Ostrem’s first-half goal the difference despite Dolabella double yellow
Papillion, Nebr. (September 21, 2024) – This match might as well have been “a tale of two halves” made manifest.
After controlling the first 45 minutes against a Knoxville side that’s thrived this season by putting their stamp on these kinds of matches, a second yellow card for Pedro Dolabella flipped the script and had the Owls defending their nest for the remainder of the match. In the end, Charlie Ostrem’s 31st minute goal remained the difference.
“Yeah, we started off the game very strong, and I think we ended strong as well,” said defender Blake Malone afterwards. “I think we were absolutely dominant in the first half; we had a lot of good looks, and we were definitely very comfortable on the ball. Unfortunate and unlucky that we had to go through another red card, but an absolutely outstanding performance for the boys.”
Head Coach Dominic Casciato agreed, saying that his team could maybe have been another goal ahead at the halftime whistle, such was their hold over proceedings.
Through the first quarter of the match, Los Búhos had over two-thirds possession, albeit only a couple shots. Knoxville played everyone tight, even denying switches of play out to Dion Acoff that in so many other matches this season have been wide open. Still, on the occasions the rapid winger had the green light, he took it and ran.
Steevan Dos Santos’ presence was missed in many of those occasions when Acoff put the ball into the box, especially when fill-in striker Pedro Dolabella was dragged wide. In the 31st minute though, a half-clearance by Knoxville was nodded on by Malone to allow Dion Acoff to chip in a cross. Goalkeeper Sean Lewis pawed it away… right to Charlie Ostrem, unmarked as Dolabella soaked up the defense’s attention. The left back almost delicately volleyed it home with his right foot to put his squad up.
As the team cruised into the half, though, the plot twist came.
Dolabella, already on a yellow card from a minor incident going up for the ball earlier, would see red after a lunge on a streaking James Thomas sent him collapsing to the turf.
For context on just how marked the shift was, the Owls went into the break with a 59-41% possession advantage. By the end of the match, it was Knoxville with 59% of the ball–not for that half, for the entire match.
Said Coach Dom, “I think the character and resolve and the spirit of the guys showed after the game went down to ten men was really admirable. It was about making sure we didn’t allow any big chances. I think, if we look back at the course of the game, there was maybe one big chance where Charlie makes a big block, but that was about it.”
That block came in the 75th minute, where despite physical defending from Luca Mastrantonio and a sliding challenge from Rashid Nuhu, Frank Ross drove the ball into a dangerous area where Callum Johnson could poke it on net from close range. Ostrem, tucked in front left back, tracked back to stab the ball off the line and deny what looked to be a certain goal.
That scrappy attempt was the biggest chance on goal, but the second half overall was a scrappy, irascible affair. There was no flow to the match once Dolabella was sent off, with a succession of fouls and exhortations of the official from both teams. Credit to the Owls, though, as they pressed with high energy even down a man. Rashid Nuhu had a lot of work to do in gobbling up crosses and wayward long balls, but Knoxville only managed four shots against ten-man Omaha, and seven for the whole match.
It served as a statement win late in the season for Omaha, who now take the step up to four points clear atop USL League One with five to play. Even if the do-it-all Dolabella is suspended for the next match, they’ll take that and run as they hunt down a second successive Players’ Shield.
“Knoxville are a good team, as we know, and standings will show that as well,” said Malone of the squad ranked right behind Union Omaha in points per game going into the weekend. “But we knew that if we just buckled down, stayed strong, grinded together that we could do it, and we’ve done it before. Obviously having ten men makes it a little more difficult, but at the end of the day we knew that if we did it together, if we all put our foot to the gas and did it as one, we could do it and have it under control.”
The Owls will take some time to regroup before the October sprint to the finish. They’re off until the middle of next week, with their next match falling on Wednesday, October 2nd. This will be a noon start time for our Students and Educators Day match, with thousands of local students coming out to Werner Park that day. After that will be a journey to Richmond on October 5th, and a home match on October 12th against Lexington SC.
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 USL League One Champion and 2023 USL League One Players’ Shield Winner, 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 American soccer, 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 of Business Operations Alexis Boulos in the front office and Head Coach Dominic Casciato on the field.
