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USL1 Union Omaha

120th Minute Goal Ends Union Omaha's Open Cup Run

May 9, 2024 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release


OMAHA, Neb. - It was a different kind of crushing defeat for Union Omaha against their I-29 rivals in the U.S. Open Cup.

Lagos Kunga's 31st minute goal was canceled out by Marinos Tzionis just after the second half began, and it took until the 120th minute for Alan Pulido to break the stalemate and send Sporting Kansas City to the round of 16.

"I think they can be proud of themselves," said Head Coach Dominic Casciato afterwards. "They executed the game plan, and they pushed a good MLS team to their limit. This was not a shadow squad that they put out. It's a really strong team they put out, with a lot of big guns. So for us to go toe-to-toe with them, and plan the way we did, and keep it as tight as we did... and we all thought we were going to penalties, right? Until that last goal at the death."

From the opening kick, Union acquitted themselves well. Their wide low block kept Sporting KC at bay, while their opponents' narrow setup allowed plenty of cross-field switches of play to Dion Acoff to advance forward. The first half hour of the match was sedate, which was good news for the home team.

By the end of that time, though, it all kicked into gear.

Rashid Nuhu was forced into an acrobatic stop to keep the always-opportunistic Eric Thommy at bay. Union broke on a 3 vs 1 after the ensuing corner kick, but Aarón Gómez went right instead of left, and Pedro Dolabella couldn't pick out the final pass.

And then, the big one. Dion Acoff burst through the SKC touchline press, taking advantage of an aggressive step by Zorhan Bassong. In a blink he was on the byline, showing the speed that was always going to be crucial for a potential giant-killing. Joe Gallardo couldn't control the cutback, but Lagos Kunga stepped up and blessed a shot that ricocheted off Kayden Pierre and in.

The Owls grew in confidence after that, to the raucous chanting of the Parliament urging them to hang tight. At least until the halftime whistle, they did.

On the other side of the break, though, Dolabella was caught on the ball, and Cypriot international Marinos Tzionis pounced when he went into the spin cycle. His wormburner of a shot just eluded Nuhu's sprawling grasp. 48 minutes in, it was all back to square one.

Speaking about the approach after the equalizer, Coach Dom said the gameplan didn't change too much. "It was tough for us to get control of the ball against them. It was tough for us to really advance into the attacking areas, so we continued to try and find a counterattack. And we had some big chances, like Aarón's chance he put over the bar."

As Sporting made some marquee substitutions (Alan Pulido for Erik Thommy might as well be written in neon), both sides dug in and created half-chances, if not full ones. None of them panned out, though, so for the third time in five matches, the Owls gave the Omaha faithful a little bonus football.

As we know, this one didn't yield penalty kicks like the other two. But it could have gone either way. Ryen Jiba tangled himself and Bassong up with a seemingly endless string of stepovers, but he managed to cut inside and scare the daylights out of Kansas City when his shot flashed just wide. Sporting retaliated minutes later when Johnny Russell struck a curled shot so sweetly he began wheeling away in celebration... until the ball dinged the post and his vibes.

It took all 120 minutes for the four-time U.S. Open Cup winners to break through USL League One's winningest Open Cup team. Tzionis, the X-factor on the night, wriggled free of Joe Gallardo's press deep in the left half-space. He found Alan Pulido in space at the edge of the box, and the #9's shot somehow maneuvered through traffic and past Nuhu for the dagger. As soon as the shot found the corner of the net, Caniglia Field became the world's largest airlock. Despite the way the home crowd rebounded to throw the Owls their support, Sporting killed the rest of the match off with ease.

Still, the crowd of 4,733 showed up and showed out, earning the coach's praise afterwards.

"I think it made for a great atmosphere. Credit to UNO putting on a great show; they rolled out a red carpet for us, and I think the city of Omaha was really excited about this game. Hopefully some of those fans who came to us [representing] Kansas City will come and watch Union Omaha now in our league games and our cup games. But no, I think Omaha's a great soccer city, and events like this are only going to help the sport grow.

"Just proud of the guys. We keep our heads high, and brush ourselves off and go again."

The run at home has come to a heart-wrenching end, but the team will indeed pick themselves up off the turf and go again soon. Saturday, May 11th sees them in Washington for their first ever match against Spokane Velocity. That USL Jägermeister Cup match will be followed by a short week, cross-country trip to Charlotte. Union Omaha's next home match will be another one in the Jägermeister Cup, this time against Central Valley Fuego on May 29th. That match will also be our One Means All Community Night, presented by Bellevue University.

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