Meza ties team-leading 5 goals off Hertzog’s first club assist
PAPILLION, Neb. (August 13, 2022) – It was another crowd over 4,000 strong at Werner Park to commence Union Omaha’s three-match homestand this week, with 4,312 fans coming to watch the first of the trio. Sitting at 5th in the standings, the Owls had a strong chance to make some noise in the standings in front of their home fans.
Northern Colorado came into the night for its second match against Omaha in league play and the third overall. The last time out resulted in a 0-0 draw, but the Owls would be looking to recreate the dominating performance back when the teams met in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32, when they soared to a 2-0 victory.
Omaha came out with another fiery start, finding its first opportunity in the 4th minute. Dion Acoff waited to win a second-ball battle with a defender and keeper and put a shot just right of net.
Newcomer Corey Hertzog made his presence felt in his Werner Park debut in the 12th minute. The USL Championship veteran delivered an excellent ball that dropped right in to Noe Meza, who drove home the perfect finish for his 5th league goal and Omaha’s earliest goal scored at home all season.
“It was great to have Noe finish that and Corey [had a] great pass, a great debut,” Union Omaha Head Coach Jay Mims said.
Rashid Nuhu made his first wild save of the night in the 25th minute, showing his strong hands to bat a shot into the crossbar and away, keeping the scoresheet clean. He had another just a minute later, sliding on a ball from Irvin Parra.
The same Owls’ connection that scored the first almost struck again in the 31st minute, with Hertzog feeding it to Meza off the corner. Meza almost made it a brace, but his strike sailed just over the top of goal.
The first yellow card of the match was issued later to Northern Colorado’s Danny Robles, followed by another on Jackson Dietrich. A hard-fought half came to a close soon after, with Omaha still up 1-0, a positive stat for the home side as the Owls have never lost when leading at the break.
The offense got another chance in the 66th minute off Joe Brito’s ever-dangerous set piece opportunities. Daltyn Knutson rose above the flock in the box to try and head it home but couldn’t knock it down and in.
Parra earned a third yellow card for the Hailstorm in the 75th minute with a hard foul on Alex Touche.
The Hailstorm found their equalizer in the 79th minute from their leading scorer in Parra, marking just the 5th goal the Owls have given up on their home field.
“We kind of took our foot off the gas pedal a little bit and let the team get back into the game, and they had a good gameplan building up,” Meza said.
Northern Colorado pushed again just minutes later, with Lachlan McLean surging ahead of the pack, but Nuhu made a quick break off his line to swallow the attack.
Alex Bruce found a prime chance in the 90th to put the Owls up as he did just a month earlier at FC Tucson, but his headed attempt fell right into the arms of Penaranda.
Eddie Gordon earned the squad’s first yellow card in the dwindling minutes of the match, and that would be all for this one as the Owls settled for a point. The result is Omaha’s 9th straight unbeaten finish, dating all the way back to June 18.
“The result was disappointing. I thought we were in control of the game, in control of the match,” Mims said.
“If we can get that final piece right, we can start getting the wins definitely,” Meza said.
The Owls’ chances for 3 points are not yet over this week, as they will still have two matches to make some noise in the standings, starting with Charlotte Independence at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 13 for Pups at the Pitch Night and then after against North Carolina FC for Around the World Night at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 20.
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
“They controlled the ball more in the second half. I think we just need to get higher up the pitch a little bit, but I think we played well. We got unlucky with the through ball. It was off the deflection right to them again and we had three guys and the goalie trying to block it, and he mishits it and it bounces over.” -Corey Hertzog
“I thought we started the game off really strong. We just need to find a way to keep that tempo going and we can be a very dangerous team attacking-wise.” -Noe Meza
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 USL League One Champion, is the only 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 Major League Soccer (tier one). Union Omaha plays its home matches at Werner Park in Sarpy County, also home to the Omaha Storm Chasers of Minor League Baseball. The team is led by General Manager Peter Marlette in the front office and by Head Coach Jay Mims on the field.