October 29, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release
Papillion, Nebr. – The Owls finished their regular season hot with a 3-1 win against Central Valley Fuego FC.
On the day they honored Omaha’s all-time leading goalscorer Steevan Dos Santos, retiring at season’s end, it was only natural they would have a bit of an attacking outburst, including goals by a fellow savvy vet and a youngster on the rise.
With nothing to play for though, it was a heavily rotated lineup put out by Head Coach Dominic Casciato. Marco Milanese, working his way back from injury, was the only starter in his second full season with the club. Anderson Holt, still a year away from cracking open a Modelo on a Union Omaha corner kick, was the third most-tenured player in the starting eleven.
Said Casciato, “We gave some opportunities to guys today that we haven’t been able to get enough opportunities to throughout the course of the season, and these are guys that have been working really, really hard, so I’m proud of those guys and the way they stepped up. We’re going to need everybody going into the playoffs.”
Despite a bit of a scrappy start, though, it didn’t take long for the Búhos to make themselves at home with a 1-0 lead. Off a long diagonal from Mechack Jérôme, Ryen Jiba played a one-two with Zeiko Lewis to unleash the former into space down the flank. Jiba’s floating cross from the byline was then viciously thumped home with a bar-down header by Aarón Gómez to make Big Steev proud.
Omaha never truly dominated the run of play, per se; they ended up with 53% possession and a 22-19 edge on shots (though 11-6 in shots on target). Still, other than a spell around the 30th minute where shot blocking and timely interventions were key in staving off Fuego, they dictated much of the match’s tempo.
Deputy goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley did come up huge in the 43rd minute to preserve the lead going into the half, however. When Jérôme pushed up from his right center back spot, it left acres of space for young Javier Mariona to run into, putting him one on one with Lapsley. The goalkeeper came off his line well, though, staying big with a kick save and a beauty.
The second half came down to a pair of players scoring their first professional goals to put the game to bed.
First came a returnee this season, Ryen Jiba, who corralled the rebound from a diving save and settled it on his strong foot before firing a near-post shot right past Zuluaga, who looked caught off-guard in…