Omaha, Nebr. (August 22, 2026) – It took 94 minutes, but Union Omaha found a way to make history.
Pato Botello Faz’s equalizer secured the Owls their 22nd straight result at home, setting a new USL League One regular season record. It also helped them keep pace ahead of their nearest competitors for the Player’s Shield, with Madison and Charlotte also playing to a 1-1 draw in their matchup. Also of note was left back Ryen Jiba, who became just the fourth Owl to make 100 appearances for the club with his selection this evening.
“We started off a bit slow, but you love to see the resiliency and belief from the group,” said Head Coach Vincenzo Candela. “Even though we struggled to create tonight, we still had that will to showcase that we’re a tough team to beat at home. Credit to the guys to fight until the last whistle, and we move from here to make it a positive week by continuing to improve for Wednesday on the road.”
On their Wild Kingdom Night, with all manner of wild animals on the concourse, this knock-down-drag-out scrap saw a lot of baying and howling from all directions, both on and off the pitch. 27 combined fouls along with a bench red card late for Union Omaha tell the story of a tense affair between two teams with highly contrasting styles.
Sarasota, for their part, did not want to end up like Richmond Kickers the prior week. They achieved that mission with aplomb, staying compact throughout and ensuring that the Owls wouldn’t find the success in transition that defined their rout over Richmond. Omaha, of course, were also not nearly as precise with their passes as the prior weekend.
The visitors made them pay for it in the 27th minute off a corner kick. Callum Streich ranged back at the far post to latch onto the inswinger, and his outstretched volley came back across goal to fire Sarasota ahead of Omaha in a second straight match between the two.
Botello Faz expressed disappointment about how the first half played out, but not surprise. “We gave up a goal that we don’t like to give up,” he said. “We take a lot of pride on set pieces, so after giving up that goal we knew we had to get them back. Sarasota are a really good team; honestly, I don’t think the table shows how good they actually are. They’re a really organized defensive team and it was hard to break them down, but thankfully we did at the end.”
Omaha didn’t have a single shot on target in the first half, underscoring their difficulties in getting that final pass off despite 61.5% possession. The precision that defined their recent win streak felt in short supply early on, and it took gradual tweaks through halftime and the second half to start asking the questions of a settled Paradise squad.
Despite his disappointment about letting in the Sarasota Goal, defender Sami Guediri said the team was relentless. “Even if we’re maybe a little bit below par compared to what we’re used to and things aren’t falling for us, we know that we don’t lose at home,” he continued. “We knew eventually it would break, even though it took that long, so it was still a good result and now we keep pushing forward.”
It did indeed take quite a long time to get there. There were moments to spark the team more, such as Allen Gavilanes’ drives through midfield, cutting every which way to slice through Sarasota. Their goalkeeper, Alex Sutton, was also called into action on a Brent Kallman header in the 70th minute that took two tries to clear off the line, and a Gabriel Cabral laser from long distance required him to get down to make a diving stop.
For all the Owls’ bluster, it seemed as though it may not happen… but as all the foreshadowing in this article notes, it did. Constant rotation on the right flank between Younes Boudadi and Adrian Billhardt finally yielded a floated cross from the former that could only be nodded to the edge of the box. Cabral was in a perfect spot to dink it back over the top, where Pato Botello Faz chested it down by the penalty spot in a shocking amount of space, given how tightly packed Sarasota was all match long.
Botello Faz didn’t waste the space, blasting the ball on the half-volley right past Sutton to send the stands into raptures.
“Like Coach Vinnie said last week, we take so much pride in our home games, and we don’t want any teams to beat us here,” summarized Botello Faz.
Union Omaha will hit the road for a midweek matchup with FC Naples kicking off at 6:30pm on Wednesday, August 26th. After that, they’ll return home to host New York Cosmos for the first time on Saturday, August 29th. That match, kicking off at 7:00pm, will be the team’s Hometown Heroes Night, presented by Woodmen Life. Ticket packages are available 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.
