Omaha Ascends to Top of the Table with Win over Chattanooga
September 4, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Union Omaha News Release
PAPILLION, Neb. – Union Omaha found yet another late answer at home after being challenged early to get the win over Chattanooga Red Wolves Saturday night.
To open up the penultimate month of the regular season, the Owls welcomed in a surging Chattanooga side who sit in 4th place after winning three of its last five. Los Búhos notched their first-ever win over Los Lobos earlier in the year before drawing last month at Werner Park and now had a chance to even the all-time series with the visiting side in front of their home crowd. On the line for the Owls was their 7-match unbeaten home streak and their first opportunity on the top of the USL League One table.
It was a slower start to the night for the Owls offense than in recent matches, who found themselves playing in their defensive half more often in the opening minutes of the match. The powerful Red Wolves offense, who came into the night boasting the second most goals in the league, challenged the league’s best defense early in the first half with plenty of threatening looks.
Rashid Nuhu, the Owls’ anchor in goal, stepped up in the 25th minute, batting up a strong shot from Red Wolves’ team-leading scorer Juan Galindrez and eventually came down with the save just in front of the goal line.
The Red Wolves broke the deadlock in 28th minute, Moe Espinoza struck a perfectly placed shot into the back post beyond Nuhu’s outstretched hands, giving the visiting side the lead. It was almost as early as Chattanooga scored in the team’s previous meeting, which left the Owls with a lot of time to make a breakthrough.
The first booking on the night went to Joe Brito in the 35th minute. Minutes later, Noe Meza slung a dangerous low roller that slid right past the face of goal an out, keeping the Red Wolves’ keeper alert.
More adversity came Omaha’s way in the 61st minute, as Corey Hertzog was issued a straight red card and sent back to the locker rooms. For the second straight match, the Owls went down a man in the second half. Although this time, the Owls still had a goal to score if they wanted a chance to preserve their unbeaten streak at home.
The next card came to Jimmie Villalobos in the 64th minute with a foul on Ryen Jiba, the Red Wolves’ first of the night.
The name of the game in the second half was close chances, almost as if playing a man down energized the Owls. The feel in the stadium was electric as the thousands of fans waited with bated breath for a finish to finally go Union Omaha’s way.
“It’s not the first time we’ve been down a man, so we’re pretty used to it,” Dion Acoff said. “It’s that ‘Never say die’ attitude that we go into every game with.”
Omaha was knocking on the door yet again in the 80th minute, with Acoff nearly finding Ricky Rivera across the face of goal on a ball that Rivera just couldn’t turn in time to make the finish.
In the end it didn’t matter, though, as Omaha would find its equalizer in the 88th minute. A beautiful ball delivered by Joe Brito into the box made its way flawless for Luis Gil to slice between the Chattanooga back line and squeeze the ball into the net with a soft tap, erupting the home crowd into cheers It was late magic again for the Owls, who are no strangers to scoring late at home this season. The score was the second time the home side had equalized in the final minutes against Chattanooga and the first goal in a Union Omaha uniform for the 28-year-old California native.
The frustration was apparent for the Red Wolves, as Alex Tejera earned another yellow card for the visitors in the 89th minute. It was clear that the Owls were not content to just take a point away from this one, as the attack was back on the prowl just minutes after leveling the match. The magic came yet again in stoppage time at Werner Park.
The clinch started with a boot from Nuhu all the way to the other end, where Rivera got a head on the ball to knock it down and give it off to Acoff, who beat four defenders and delivered a perfect chip shot over Avilez in the low corner to put the Owls up 2-1. In just a span of three minutes, the match had been completed turned upside down thanks to the resilient Omaha 10-man offense.
“It was a long time coming,” Acoff said. “I’m excited to get my first one out of the way and hopefully there’s many more to come.”
“Luis and Dion are two guys that have just had unbelievable careers, even outside our country, and I couldn’t be happier for those guys,” Union Omaha head coach Jay Mims said. “They are so humble and so hard-working, and they’ve came into our club and just made such a huge difference on the field, off the field.”
Omaha handed Chattanooga its first loss in nine matches and with the 3 points, the Owls climbed from 3rd to 1st on top of the USL League One table for the first time this season. Omaha will need to carry its momentum on the road next week against FC Tucson before returning home to defend its standing on Wednesday, September 14 against Richmond Kickers for Hometown Heroes Night and Saturday, September 17 against Greenville Triumph SC for Oktoberfest.
“For us to show what we did tonight with being down like that and never giving up and scoring two goals late like that, I’m so happy for the guys and the commitment we’ve had,” Mims said.
“It’s difficult but I feel like we’ve been playing well when we’re a man down, and we’ve been picking up the tempo, so it’s a great reaction by the guys to not get let down being down a man and down a goal,” Gil said. “To come out with a win is even more special.”
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