Omaha, Nebr. (August 29, 2026) – Union Omaha secured another point at home, but looked off the mark in a draw against New York Cosmos.
Marlon Vargas scored his first goal for the club early on, but the visitors hit back before the end of the first half, and neither team could find a way through in the second to break the deadlock.
“Getting my first goal builds confidence,” said Vargas. “Obviously the result wasn’t there, but we’ve still got a couple games left to get back into our rhythm and get momentum back into our hands for the last push before playoffs.”
Vargas’ goal came in just the 9th minute, a departure from recent matches where the Owls have had to play catch-up. After collecting a centering feed from Laurence Wootton, Vargas’ shot from just outside the box took a deflection that saw it loop up and over the Cosmos’ keeper and into the back of the net for an early lead.
The visitors looked to have more of a foothold in the first half, though, and they were rewarded in the 35th minute after a turnover in midfield. Ajmeer Spengler darted through the middle of the pitch, splitting Union Omaha defenders before sliding the ball wide to captain Sebastian Guenzatti in a dangerous position. Guenzatti poked it past Rashid Nuhu on the far side to equalize heading into the break.
Head Coach Vincenzo Candela felt the team suffered from fatigue coming off a midweek loss in Naples, adding, “I take accountability for not getting the guys ready to play at the tempo and standard that we should be playing. We’re going to learn from this week and make sure that we’re ready for next weekend and then the longer weeks that are coming up.”
Left back Ryen Jiba said, “The result tonight wasn’t what we wanted, but we’re looking to do better next week against Charlotte, because we still want to be in that race to win the Player’s Shield.”
Jiba was honored pre-match as the fourth Union Omaha player to reach 100 matches for the club, an achievement he hit last weekend against Sarasota. “It means everything,” he said postmatch. “I started my professional career here as a boy, and now I feel like I’m a grown man with this club. The fans and the team are always there to support me, and I really appreciate it.”
While the Owls looked a little better in the second half, the match seemed to alternate between frantic end-to-end action and deep blocks that neither team could burst through. The result on the attacking end, with six shots taken by Omaha, was their worst since the opening matchweek at Spokane Velocity, and marks a stretch where they’ve taken only two points of a possible nine to cede top spot in the standings to Charlotte Independence.
Of course, those two teams will square off here at Morrison Stadium in a week’s time, in a match with massive implications for the Player’s Shield as the season head into its final two months before playoffs.
“We have 8 finals now,” said Candela, “and we have to make sure that we come with the right intensity and tempo on both sides of the ball. That was lacking today, but we’re going to learn from this and improve going into the final stretch.”
That Charlotte match will kick off at 7:00pm on Saturday, September 5th. Not only will it be Youth Soccer Night, but the first 1,000 fans in the gates will receive a free Union Omaha bucket hat. Tickets 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.
