July 15, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release
Greenville, S.C. – In a match with more bookings than clear chances at goal, Union Omaha pounced when the chaos presented a golden opportunity, and held on for a huge win.
Going in, both teams knew that the winner would go top of USL League One. Perhaps it was those stakes that saw the match mired in a cavalcade of fouls and missed passes. Still, while Greenville held a 58%-42% edge in possession, it was the visiting Owls who not only created more on attack, but earned their first clean sheet since May 29th against Central Valley Fuego.
Said defender Blake Malone afterwards, “The game wasn’t necessarily the prettiest from either side. It honestly turned into a match of who could be the biggest dog and who was going to fight the hardest, and after that final whistle the result speaks for itself.”
Head Coach Dom Casciato had similar sentiments about the intensity of the match, “Those games in Greenville, and against Greenville, are always tough. They’re always fighting for their lives against us, we’re doing the same against them, and there’s obviously a lot of history between the two clubs, so to come away with the three points is really pleasing.”
That’s not to say everything is rosy. Only a quarter of an hour in, Dion Acoff had to be subbed off due to injury. Isaac Bawa, who had only played 16 minutes with the club since his return, was tasked with seeing out the remaining 72 plus stoppage time. He’d soon even switch wings with Joe Gallardo, putting in time on the left flank rather than his normal haunts on the right.
The biggest sparks for Omaha in the first half, predictably, came from Lagos Kunga. On multiple occasions he’d drive to the byline with Triumph defenders in his wake, but opposing goalkeeper Gunther Rankenburg positioned himself well to parry away Kunga’s tight angle shots.
With a succession of stoppages and fouls, we saw an astounding seven minutes of stoppage time in the first half. That would end up troublesome for Omaha, as Marco Milanese ended up needing Malone’s help to hobble off the pitch during the additional time. Milanese had leaped to nudge a switch of play forward, and the Italian defender landed awkwardly afterwards. Before the halftime whistle even rang out, Dominic Casciato had two of his substitutes used up.
Coming out of the break, though, it took mere minutes for the Owls to give the traveling fans something to cheer for, as well as the confidence that…