Omaha, Nebr. (April 11, 2026) – Another typically tight match between these midwestern foes ended with another victory for the Owls.
In their fourth straight win over an unbeaten side in USL League One, it took a late penalty kick by Pato Botello Faz to send Union Omaha soaring above Forward Madison and, at least temporarily, to the top of the table. In a matchup that’s almost always played close, it’s maybe no surprise that the margin was so fine in this one.
“Our coaches this whole week worked us really hard,” said rookie fullback Camron Lawrence. “We had a good game plan set up, and I’m just really happy that myself and the boys were able to execute it.”
From the get-go, both teams were constantly driving at each other, setting a frenetic pace. It was through one of those moves where the game’s first chance emerged, with Adrian Billhardt weaving through the channel and forcing a save out of JT Harms from the right side of the box.
Through a scoreless first half, it was relatively even sledding in possession, but Omaha was the only team getting shots off. They would go into the break up 7-0 in shots, and despite a 54.7% possession mark had over 90% accuracy on passing. The Flamingos would have trouble all match even finding their striker, with leading scorer Stephen Annor Gyamfi only touching the ball 15 times throughout the 90 minutes.
The second half became more of a trade-off; the home side took more possession of the ball, but the visitors began to get shots away. They would consistently try and find their attacker in the left half-space through balls over the top, but center back Samuel Owusu was consistently alert to those dangers.
It took until about 15 minutes left in regulation for the match to whip into a frenzy, which Hhad Coach Vincenzo Candela alluded to afterwards.
“I’m very proud of the resiliency that we showed again. Every game presents a different challenge; this one required a little bit more patience, but like I always tell the guys, we have to find a way to win games, even the tough ones,” said the first-year head coach.
It began with a huge save by Cole Jensen when Annor Gyamfi streaked through the middle of the Omaha defense on a third-man run, with Ryan Carmichael taking advantage of a defender slipping to slide in his striker. Between Jensen staying big and Sami Guediri’s clearance behind him, though, crisis was averted.
The Owls had to batten down the hatches to weather more field-tilting from the Flamingos, but soon not only managed to clear the danger but find Pato Botello Faz running right up the gut in his own right. While he was cut off before he could fire off a chance, he hold up play and lay the ball off to an onrushing Dylan Borczak, who was toppled from behind to earn a penalty kick. Botello Faz dispatched it cleanly to put the Owls in front in a match that had gone from 0 to 100 in an instant.
It was all academic after that though, with the bluster dying down to just a single dribbler of a shot by Gebhard that Cole Jensen gobbled up to hold the foes at bay. It secured the Owls’ sixth straight win in all competitions, and keeps their spirits riding high going into a midweek U.S. Open Cup showdown with MLS’ Colorado Rapids.
“This was a huge game as far as the standings go,” said center back Brent Kallman. “We have a huge game on Tuesday in the Open Cup, but the guys did a really good job of setting that aside and focusing. This was the most important thing, and we’d talked about not looking forward to Tuesday until the job was done today. We’ll celebrate a little bit, and then we’re gonna turn the page and start focusing on Tuesday right away.”
As mentioned, the immediate future for Los Búhos is a date with another MLS team in the Open Cup, with the match televised on CBS Sports Network at 8:30pm on Tuesday, April 14th. After that, they’ll travel to Virginia to take on Richmond Kickers in league play at 5:00pm on Saturday, April 18th. The Owls won’t return home to play until May 2nd, their Belts, Buckles & Bangers match against rivals Greenville Triumph SC. That evening’s match will begin at 7:00pm. Tickets and ticket packages are on sale now.
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 and 2024 USL League One Champions, is the premier professional soccer team in the state of Nebraska. USL League One is a United States Soccer Federation-sanctioned professional men’s soccer league that occupies the third tier of the American soccer landscape, below USL Championship (tier two) and the newly announced top-tier USL Premier, launching in 2028. Union Omaha will play its 2026 USL League One home matches at Morrison Stadium in downtown Omaha. The team is led by Chief Operating Officer Alexis Boulos in the front office and by Head Coach Vincenzo Candela on the pitch.
