August 5, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release
Papillion, Nebr. – After turning the tables on Forward Madison with a pair of goals midway though the second half, it was former Owl Jacob Crull who struck back to send both teams home with a point apiece.
It’s always a hard-fought match-up, and with both teams aiming to regain peak form after letdowns the weekend prior, this was no different. Still, Union may be the more disappointed club after conceding a stoppage-time equalizer that, it turned out, denied them a perch atop the league once again.
“It’s a tough one to take, conceding an equalizer so late. We’ve just got to do a better job of seeing the game out there at the end,” said Head Coach Dom Casciato afterwards.
The first half showed little indication of the fireworks that were yet to come. Madison’s pressing consistently harassed Union Omaha, forcing them into bad passes and miscommunications that tilted the field towards Omaha’s own half. When they did manage to break through, overthought seemed to be the plague they carried. Much like against Chattanooga a week ago, Los Búhos frequently passed up good chances in pursuit of great ones, but none of them quite panned out.
That said, they hit the woodwork not once, but twice in the opening 45. First came Lagos Kunga in the 10th minute, cutting further and further inside until he got a sliver of space to shoot. Only a sliver, mind you, because the ball took a deflection, but that sent it onto the post before spinning out for a corner kick. Much later in the half, Pedro Dolabella saw the seas part for him at the top of the box in transition, but his shot also ricocheted cruelly away.
The halftime break, at first, looked to do more harm than good when Madison came out firing. Just minutes in, Nortei Nortey headed a cross behind him towards the far post, where there were more white shirts than black. Juan Galindrez would blast a volley through Rashid Nuhu’s gloves for the opener from there.
Vexation would steadily mount as more fouls and bookings came Omaha’s way; the foul total was 8-3 in the first half and looked set to continue that trend early in the second half. The match would end 14-12 in fouls, but it’s the nine yellow cards (plus bench bookings) that really exemplify the nature of this match.
Still, the home side took more and more of the ball in search of an equalizer, and it wouldn’t be too long in the making. Mechack Jérôme won a towering header at midfield, which led…