On the other side of the bracket, two clubs who just netted their first playoff wins duke it out for their second. Here in Omaha, two clubs who began this decade with USL League One titles look to go one step away from a second. Better yet, it’s the very first rematch in USL League One Playoff history.
Simply put, this square-off between Union Omaha and Greenville Triumph is a prestige matchup for USL League One. These are the two winningest clubs in league history, with the extra season of existence giving Greenville the leg up on Omaha 71 to 66. Greenville would make their fourth League One final with a win here, while this would be Omaha’s third. It’s also the first time two current or former League One champions (or Players’ Shield winners, for that matter) have met in the semifinals.
THE STARS ARE OUT
That’s the historical context, but these teams didn’t coast to this point by trading on past glories. The exact opposite, even: Omaha and Greenville have been the two highest-scoring clubs in 2024. On an individual level, Pedro Dolabella and his 14 goal contributions in league play is only topped by two other players… one of whom is Lyam MacKinnon with an astounding 22. That, by the way, makes up two of the three players up for the league’s Player of the Year award. While we can’t truly guarantee fireworks and goals aplenty, it’s not going out on a limb to suggest that this is as marquee as it gets.
Further down the rosters, there are plenty of other names with accolades attached. Newcomer Chapa Herrera and league mainstay Evan Lee made the USL League One All-League Second Team for Greenville, while Dion Acoff, a Second Teamer last year, was voted into the 2024 Players’ Choice Awards Best Eleven by his peers in USL1.
ABOUT GREENVILLE TRIUMPH
The winningest club in USL League One rolls ever onward. Greenville Triumph have made the playoffs in every year of the league’s existence, and until last year had only ever finished in the top three in the standings. Even as they haven’t hit those same heights in the table of late, the club still has the wind at their backs. First came early October’s announcement of the legendary Ronaldinho joining the ownership group. Then, just last week saw the reveal of a 10,000 seater stadium and development complex hoping to open in 2026. It’s exciting times for one of the league’s model clubs, to say the least.
On the pitch, of course, they’ve seen success. The club managed to slot two goals past One Knoxville’s stellar defense to reach the semifinals, and they’ll surely be hungry to avenge their two losses against Union Omaha this season. Both were close-run as well, with a narrow 1-0 win for the Owls in Greenville followed later by a 3-1 win at Werner Park in which Lincoln native Tyler Polak was dinged with a pair of own goals. Omaha will take heart in those victories (and a 5-2-5 record all-time against Greenville), but expect anything to happen in the playoffs. Just ask the departed juggernauts in Northern Colorado.
X-FACTORS
We’ll focus on another key summer signing this week, in the form of Indy Eleven loanee Max Schneider. After PC Giro retired in July to begin his coaching career, a huge gap was left at Omaha’s holding midfielder position. While players like Nortei Nortey and Brandon Knapp filled in well, both tend to be more box-to-box type players. Thus, the team brought in Schneider, who happens to be Dolabella’s former teammate at Marshall University. The German had his first term with the club cut short after a month due to injury, but returned weeks later and has now started all but one match since October began. He’s useful on both ends of a set-piece, with the ball-striking ability to take them and the height at 6’3” to finish them. Really, he’s useful all over the pitch, with a pair of assists on the season (both to Dolabella), as well as ranking first or second on the team in per 90 minute stats like interceptions/90, tackles won/90, and blocks/90.
All the attention will be paid to Lyam MacKinnon, and for good reason. He’s the Golden Boot winner, tied for the team’s assist leader, and a Player of the Year nominee. But a prime pick as X-factor for the Triumph comes into the match questionable to even play due to a wrist injury suffered against Knoxville. Chapa Herrera’s talents will actually be well familiar to this team: Head Coach Dominic Casciato worked with him when both were at El Paso Locomotive. He could be considered the fulcrum of this Greenville squad though; Herrera is one of two midfielders with more than 11% of his team’s touches, and sports an 88.3% passing accuracy rate as well to keep things ticking. Much like Schneider, he does a little bit of everything on the defensive end as well, which will be crucial when trying to stave off the Owls’ high-flying attack.
ANALYTICS CORNER
Union Omaha will need to be incredibly disciplined when they take on Greenville. Their foes on the east coast have four of the top six players at Goals Added via Fouling (Fouls Won vs Fouls Conceded), including the top two (Lyam MacKinnon at 0.93 Goals Added and Ben Zakowski at 0.54). Put another way: Greenville has won 10 penalty kicks this season, with the next highest being Knoxville’s six. MacKinnon himself has won as many or more penalty kicks (4) than every other team besides Knoxville. And while the Triumph have also given up six penalty kicks, they’re disciplined enough to be the only team in the league without a red card on the season. All this to say, the Owls must walk a tightrope with their physicality, which isn’t a given with their league-leading marks of 14.6 fouls per match and 78 yellow cards.
