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USL1 Union Omaha

First Half Romp Sees Owls Fly by Lexington

July 8, 2024 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release


Georgetown, Ky. - In the horse capital of the world, Union Omaha instead boatraced Lexington SC with four first-half goals, then held off their attempts to stampede back into the match to secure a 4-2 victory.

It's been a strange season for the Boys in Green; Lexington SC entered the match 11th in the USL League One table with only one win. On the flip side, they lead their Jägermeister Cup group with only one loss, and have taken the scalps of both Greenville and Madison in the cup.

That made it all the more shocking when the Owls put Lexington to the sword from the get-go, only offering them any kind of breathing room after Omaha had put four past them.

"I think in the first half, we were sensational," said Head Coach Dom Casciato post-match. "Second half, we maybe took our foot off the gas a bit too much, but it's good to get the three points."

Lagos Kunga, as he has for a couple months now, provided the impetus to get Union Omaha revved up and rolling. His directness in driving into the box forced Modesto Mendéz to make an ill-fated lunge at the ball, earning a penalty for the visitors. Pedro Dolabella stepped up to nestle the spot kick into the corner for his fifth goal in his last six matches.

It remained mostly one-way traffic from there, and it paid off in the 20th minute. Kunga took off like a shot down the right wing after a patient buildup, shrugging off pressure until he could square the ball to Steevan Dos Santos. His first touch checked up for him like a pitching wedge into the 18th green, and the striker went on to blast it past Amal Knight's flailing paws from a tight angle for the 2-0 lead.

Even after going two goals down, though, Lexington seemed content to set their defense in a low block, allowing Omaha to pass it around the back entirely unpressured at times.

This nearly came back to haunt them after Dolabella dropped deep, then let fly a beautiful outside of the boot ball that sailed through the defense and on to the charging Dos Santos. Amal Knight stood tall, though, batting away the striker's chip attempt.

Except, seconds later the ball was played back to Knight, who was frustrated enough at his lack of options that he tried to create something himself. Which he did... by taking a touch right to Aarón Gómez. The forward had only a simple lateral pass to Steevan Dos Santos for his assist, the forward settling and slotting it into the empty net.

To add to Lexington's first half gong show, five minutes later saw them concede another bizarre goal. A 30-yard free kick by Joe Galardo rattled the crossbar, then hung in the air long enough for some viewers at home to make their dinners. When it finally fell to three players, Marco Milanese and two Lexington SC players, Abel Caputo meekly bundled the ball into his own net.

With Omaha on 66% possession and nearly 88% passing accuracy, and waves of pressure constantly battering the Lexington levees, the halftime whistle was a mercy for the Boys in Green.

Milanese was ecstatic with the standard shown in the first 45. "It was a very, very good performance by the group, especially in the first half. We were dominating them, and playing in their territory like we want to do with our style of play. It was amazing to go and score four goals in one half."

Lexington did manage to gain a foothold after the break, though. While the first quarter of an hour afterwards passed without any action, a giveaway by Milanese in his own half set Lexington streaking forward. A clinical passing move meant that Nico Brown had carte blanche to put a rocket past Rashid Nuhu for their first shot on target and first goal of the evening.

The home side pulled the possession numbers back to a mere 44%-56% deficit by full-time, but it was mostly meandering, unthreatening moves. Still, they clawed one more goal back in stoppage time, when Blake Malone could only glance his header backwards from Jorge Corrales' long throw into the danger zone. Malone's header hung just above everyone, including Mechack Jérôme throwing himself at the ball, until it found the back corner of the net for the second own goal of the evening.

Naturally, the last action of the match was for Omaha to defend another one of those long throws, which they did to perfection this time to close it out.

"We were hoping to get a clean sheet, and unfortunately we couldn't do it,' said Milanese. "I think it was a good performance though, especially because I'd say Lexington is not an easy place to play."

Indeed, this was a near-perfect way to kick off their July, especially with some big matches on the horizon.

Omaha's road trip will continue with maybe the biggest of them all: a true top of the table clash against league-leaders Greenville Triumph. That 6pm match will be their first of two against Union's USL1 finals rivals this season. That will be followed by a flight back west on a short week to face Northern Colorado Hailstorm for the third time in 2024. Union Omaha's next home match will be another square-off against Chattanooga on the 27th, this time July 27th. That will be our Women in Sports Night, featuring Nebraska Fierce and your 2024 PVF Champion Omaha Supernovas.

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