Mastrantonio Is Man of the Hour as Owls Pull off Dramatic Late Win
October 15, 2024 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
Union Omaha News Release
Papillion, Nebr. - On a weekend where every single match saw a stoppage time goal, Luca Mastrantonio's first for Union Omaha was still as momentous as they come. His 95th minute header completed a comeback win that upheld their lead atop the standings, while shoving a dagger into Lexington SC's playoff hopes.
Though results elsewhere meant that the Players' Shield will remain unclaimed for at least another week, this late stunner of a victory puts the Owls in position to earn it with a win in either of their last two matches.
Said match-winner Mastrantonio afterwards, "We knew we had to come in strong. We had three games left going into this one, so we just knew we had to put in a performance. Going down one goal was obviously tough, but I think we reacted straight away. We really wanted to win this game, and in the end we managed to get the win."
It made for a rough start for Los Búhos though, when ever-present winger Dion Acoff pulled up lame in the 13th minute after driving to the byline to put in a cross. Head Coach Dom Casciato was forced to burn a very early sub to replace him with Ryen Jiba, who himself would later be substituted off as Omaha chased the game.
The pattern of play was one we'd seen many times before: the Owls controlled the match and tilted the field towards Lexington's goal, but LSC had several chances to threaten the Owls on the break. These particularly came from some very cheap giveaways, adding to the frustration. Still, the visitors were held to only one shot in the first half. Omaha penned them in with 58% possession and eight corner kicks in the first 45, but had nothing to show for it by the time the teams headed for the tunnel.
Just over an hour into proceedings, they were made to pay for their struggles to break through. Abel Caputo whipped the ball from his own half around the entire Owls' defense, latching onto Ates Diouf ahead. The Senegalese attacker shrugged off Mechack Jérôme to cut inside, where he was able to bend it into the far corner and shellshock the home crowd.
A response came immediately, when Missael Rodríguez and Steevan Dos Santos were subbed on to add impetus to the Owls' offense, but a breakthrough took ten minutes more.
After Modesto Mendez lunged on Dos Santos to corral a pass at the back, the ball was poked into the box, where CC Uche caught an onrushing Rodríguez to earn himself an early shower on his second yellow card. More importantly, he ceded a penalty to Omaha as well, which Pedro Dolabella duly dispatched with pace into the right corner.
With Dos Santos nearly scoring a worldie of a sidewinding half-volley a moment later, the crowd was sparked to life, smelling blood in the water.
It took time, but they got theirs.
"The guys dug really deep to find an equalizer and find a winner," said Coach Dom. "Credit to Lexington, they made it really difficult for us, but we had a really good impact from the bench with Missael coming on and winning the penalty. And then Luca, I think it's his first goal for us, from the corner, so I'm really pleased for him."
After a Lexington player headed a wayward cross behind for a corner, the stage was set for Charlie Ostrem to whip in a beautiful inswinger, right to the edge of the six-yard box. Luca Mastrantonio ditched his defender with an in-and-out movement to win a free header, and he made no mistake in thumping it into the corner for a dramatic winner.
At a team talk earlier this week, the spotlight was shone on Omaha's two Italian defenders, Mastrantonio and Marco Milanese (injured on the day, and spotted with Parliament behind the berm goal), as well as assistant coach Vinnie Candela. Candela had an opportunity to talk about his role in coaching and preparing set-pieces for the club, which was foreshadowing in and of itself for the weekend. But there was also a brief exchange regarding the Italians' goal totals, or more notably, Mastrantonio's lack thereof. While his counterpart Milanese has tallied a goal in each of his two seasons here, Mastrantonio hadn't yet found the net until this dramatic winner.
When asked about it post-match, Luca's messaging was direct, and more than a little tongue-in-cheek. "I'm gonna pass him. I've got a few games left now, so we're gonna pass him for sure. And this one counts way more than a tap-in against Chattanooga." (Editor's note: that goal in Chattanooga was also important in a 3-2 win, given that the Owls won the Players' Shield by two points in 2023, but I digress)
This goal, meanwhile, meant that all their indicators of a match well controlled, from a 17-7 shot advantage to the 66% aerial duel win percentage, weren't for naught. It also upheld their four-point lead in the league after their closest competitors up north scraped out a late 2-1 win in their own right.
Union Omaha will make one last trek to the southeast this season, squaring off against South Georgia Tormenta FC on Saturday, October 19th at 6:30pm central. A win, or simply Madison dropping points against One Knoxville SC, would lock down the Players' Shield and home advantage all through playoffs for the Owls. Before then, they'll have their regular season finale a week later on Saturday, October 26th, when they'll face beleaguered Central Valley Fuego at 4:00pm for Fan Appreciation Night.
• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League One message board...
United Soccer League One Stories from October 15, 2024
- Fuego FC Battles Bravely But Falls Short in Knoxville Despite Early Lead - Central Valley Fuego FC
- Match Preview: Central Valley Fuego FC vs One Knoxville SC - Central Valley Fuego FC
- Mastrantonio Is Man of the Hour as Owls Pull off Dramatic Late Win - Union Omaha
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
