Standards (PLS) which define what a league needs to have to get sanctioning within appropriate tiers. The biggest things that might hold a team back from promoting might be the following requirements (from the USSF PLS Men’s Division 1 standards, dated 17 March 2023):
– 75% of the league’s teams must play in metropolitan markets of at least 1,000,000 persons
– League stadiums must be enclosed, and have a minimum seating capacity of 15,000
– Each team ownership group must demonstrate the financial capacity to operate the team for five years.
– Each team must designate one principal owner with a controlling interest who owns at least 35% of the team and has the authority to bind the team.
– That individual owner must have an individual net worth of at least US $40,000,000, exclusive of the value of his/her ownership in the league and his/her primary residence.
– The principal owner, together with all other owners, must have a combined individual net worth of at least US $70,000,000 exclusive of the value of ownership interests in the league or team and primary personal residences.
For contrast, the same standards for Division 2 include:
– 75% of the league’s teams in markets of 750,000 persons
– Minimum seating capacity of 5,000
– Ownership group financial capacity to operate the team for three years
– Ownership net worth requirements are US $20,000,000 (principal) with no further requirement for Ownership group net worth.
And Division 3 standards include:
– No metropolitan market population requirement
– Stadium capacity of 1,000
– Principal owner net worth requirement is US$10,000,000
So while the money thing is a huge issue, not only in league sustainability, but also sanctioning within US Soccer (see NISA…), it’s not the only thing. Stadium issues and market population become the 1,000th paper cut in many cases.
Consider Union Omaha in this case. Promotion last year doesn’t change much on the stadium front. Werner Park has an official capacity of 9,023. But were the Owls able to secure promotion again to a Division 1 league, suddenly we are outside of PLS standards and a threat to that league’s D1 status.
Similarly, we’re ok on population. The Omaha Metro Area’s 1,001,010 population (per stats from Grow Omaha dated 17 March 2025) meets both D2 and D1 standards. And even if it didn’t we could still participate in those competitions provided the rest of the league met the 75% threshold. Assuming that the Omaha Metro continues on it’s approximately 3.5% growth per year since the 2020 census, there should be no issues for us on promotion.
So at issue becomes the stadium and the personal wealth of Gary Green as principal, and the remainder of the ownership group.
While I won’t report nor speculate on personal wealth, I can draw some hypotheticals. I’m trying to imagine an owner who meets standards for D3 at a net worth of US $10,000,000. How feasible is it in an off-season to double your personal net worth? How feasible in (possibly) two years to quadruple that, and ensure the rest of your group (if any) has a cumulative $30,000,000 to meet these standards. I’m not fully sure (else I’d likely be a millionaire myself!), but it’s in the realm of the possible that this becomes a roadblock.
That roadblock will either have to be revisited and revised by USSF, or waived. The good news on that front is that USL is smart enough to have at least hedged their bets that USSF will be accommodating along that front—something I honestly never thought I’d write. That possibility becomes more realistic every day, and it moves us closer to the federation actually helping grow the sport and leagues in this country vice just abdicating everything in favor of MLS.
So now we come to the number one thing Union Omaha supporters have been screaming about—a stadium of our own. When news of the downtown stadium dropped last year it was met with hopeful exuberance. When news of the collapse of the deal dropped earlier this year, it was met with an equally disappointed despair. The 9,000+ capacity stadium we call home now is only going to help us through the end of this season. There have been promises of plans in the works (and I do fully trust that there are), but the plan being held close to the chest has frustrated the fanbase.
The stadium plan coming to reality has always been key to our attempted promotion to USL Championship, so nothing changes on that front. What does change is the timeline we have, and what the team is looking to accomplish.
If the team wants to be in Championship when the new 2028 D1 league and Pro/Rel are slated to start, they will have to work on getting that stadium solution sooner rather than later. If they are confident in winning their way up the ladder, they can take their time (notwithstanding the need for a place to play in 2026).
The warning here is that there has to be a deliberate path. A stadium deal done incorrectly can not only impact the ability to play, but also could put a major dent in the financial requirements for included in the PLS. We can’t mortgage the future here by accepting a bad deal that puts either the ownership group or the taxpayers of the Omaha Metro in a bind just to be able to meet those ambitions.
To bring this back around, this Pro/Rel system has to take the same deliberate approach. Union Omaha is not going to be the only team in the USL that has these issues or questions. A lot of this will have to rely on some help from USSF on those roadblock PLS, or on the league itself to help supplement those teams. That is going to rely on money.
The problem with finances is that USL teams rely mostly on game-day sales (tickets, merch, etc.) to make up their budgets. Unlike most world leagues with Pro/Rel, there isn’t a massive source of external investment to help the teams soften the blows of relegation or match the competition of promotion. The most common place to get that external investment is in selling the broadcast rights to the league.
The USL partnership with ESPN+ and CBS has grown over the last couple of years, but it’s not been good enough to provide teams the revenue that would be required with moving up and down the pyramid. This is, again, something that I’m certain USL HQ is working on, and I’m going to trust the process that there are plans in the works to sell broadcasters on the highs, lows, and watchability of the new pyramid. That doesn’t mean we’re going to get the massive deals that the English Premier League or Major League Soccer pull in, but I do believe USL has the product and vision to encourage more broadcast investment going forward. That will not only translate to smoother transitions, but should also translate to better and more accessible coverage as the broadcast companies become true partners in the success (or failure) of the new structure.
So as pertains to Búho Nation, this should absolutely be a time of celebration and hope, but also of deliberation and caution. The fact that we don’t fully know the structure is a good thing. The fact that USL will be dropping more information is a good thing. The fact that they are putting this out now is a good thing. That all means there’s work being done and a lot of time to get this right between now and 2028.
I often say that hope is the first step on the road to disappointment. But with a tempered and steady step, it can lead to the dream of a new age in the sport we love. Let us move forward, deliberately and in Union.
The following words have never been said in reference to Union Omaha: The Owls began their USL 1 campaign with a loss.
That loss came in humbling fashion at the hands of Greenville Triumph in front of 1,611 fans last Wednesday night—one of them being Ronaldinho, now a member of the Greenville Triumph ownership group. The 3-0 scoreline would have made the Brazilian legend proud, even if it was almost completely against the run of gameplay for those 90 minutes.
Dominic Casciato’s first lineup of the year came as a big surprise to a lot of people, though we would find out some of the reasons why later with injuries to Lagos Kunga and Rashid Nuhu announced after the match day squad was released. The bigger surprise seemed to be the move from a 3-4-3 construct to a 4-2-3-1 with new arrival Mehdi Ouamri as the tip of the spear and Russell Shealy handling the goal with Shido out. Coach Dom also opted to take the experience of former Minnesota United and Nashville SC defender Brent Kallman in a center back pairing with Blake Malone with one of last year’s defensive standouts, Marco Milanese, ready to come in off the bench.
Rick Wright chose the same formation with stalwart Brandon Fricke anchoring the defense and holding the armband. With golden boot and USL 1 player of the year winner Lyam MacKinnon now in Orange County, Coach Wright placed an always dangerous Leo Castro up top with Ben Zakowski supporting an attack that was held mostly mute in their opener against Westchester SC.
The warning signs were unfortunately there from almost the opening kickoff, with Greenville sending a long ball looking for Connor Evans up the right side. The pass itself was well over everyone’s head, but for some reason Shealy decided to try to slide over and try to play the ball. Instead of a Union Omaha goal kick, the ball fumbled off the keeper and out for a corner kick. Though that would be dealt with well, it was the kind of mental lapse that would plague the Owls all night.
But things weren’t all bad in the opening, as Omaha dominated most of the possession and attacking chances. Except for a well-worked, but easily claimed header off of Leo Castro, the momentum was pretty much all in the visitors’ direction. As if to punctuate that dominance, almost immediately off that claimed header, Brent started the most dangerous attack of the early match.
The 11th minute saw the defender find Mehdi splitting the middle of the Triumph defense just on the right side of the penalty area. Mehid pushed the ball off to Kemi Amiche who switched play well to find Aarón Gómez on the left side. With the Greenville defense doing well to collapse, Aarón found Charlie Ostrem who fired a first-time cross off his left foot toward the 6-yard box. Triumph keeper Rankenburg appeared to misjudge the ball and ended up weakly flailing at the pass. The ball fell perfectly for Kemi, and with Rankenburg out of position, Kemi fired a rocket toward an open goal. Open, except for the foot of Fricke who cleared the ball off the line. A scramble almost saw Kemi have a chance for a put-back, but the Tyler Polak’s risky (but well-timed) tackle meant only a corner kick on which the Owls wouldn’t be able to capitalize.
Just two minutes later, another very dangerous attack started off of some great pressing play by Aaròn and Dion Acoff. Dion, having lost possession on the attacking right, followed the ball as Greenville passed it back to Zane Bubb in an attempt to get some room to clear. With Dion bearing down, Bubb flicked a pass over to D.J. Benton. Benton turned and tried to put the ball upfield, but didn’t realize how close Aarón was to the play. The pass ended up hitting Aarón square in the chest and falling for him in stride just outside the penalty box. Bubb did well to recover and cut off any dribbling angle which forced Aarón to fire off his shot quickly. With no time to put power or placement on the shot, his attempt rolled somewhat harmlessly back to Rankenburg.
Despite the dominance in attack, that was to be the Owls’ last shot on target for the rest of the match.
As the early stages of the match wore on, it seemed that despite Union Omaha’s lack of finishing, Greenville would be the team more in trouble. That thought was backed up in the 21st minute when midfielder Pascal Corvino came up hobbling off the ball. The non-contact injury would force Coach Wright into an early change and add to the early season injury woes that have bothered the Triumph so far.
But just when you might think Greenville were up against the odds, an extremely unlikely goal would manifest not 15 minutes later. Dion had pushed the ball up the right wing and sent a beautiful cross in to Brandon Knapp that would’ve given Rankenburg trouble had Brandon’s shot not been blocked by Benton. The ensuing counter attack saw Evans loft a ball up the right side looking for Castro. An indecisive Russell started to come out and sweep the ball away, only for him to realize he wouldn’t make it in time. With Blake screaming for him to get back, Castro took the chance to chip the ball over the wrongly positioned keeper for the opening score of the match.
That proved to be the turning point in the match, but it wasn’t the end to the defensive woes. Just before halftime another lapse led to the second Greenville goal. Following a foul by Brandon on the left side, Polak stepped up to take a free kick from just inside the Omaha half. A hopeful ball found it’s way to Castro’s head over Blake’s leaping effort. The ball flicked on to a streaking Zakowski as Brent noticed the Triumph man too late to be able to put him off receiving the ball. A volley straight of Zakowski’s left foot found the top corner in a place where Russell had no chance to save it.
Halftime brought a needed relief to a shell-shocked team that were looking for anything to help them get back into the game. To help pick them up, Coach Dom brought on USL 1 Finals MVP Joe Gallardo in place of Isidro Martínez. Unfortunately, the hope that the masked man could swoop in and save the day was quickly put to rest after the restart.
With their first bit of possession, Greenville worked the ball through the midfield, stringing together several good passes and shuffling around the Búho midfield. Eventually, the ball made its way out to Zakowski on the left side about 15 yards out. A perfectly placed ball found Castro again as he split between Blake and Brent in the box. Castro’s header again gave Shealy no chance to stop the bleeding.
While Union Omaha did have some chances flash across the face of goal, and one really good individual effort by Aarón go just wide of the post (thanks to an intervention by Benton), there wasn’t a lot to get excited about in the final 45 minutes. Greenville ceded the majority of possession (to the tune of 29% possession in the second half), but still found themselves unlucky not to have a fourth goal. Were it not for a very close offside call, Zakowski would have given it to them.
As the time ticked away, it became more and more apparent that the belt would be on its way to Greenville, and when the whistle finally sounded on the match, it seemed the end of a mere formality.
The Good:
There were some serious moments of quality, especially in the first half. The passing, especially from the back line, more often than not found its target. Brent Kallman had 58 accurate passes, and 4 of those went into the final third. Charlie Ostrem had 7 accurate passes into the final third. Blake and Dion added 6 and 4, respectively, and the four had a passing accuracy over 80% on the night.
There were also flashes of brilliance, notably the shots by Kemi and the pressing of Aarón that led to the best chances of the night. The team dominated almost all the usually relevant stats and were really unlucky to have gotten the goal that probably would’ve changed the face of the match.
Finally, the fact that they did all of this with new players, in a new formation, and on the road speaks to the potential that this team has. There are a lot of things to take away that are promising.
The Bad:
There’s also a lot to take away that’s not as promising.
First has to be the mental, positioning, and communication lapses that led to Greenville’s best scoring chances. The biggest one is, of course, Russell’s inexplicable indecision on a ball that Blake had covered, even if Castro was slightly behind him. Blake had the inside and was forcing Castro to the wing outside the box with hardly any other support for a cross. I’m not sure if Russell is used to playing those balls, or if he hasn’t developed the trust in his back line that Shido has, but that’s going to have to change quickly if Shido starts to miss more time.
There’s also Brent’s positioning on Zakowski’s goal, a tendency to bunch up for our midfielders, and a lot of times where a player had pushed up but had no support for a dangerous cross. Things seemed really off there.
There was also the trend of players trying to take on too much, especially on the dribble. As I was watching initially, I remember thinking that it seemed like the new players were trying to make their mark or announce themselves by going it alone and beating two, three, sometimes four players off the dribble. It reminded me a lot of Lagos last year when he struggled—he was overthinking things and trying too hard. His best work came when he got his confidence and communication with the supporting players right.
And to validate my thoughts, here are some of the stats on dribbling:
Kemi Amiche – 7 dribbles, 1 successful Charlie Ostrem – 3 dribbles, 1 successful Joe Gallardo – 3 dribbles, 0 successful Union Omaha Total – 19 dribbles, 4 successful
But probably the most damning thing I saw had nothing to do with stats. The first goal seemed to completely deflate the team. They were still trying, but the body language said the unit morale was gone. It also seemed like there wasn’t a presence on the pitch capable of bringing them out of it. There were occasions where it looked like Dion tried to live up to the captain’s armband, but it just didn’t come off. Dion’s a great player, and he can lead by example with his play, but he didn’t show to be a rallying force. Nor did Brent. Blake showed the potential, but he’s also not there yet.
If we can’t fix that very major problem, we’re going to find ourselves a sinking ship without a true captain.
What’s Next:
Union Omaha get a quick second to regroup before heading out to Golden, Colorado to take on USL 2 side Flatirons FC on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines. The match will be Thursday, March 20, at 8 pm Central Time.
After that we have to wait another 9 days as the Búhos travel to Statesboro to take on a very attack-minded South Georgia Tormenta team. A disappointing 2-4 loss to Richmond Kickers was followed up with a 2-0 defeat of expansion AV Alta FC, showing the Ibises have some striking power when needed. Kickoff in that one is Saturday, March 29, at 6 pm Central Time.
Interesting Facts:
The last time Union Omaha lost a match by this scoreline was July 22, 2023 at Lexington SC. In fact, that was the last time that the score was 3-0 against the Owls at any point in a match. They only followed that up with a 23-match unbeaten run in all competitions (including a PK defeat in the 2023 playoffs that technically counts as a draw).
This is the 5th time in their history that Union Omaha has lost a match 3-0, and it equals the worst defeat they’ve suffered to peer competition.
However, had Zakowski’s goal been allowed to stand, it would have marked the first time EVER the Owls had given up 4 goal to a USL 1 opponent. Instead, Union Omaha has to live with this being the 9th time in their history they’ve given up 3 goals to USL 1 opposition. They’ve lost 6 of those matches and drawn 2—the only win being a 4-3 slugfest against North Carolina FC on September 6, 2023.
According to g+ GameFlow (@gameflow.bsky.social), Castro’s first goal was massively against the run of play…as in at the time of the goal the Max Possession Value Difference was at a 0.275 in Union Omaha’s favor (see graphic below).
Oh, and one more for optimism. The team that Union Omaha beat to start the 23-match unbeaten run mentioned earlier – South Georgia Tormenta. Hmm…who was it we play next in the league?
Key Events:
Greenville Triumph Sub: 23’ – Pascal Corvino OFF; Carlos Anguiano ON (Injury)
With the New Year upon us, it got me thinking about the club that I help cover and love. We’ve got two stars, three shields, the best record of any team since we joined the league, and a coach that’s shown the ability to adapt to every changing situations. There’s wouldn’t seem to be a lot that would need to change for a club that is among the best in USL.
And yet…
Everyone from the front office, to the players, to the fans will tell you there’s always something to improve. Sitting on the laurels of the past is a good way to find yourself back in the bottom half of the table and struggling to get any excitement amongst the fans. So I posed this question to the Who Gives A Hoot guys: If you were Union Omaha, what would your New Year’s Resolutions be for 2025? For anyone who regularly supports or follows the team, the answers aren’t very surprising, and focused a lot on off-the-pitch wishes.
*Note:The resolutions are from the individual members. The commentary is mine. I don’t speak for any of these guys, any specific fan, nor any supporters group in making these comments. They’re my observations and analysis.
Kyle: – Actually put shovels in the ground for the stadium – Better communication with fans in general and supporters groups in particular – On the playing side: Rebuild and start with a home playoff game as a goal
The stadium issue came up a lot in the conversations we had about these resolutions. As mentioned in my previous article (here), sharing a stadium is not always ideal for the types of things soccer needs to grow. It’s even more complicated when Sarpy County actually owns the stadium and parking lot, putting even more constraints on activities at the venue. Finally, Omaha is considered a “20-minute city”, but Werner Park’s location stretches that concept and reduces the number of fans that might want to attend a match, but just can’t justify the drive.
There has been a promised solution, and 2026 was the original target for having a playable stadium (combined with a move to USL Championship). Since then the rumors have swirled that 2027 is more likely, that there may have to be a temporary stadium solution for the 2026 season (pending agreements with the Storm Chasers and Werner Park), and investor and city bureaucracy is often cited with those rumors as causes. Putting shovels in the ground would go a long way to easing the fanbase’s concerns that the dream will actually happen.
This also leads into Kyle’s second resolution – better communication with fans and supporters groups would also help with the stadium concerns. But this resolution goes beyond just the stadium. While I will credit the front office with their availability to questions, holding the team talks during the year, and often having a pre-/early-season event to share information with the season ticket members, there are times when the communication seems to be slower or non-existent. While I won’t cite specific instances (those are between the SGs and front office), some of the topics have included short notice requesting support for team appearances, policy changes and clarifications, gameday activities and experiences, etc. There’s another aspect, but I’ll mention this with a resolution later.
For Kyle’s final resolution, this is a no-brainer. This league is very transitional, especially since we still have a lot of two-year or one-and-one option style contracts. We’ll see a lot of turnover, and that can lead to a dip in performance—see Jay Mims’ third season when Union Omaha finished 5th in the league.
But there’s something to be said for keeping your eyes on an attainable goal. A third consecutive Player’s Shield would be nice, but it shouldn’t be an all-or-nothing prospect. A good season, finishing top 4, and getting to have at least one more magical playoff match at Werner is a reasonable goal.
Luke: – Marketing investment reaching beyond the existing base – Injury Reports – Clarify Roster Locks and Trade Windows
Marketing has always been a strange topic for Union Omaha. There’s some marketing that’s being done, but it seems to be inconsistent or riding on the same style as the Storm Chasers. The latter is understandable, considering they were the established side of the company and much of the front office came from a baseball background. Then you look at things like the marketing for the Sporting Kansas City match at Caniglia. That was a surge in marketing and promotion that brought a sellout crowd to the venue.
But SKC, and the opportunity to see MLS players, is a match that almost sells itself, especially since Omaha is heavily SKC-colored for MLS support. What I want to see is more outreach, more investment, and more push to get those who are interested, but just can’t be moved to regularly attend matches.
There’s also a feeling among some supporters that they’ve been doing a lot of heavy lifting for getting the word out, bringing friends, and drumming up new avenues of support. While you might say, “that’s what supporters should do” (and you’re not wrong), a push in investment from the club in that direction would help those supporters feel they aren’t hitting the streets for nothing.
The injury report point is also a small annoyance of mine when it comes to coverage, but also affects the supporters. For them, its not always just about who’s playing and who’s not, but maybe who needs their support behind the scenes. In obvious cases, like Mechack Jérôme and family, the supporters didn’t need an injury report to jump into action and support. But for some of the more subtle ones (Steevan Dos Santos’ injury that kept him out of the SKC match), knowing who is sitting out on the sidelines helps them send their support, encouragement, and remind them that they still have the fans behind them in recovery.
While I don’t want injury reports to go into a breach of privacy, HIPPA regulations, or provide a competitive advantage, I would also like to see something giving an idea of who won’t be available and an estimated timeline. Some teams do this. Others do this, but then don’t update, so a player ruled “out” is now in the staring XI. That’s because the League doesn’t set the standard for such public reporting. I’d love the League to standardize that policy, but until then, having this as a resolution for the team would be awesome.
And speaking of League standards, the idea of the League clarifying when rosters are locked, when transfer windows are open, and (from me) details behind the transfers is something I’ve been dreaming of for a long time. This one falls firmly in the League’s hands to resolve. Expanding your supporter (customer) base means transparency with the fans on what they can expect. It also generates content, discussion, and analysis about what players could be on the move, who would be a good fit, and who missed out on a deadline day. Anything getting people talking about the League in a positive way is good.
Braedon: – More clear and transparent progress toward a stadium solution
Braedon went the simple route, and really just wants to know what the stadium solution is, especially because the aforementioned 2026 season may not be at Werner Park (if the rumors are to be believed). Shovels in the ground would be great, but the need for transparency and progress to keep the supporters excited, and to gear up potential new supporters when the downtown venue is ready, can’t be stressed enough. More and better communication is always a good thing.
Tim (Me!): – Publish the bylaws that tell me how many yellow cards you must accumulate to get a suspension
This one is definitely for the League, since I think the previous resolutions have covered the team pretty well. It also goes along with the injury report standardization, roster rules, etc.
The League has seemingly not updated it’s media guide since 2022. (Please…if anyone can prove me wrong I’d love to see the link!) That document was awesome for exactly what I’m asking for. It gave a preview of the teams, an explanation of the season and playoffs formate, then had a section for the USL League One Rules—everything from player status to progressive discipline for card accumulation. There was even a section for rules on photographs, promotional material, and other coverage concerns. It was beautiful.
But there isn’t a readily accessible document like that, and even the 2022 version requires a Scribd account to download (though you can still read it for free). Simple things like this would go a long way toward showing the transparency that fans want while providing the context and coverage materials that teams/media need to help increase the League’s exposure to new viewers. When people don’t know what’s going on, they go find a place where they do.
Do not take these resolutions as a sign that I don’t love the club and the League. It comes across as a bit negative because I’m focusing on things to change. The League and the Front Office don’t have infinite resources nor personnel to do everything perfectly. Even if they did, they’re human. I totally get the limitations they have.
That said, a little improvement should always be the goal. And what better time than as you ring in a New Year.
If you want more views and discussions on Union Omaha and USL League One heading into 2025, keep checking out the Who Gives A Hoot? podcast.
Author’s Note: Hey all! I know…it’s a Christmas miracle. The Penguin actually wrote and published something! I have to apologize for my months-long absence. There have been quite a lot of things going on in my life and my family’s lives that required my attention much more than this. I will always advocate for people to take care of themselves and those around them first—when this is gone, that is who we have. I hope you’ll accept this article as a bit of a peace offering, a thank you for your understanding, and (with any luck) the first step in a renewed ability to cover the game we love. With Holiday wishes to you and yours, Tim.
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Búho Nation has had about a week now to fully digest the early Christmas present that left a lot of the supporter base wondering whose name needs to go on the naughty list for next year. Prior to the schedule dropping, there was a lot to be excited about. On the heels of the second USL 1 Playoff Championship and a third Player’s Shield, the 5,849 fans that watched the final could find various things to get hyped about.
The long-term season ticket holder may have been gearing up to see how the most successful team in USL 1 history could handle the challenge of playing more USL Championship teams in the reformatted Jagermeister Cup. The casual fan could have been getting excited about seeing the new look of the team and having a few nice days out at the stadium. The new fan who just got hooked on the play and execution of this team could have been carrying that momentum over while welcoming the new teams to the league. Everyone would have something to build on a great run by a great team as we look to grow the supporter base that will flock to a new stadium in the (optimistically) near future.
Then the schedule actually dropped, and all that momentum went out the window.
While we don’t know the schedule of the US Open Cup yet, we do have a picture of the USL competitions, and it heavily favors any UO members that have a frequent flyer card. While the team is used to being road warriors to start a season, they’ve never faced a stretch like this. Of the first 15 games, 3 of them are at home with the first one being May 10. Omaha welcomes Portland Hearts of Pine for the team’s 6th match (all competitions) and a small two months after the season kicks off on March 8.
To put that in perspective, the 2024 Búhos started their season on the road against Central Valley Fuego on March 16, then waited almost a month to play their second game at One Knoxville. And still, they managed to get 7 home matches in their first 15 games last season.
Having to wait two months to watch the team in person, to celebrate the dawning of a new season, and be ready to cheer on the defending champion will do absolutely nothing to build on the feelings of last season. While I doubt we’ll hear as many “Omaha has a soccer team!?” type comments as in previous years, there is a section of the target audience that may lose some of the excitement by having to wait until May to get that feeling going again.
And while you still have your die-hards that will be packing the Berm, Section 119, and the standing sections (“MODELO!!!!”), the schedule gets even sillier for them. Of the three home matches Omaha will have by July 12, two of them are on “School Nights” — June 12 against Greenville Triumph (Belt/Rivalry match) and June 25 against Richmond Kickers. Such weeknight games are generally a lower draw, further reducing the ability of your supporter base to get out and spur the team on to victory.
And before we say that this is always the case, I looked at past schedules to see if that was really true. With 2020 discounted due to the funky COVID scheduling, what I found was this:
Additionally, the first 15 matches each year broke down like this:
Now you can see a semblance of this issue in early seasons, but not to this extent. Additionally, In the last two years there’s been a real effort to even things out and let the team build a pattern of support to begin each season. That effort is pretty obviously gone with the swirling winds.
I truly believe the supporter base has every right to be upset at how this schedule is playing out. Yes, eventually Omaha would have to play these games on the road. Yes, the team still has to navigate around the Storm Chasers and their (now) separate ownership group. But that doesn’t cool the supporter’s frustrations over having to wait two months to see their Búhos play.
So the question becomes, who the hell are the supporters supposed to be angry at?
A lot of times, the first place to take the punches of a supporter base is the Front Office of the team. There are often assumptions that don’t take into account some of the actual behind-the-scenes issues with things like concessions, promotions, and yes—the schedule. This is understandable, especially when there’s a feeling that the Storm Chasers always get priority for dates. And while there are occasions where that ire might be well-placed, often it’s things outside of the team’s control.
So in order to temper my own ranting and get to the heart of what went wrong with the schedule this year, I talked to Martie Cordaro, President of both Union Omaha and the Storm Chasers. I got a chance to ask him about the schedule and some of the initial feelings about the schedule. What he provided was an honest look at what happened, and a pretty convincing show that the Front Office isn’t really the one to blame here.
I started with a question about the USL Championship possibly having a hand in the schedule issue.
RBP Media: “Obviously, we share the stadium with the Storm Chasers, but it sounds like USL Championship, they already kind of had their marker down on a few of the weekend dates, and therefore some of the stuff that we asked for they were unavailable for. And so it kind of threw things into a little bit of a scheduling blender for lack of a better term. If that’s what I caught correctly.”
Martie Cordaro: “Yeah, I don’t know that it’s USL Championship’s fault. I would say, you know, they don’t make the schedule USL does, and when they were making the Jager Cup schedule because of them (USL C) being now included in the Jager Cup, it was more restrictive. If it was all just League One clubs, it’d be a lot easier to look and say “hey, can we take one of our October dates and maybe flip one with Madison in May,” for example, which is an example of something we could try to do. So, again, I don’t want to pin it on Championship, it’s more just a product of we could have drawn a home Jager Cup match on the last Saturday in April, that’s not the schedule we were given by the league.”
This makes a good bit of sense when you think about it. With the new format of the Jagermeister Cup, the inclusion of the USL Championship teams, and the fact that the group stage isn’t home/away anymore, the idea of trading the matches goes out the window. If the teams were selected in a draw, then that settles that. It’s a bit frustrating that the Jager Cup match gets in the way, but it’s not something that the Front Office has any control over.
But the Cup is just 1 of 12 early season road matches. Even with a home match in late April (26th), the fans are still waiting 7 weeks to get a taste of soccer in Werner Park, and that’s a long time removed from the magic of the 2024 Final. Was that cause for concern in the Front Office?
RBPM: “The the biggest question that I had with the schedule drop and everything else with 12 of the first 15 games away, I assume that there’s a little bit of concern on you guys’ part, too that the momentum from the championship season, the the 5800 plus that we had there and getting to grow that supporter base and fan base, that we’re losing a little bit of that momentum having to wait until May 10th for a home opener. Is that is that accurate?”
MC: “I wouldn’t say that. You know selling outdoor sports in Nebraska for March and April is definitely not advantageous. I mean, we would start in May every year if we could, but it’s not realistic. You want as balanced a competition schedule as possible, and then you also want sellable dates. So I would tell you quite the opposite, from a group ticket sales perspective and a single game perspective you know, we have a longer runway, if you will, to be able to market and create new fans. But, yes, from a competition perspective, yeah, it’s a lot of dates on the road. Again, like I said, in ’22 it was a similar schedule. I think everyone remembers when we scheduled home dates in late March and early April in ’23. We were asking you all to come help shovel snow and we played in a sleet storm. So, I would look at it the opposite, but you know, we’re the ones marketing and selling, so, you know, every position, including the coaching staff, has a different angle with which they’re looking at a particular item or topic.”
Once again, the logic is there. While Búho Nation won’t like to hear that Martie would have us start in May every year if he could, he’s not wrong on the sellable dates issue. The specific match he mentioned was on March 26, 2023—a 1-1 draw against Forward Madison and the last time Union Omaha opened the season at home (well, Caniglia…but whatever). The supporters were enlisted earlier in the day to clear the snowfall from the field to make sure the match could proceed. The game itself drew only 1,913. Two weeks later, only 1,665 fans watched a 1-2 defeat to North Carolina on a rainy, 43-degree day.
While that kind of weather isn’t guaranteed, it’s also not out of the ordinary. And unless you’ve got “Cornhuskers” in your name, you aren’t going to draw a religious following in such harsh conditions. From an attendance, sales, and marketing standpoint, you absolutely want to get as close to a guarantee of perfect weather as you can.
Martie did reiterate later that the team had selected “the last Saturday in April as one of our primary home schedule dates…But we weren’t able to trade out of it because it’s a Jager Cup weekend, not a regular season weekend if you will, and we were prohibited from making that trade.” So going back to the first question, they tried, but the Cup and the draw got in the way.
So with weather and Jager Cup scheduling a factor, I turned the attention onto how to maintain the excitement of the championship season.
RBPM: “So, do you guys have any plans to kind of mitigate the lack of early home games, trying to maintain the excitement and the momentum, maybe watch parties, maybe other team events that you guys are possibly looking at to keep people engaged until that home opener?”
MC: “Yep. Sure do.”
RBPM: “I’m guessing nothing that you’re quite ready to show or spell out for anyone?”
MC: “No, there’s no announcements. I mean we just got our schedule on Wednesday finalized and released on Thursday. So no, we…you know our staff is, for the most part, on break for two weeks. So anything we would be announcing would probably be four weeks or so from now.”
This wasn’t completely unexpected. The schedule release was delayed this year for multiple reasons, not the least of which was the legal actions involving Northern Colorado Hailstorm that ultimately led to the League withdrawing their franchise agreement and all but folding the team. This, along with Central Valley Fuego suffering a similar fate meant there were a lot of things hanging in the air to resolve before a schedule could be compiled, much less finalized. That didn’t give much time to finalize any plans for things like promotions, theme nights, or marketing for specific games.
However, I expect that there are ideas forming and a general sense of “maybe we could do this,” within the Front Office staff’s thoughts. We’re just going to have to wait a bit to hear what they are.
So despite any feelings the supporters (to include me, in full honesty) might have concerning the long road trip to start the match, there are reasons behind all of this.
RBPM: “Yeah, the supporters are definitely very interested in this and I know the supporters have a lot of feelings and a lot of opinions, and it’s kind of why I wanted to talk to you about to make sure that, you know, ‘hey, I get it. We all want the home opener and we all want the championship. We can’t wait to see the team again.’ But this isn’t just let’s knee jerk and say ‘Hey, that stupid schedule. How could they do that to us?’”
MC: “Yeah, and look. I would offer this. We want to raise a banner. We want to celebrate a championship. We want to relive the ’24 season and pass out rings to our players in front of the home crowd. So, you know, there are a lot of things we would want to do as well. So, you know, waiting until May 10th, again, like I said, we thought we were going to have a home opener in April, and we didn’t. That’s not the date we were given by USL.”
The desire is there, and the Front Office seems to share our feelings as supporters about how amazing it will be to finally celebrate that championship season. But again, there was a reference to USL not giving Union Omaha the primary home date preference.
Since the League and Jager Cup schedule wouldn’t be able to accommodate, I started thinking toward the U.S. Open Cup. Though the schedule hasn’t been announced yet, could an early season match be a way to see the team at home?
RBPM: “Does the lack of having the league home stuff…Is that going to impact you guys’ decisions to go ahead and try to bid on an early Open Cup match, maybe just to to get the team exposed? Or are there other thought processes there?”
MC: “Well, you know, the majority of the Open Cup matches the last three seasons haven’t been played at Werner. That shouldn’t be impactful, as long as UNO and/or Creighton are available. So there shouldn’t be any Open Cup impact. Our preference, obviously, would be to play at Werner. We have a distinct home pitch advantage. I think that’s proven out as being the most successful pro soccer franchise in the last five years at any level in North America. So, we would rather play at Werner Park, but I would probably say number two it’s proven out that UNO is a great partner. And they’ve welcomed us with open arms at Caniglia, and that would probably be the first place we would look. And then Creighton has been fair to us in the past as well. But it’s been a couple seasons since we played a match there.”
This was also a pretty expected response. Union Omaha hardly ever shies away from bidding to host, despite the fact that it is often not as profitable, depending on the opponent and the round, with hosting fees going up at each stage. That, at least, will be something to possibly look forward to.
But what I also pulled out of that is the “distinct home pitch advantage” that we enjoy with Werner Park. As mentioned previously, other positions such as coaches and players may not like the sparse early home schedule. Not getting a chance to get used to that home pitch advantage, in addition to the buses, planes, hotels, and other woes of life on the road might come with its competitive disadvantages. A recent interview from League One on The Rocks with Coach Dominic Casciato included a discussion of the schedule, which it didn’t appear that coach was a big fan of. While he didn’t specifically say he hated it, and while he basically said the mentality is just to win the game in front of you, his tone definitely gave the impression that it wasn’t his favorite schedule to see. (I recommend listening to that interview as well, and any of Rich and Bryan’s USL 1 coverage at https://www.youtube.com/@leagueonetherocks).
So as the insights wound down, I thought I’d ask one more question about the scheduling overall — the amount of Sunday-Thursday matches scheduled for Union Omaha this year. For context, in addition to two of the three home games mentioned above, the Owls will be playing at home on a “school night” in seven more matches—two on Sunday and five more on Wednesday. This isn’t including any other of such matches, like the season opener in Greenville on Wednesday, March 12 (currently slated for 4 p.m. CT according to FotMob). Midweek matches aren’t usually good “sellable dates,” so it seemed counterproductive.
RBPM: “I guess the last question that I’ve got for you on the schedule bit is, there is a little bit of talk too about the midweek matches. We’re looking at, we got six Wednesday matches, a Thursday match and two Sunday matches, the days that, you would consider, you got to get to bed on a school night type matches. What really played into to that? We get more midweek matches at home this year than we are Friday and Saturday.”
MC: “It’d be a great question for the league. It’s not something that I’m able to answer. Again, not being the schedule maker, not being the one that’s looking at the overall template. But, one that’s specific, again, Jager Cup impacted, if you look at, very specific, June 25th. We put in to host, as one of our five primary dates June 28th. So the two road Jager Cup matches are two primary home dates of our five that were requested, that we weren’t granted. So those are ones we tried and we weren’t given them, per the schedule that dropped on Thursday. But that’s one example, you know the others, you know, when the Storm Chasers are gone, the 12-game road trip which is middle to late July. You’re always, I would tell you, we’re always going to try to get three matches during that period. It’s a great home stand. It’s great from a competition perspective. No travel, so that’s why that Wednesday. So that was one of the dates we did request. The others, you’d have to ask someone in a different capacity.”
Midweek games are always a concern, not just for “school night” attendance, but also for rest and competition. A deep squad can make those Wednesday/Thursday games work with weekend games on the caps, but not as often. We do sometimes see the need to do this anyway due to the baseball team. While their schedule traditionally holds to a week at home/week away pattern, it’s not always clean. You sometimes get overlap onto a Saturday, and when you take into account having to flip the field (a three-day process, minimum), it can push some of our home dates to weird days.
But beyond that, the team did try to get a couple more weekends. It seems to be something that was ultimately out of their control, either by the (un)luck of the draw, or by not being able to foresee the Jager Cup dates.
That the League would be the best one to answer is somewhat supported by the fact that we aren’t alone in putting in our miles to begin the season, so I wanted to mention that before the conversation ended.
RBPM: “I understand we’re not completely alone in this. I think, I highlighted a couple of guys here…Portland kind of being in a similar situation. They’re looking at six home matches out of the first nine and they start (their home matches) on May 4th. And I imagine for similar reasons to us. You’re looking at One Knox who in the first 15, they’ve got 5 (home matches) and 10 away. So by no means, do I want to say this is a Union Omaha specific problem, but it was definitely highlighted that we had a disproportionate, like with three of those home matches.”
MC: “Yeah, absolutely. And look, any question’s always valid and welcomed, and some of the things we control. Some we don’t. And again, above all, now with the Jager Cup, being a real factor because it includes Championship clubs, you know, it will continue to impact the schedule, soccer specific stadium or not. I think that’s something good for supporters and everyone to understand and know. So, while it’s good that we’re now playing between the two leagues, there are some things, like this, you know, two of our five primary dates on Saturday nights weren’t granted because they are road USL Jager Cup Championship games that were on the road.”
The fact that Martie took the time to talk to me on the Saturday before Christmas speaks truly to how he led that response. The questions did seem very welcome, and the only thing he really didn’t want to answer was the question concerning what ideas they had to maintain the excitement of last season—and that’s literally because they haven’t had time to think about it.
So while it’s often our first response to blame the Front Office, I think the logic holds that a lot of this can be put at the League’s feet. That’s not to say that the League is specifically targeting any particular fanbase and trying to screw them out of momentum and excitement. It simply means that the League has decisions to make, and sometimes those decisions seem counter to what a team may request to do.
But it’s also understandable that a fanbase would be frustrated. It’s understandable if the team were a little frustrated. When we can’t see the process, and don’t really get to look into why a process has worked out the way it did, we are going to get upset and rail at whomever it looks like has frustrated us.
And for now, I think that frustration can be directed at the League much more than the Union Omaha Front Office. But rather than rail against something we can not control, let’s throw that energy into our chants, our Tifos, and our support of the 2025 Owls every time we get to see them.
Call it “Us Against the World”, and run it back.
(*Note: I have contacted USL League One in an attempt to learn more about the scheduling process and how this year’s schedule came to be. If/when I hear back from them, I’ll supplement this with their inputs.)
It’s that time of year again, and Omaha is back in the playoffs for the fifth time in a row and have never missed qualification for the USL League One postseason. Los Buhos will be looking to get their first postseason win since 2021 after falling short in the semifinals last year against Charlotte. However this year there are now eight teams compared to the previous six, meaning no one gets a bye to the semifinals and everyone has a matchup heading into the first weekend of action.
Credit: USL League One
I’ll be making some predictions based on first round match ups and looking at the path to the final for teams starting with yours truly Union Omaha and Richmond Kickers on Sunday November 3rd. Richmond really made a bounce back after last season’s failure to defend their 2022 Players Shield. After finishing eleventh they have made the playoffs once again and face defending and current shield winners Omaha away. I hate to be the one to be the bearer of bad news for Richmond but this matchup is definitely in the Owl’s favor. While Omaha has never won at City Stadium their fortress of a home ground is not in play this year with Richmond the final team to clinch meaning they won’t be at home throughout the playoffs. Based on Omaha’s form and home field advantage the Owls will most likely advance to the semifinals this year and for the third time in club history.
Next we have Spokane Velocity and Hailstorm for a true western match up. The Jager Cup? Plate? Champions leapfrogged Madison on the final match day against the mingos with a one goal win to lock up second spot as they march to a possible league double this season along with a playoff game with Spokane who has the worst form of all the playoff contenders. Five loses in the last seven matches make it look cloudy in Eastern Washington with them arguably having the toughest path to the final and I don’t see them making it past Northern Colorado. In fact I’d be surprised if Spokane score a goal against the well drilled Hailstorm given their form away from home, but if they play compact there might be a chance, but it is Hailstorm’s game to lose.
Next is Charlotte Independence against Forward Madison. Madison hosts their first playoff match in club history after the two previous appearances ending with a Ricardo Pepi brace in 2019 and a Trevor Amann hat-trick in 2023. The Mingos have gotten the better of Charlotte this year though. After winning 4 – 2 last match up it seems that Madison could get their first postseason win but don’t expect it to be a cake walk. Charlotte can win on any given match day and they know it with Juan Obregon coming second in the golden boot race this year and Austin Pack in goal, Charlotte could very well spoil the party at Breese Stevens. Only 90 minutes and maybe extra time will tell but I feel Madison will advance this year.
And finally we have Knoxville and Greenville. Knoxville will be crossing the Appalachians to meet familiar foe Greenville with golden boot winner Liam MacKinnon. Both clubs have met three times this year including an Open Cup match and two of them ended level at 90 minutes. While Greenville’s form looks good on paper they are vulnerable on defense and can be stopped on offense. Don’t let the 5 – 1 Tormenta win last weekend fool you, Knoxville in my opinion are the best equipped team this round to win away from home and possibly make a run to the finals. Defense wins championships is the mantra and they live and breath it. Their only loss in the last 17 matches in all comps came to Omaha away, and with Sean Lewis in goal keeping the net clear Knoxville seems to have the formula to just not lose in regular time. Greenville could also do it but their form against better sides may be the undoing of their hopes to lift the league title again. They will have to dig deep to break down this Knoxville side but I feel Knox has them beat this round despite their previous match ups. Knoxville in penalties.
Round winner predictions recap
Omaha > Richmond in 90
Northern Colorado > Spokane in 90
Madison > Charlotte in 90
Knoxville > Greenville in pens
Find out this weekend for yourself and call me out on my bad predictions on Twitter or BlueSky @braejohn30 for both.
And on a final note I want to congratulate Steevan Dos Santos on behalf of the pod for his announced retirement after the post season ends. Steevan you leave a legacy beyond compared for not just USL but lower league soccer in the U.S. as a whole. What ever you do after we wish you good luck on your post soccer life and plans.
Have you heard the news? Well if you didn’t it was announced on September 24th, 2024 that Gary Green owner of Union Omaha has sold his ownership stake in the Omaha Storm Chasers baseball team. This announcement came out of left field (no pun intended) and shocked just about everyone in both the baseball and soccer community alike in Omaha. Gary Green and Alliance Sports, the holding group for the team, have sold the Chasers to Diamond Baseball Holdings, the largest owner of minor league baseball teams in the country in a move that speaks to the continued commitment Green has towards Union Omaha.
DBH is owned by private equity group Silver Lake which has invested in large enterprises such as Fanatics the largest sports apparel seller in the U.S. and City Football Group the owner and operator of Manchester City, the leviathan of clubs across the world. This announcement marks the end of a pivotal decade for the Storm Chasers as they left their previous home Rosenblatt Stadium in 2011 and opened Werner Park after being owned by Omaha billionaire Warren Buffet. The team would go on and win multiple Triple-A titles under the stewardship of Gary Green. Now what does this mean for Union Omaha? Well let’s get to the nitty gritty details on what this announcement means for the future of the club.
The exact details of the sale have not been made public but what can be inferred is that Gary Green is going all-in on soccer in the city. With a stadium construction project on the horizon and no news on sources of funding from the city or state, a sale of the Chasers is a quick way to raise capital to make sure the project moves forward towards the announced breaking ground date of Fall 2024 and eventually opening before the season in 2026. This also gives questions about what will happen between operations on the front office side. Martie Cordaro has said that at the moment operations will stay the same in public interviews. Alexis Buolos and Martie will still be the heads of the club for the immediate future but that of course will most likely change as Union moves to their future home.
What this development also indicates is the potential growth soccer could have in Omaha and in cities like it across the nation. While minor league baseball can bring in reasonable expectations of growth year over year with MLB paying the salaries of the big hitters (no pun intended again) and the local clubs reaping the benefits of easy to please crowds and a restructured league system after covid. Soccer is not the same. As it grows in popularity across the nation it can be said it is the final frontier of American sports. Many MLS and NWSL owners have seen the money start rolling in recent years with skyrocketing valuations and TV deals, and many in the USL have seen that they too can get a slice of the pie with proper investment and backing from leagues and the federation.
No longer willing to let other operations stand in the way of success, Gary Green has made it clear that Union Omaha is his priority for the future. In an op-ed published in the wake of the announcement Green mentioned his commitment to the younger generation and newer developing fanbase in the area and a plan that “seeks to eliminate barriers like the “pay to play” model and provide access to top-level soccer programming. Omaha’s youth will not just have new fields to play on — they will be coached and mentored by professional players, fostering leadership and development opportunities that reach far beyond the game.” Such a commitment for the future of youth development is key in the future of the club’s success. Beyond identifying promising new professionals it is also vital to find it at home in their formal years. That along with the much anticipated professional women’s team has the possibility to be transformational for Omaha and should be followed with eager eyes as the months leading up to breaking ground inch closer and closer.
The sale marks the end of an era in Omaha but it also means it is building towards a future that started 4 years ago in a baseball stadium that is home to some of the most successful and well known professional teams in the country. While this sale may be final. The work is not and many wait with bated breath to see the success continue for Omaha whether it is on a dirt infield or a grass pitch.
Who Gives A Hoot? 