Another Comeback Sees Omaha Storm to Win over Naples
Published on May 30, 2026 under United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release
Omaha, NE - In a 2025 playoff quarterfinals rematch, Omaha flipped a halftime deficit to come out 2-1 victors.
On a night where the rain properly held off long enough for a full match to be played, Diego Gutiérrez had a free kick goal before setting up Ryen Jiba for the game-winner.
Said Head Coach Vincenzo Candela, "After a long week, it took us about ten or fifteen minutes to get going. But after that, we established control of the game. Again, I love the resilience and belief that this group has, coming back from a goal down with two wonderful goals, and we got another three points at home."
It was two different types of inertia early on; Naples got off a handful of shots but only from distance, while Omaha were finding it hard to even produce shots against the visitors' mid block. However, Naples broke through at lightning speed in the 23rd minute when Andres Ferrin latched onto a long ball before slotting in William Arevalo streaking through the middle. The cross narrowly evaded a sliding Samuel Owusu, and Arevalo's shot narrowly trickled through a charging Cole Jensen to give Naples the lead.
That spurred the Owls into action with some pressure off set-pieces, and while they still didn't record any shots until the 33rd minute, they finished the half with nine of them.
The break was the turning point, as attacker Pato Botello Faz noted: "[Coach] Vinnie made incredible adjustments to give us more chances in the second half, and I think the coaching staff really won the game at halftime."
The Owls kept pushing for chances, and their persistence paid off when they won a free kick midway through the half. Diego Gutiérrez stepped up to the ball on the left flank, and his whipped ball kept Lalo Delgado rooted to the spot in Naples' net in anticipation of a header that never came. Instead, he dove as the ball was already bounding into the side netting for the 68th minute equalizer.
Just seven minutes was all it took for the match to fully be turned on its head. Gutiérrez received the ball in a similar position, then juked inside to lay it off to Ryen Jiba. The left back had tucked well inside, and only needed one touch to set himself up just above the top of the box. As four Naples players converged, Jiba let loose a shot that curled just away from a sprawling Delgado before going bar-down and in.
From there, Omaha became the team in game-management mode, and they did so with aplomb despite some late pressure from Naples. In doing so, Los Búhos preserved their 18 match unbeaten streak at home, stretching back to last season at Werner Park.
"We believe in this team," said attacker Sergio Ors Navarro. "We were very confident that we could turn things around, and we'd been in that position before against Knoxville. We just believe that we can score two goals. We have a lot of threats in the front line, and then we did a great job as well to keep them on the one goal. We knew as soon as our first goal went in that we were going to go for the second one and that we were going to win."
This marked the third time in May that Union Omaha had won points from a losing position, with this preceded by a 2-2 draw against Portland Hearts of Pine and the 2-1 victory in Knoxville that Ors Navarro noted. Despite tired legs and an early setback, the Owls continue to fight no matter what.
Or, as Botello Faz put it, "We just wanted 9 points in a week. It didn't matter who the opponent was."
Union Omaha will have one more home match before a June road trip. They'll shift their attention back to the Prinx Tires USL Cup for a fixture against red-hot Fort Wayne FC for the first time. That will take place on Saturday, June 6th at 7pm. It's also Global Goblet Night at Morrison Stadium, with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free rally towel. Tickets and ticket packages for upcoming matches are on sale now.
United Soccer League One Stories from May 30, 2026
- Fort Wayne Football Club Now Unbeaten in 7 Straight USL League One Matches - Fort Wayne FC
- Fort Wayne FC Extends Unbeaten Streak to 7 with Draw against AV Alta FC at Ruoff Mortgage Stadium - Fort Wayne FC
- Charlotte Topples the Red Wolves in Tennessee, 3-2 - Charlotte Independence
- Another Comeback Sees Omaha Storm to Win over Naples - Union Omaha
- Hearts Rally Past Spokane Velocity for Thrilling 2-1 Win at Fitzy - Portland Hearts of Pine
- Cosmos Fall 2-1 on the Road against Sarasota Paradise - New York Cosmos
- Chattanooga and Charlotte War in High-Scoring Bout - Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
- Kickers Draw AC Boise 2-2 in Hard Fought Battle at Home - Richmond Kickers
- Corpus Christi FC Falls at Forward Madison FC - Corpus Christi FC
- Know Before You Go: 5/30 vs. FC Naples - Union Omaha
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