Omaha, Nebr. (July 18, 2026) – A wild affair saw the spoils shared between Union Omaha and Westchester SC.
A brace by Sergio Ors Navarro could have been more after one shot crashed down off the crossbar late in the first half, but that moment along with a brief weather delay proved an inflection point to allow Westchester to flip an early deficit, forcing the Owls to once again scratch and claw their way to a result with a late goal.
“You’ve just got to stay focused,” said Ors Navarro, “Focusing sometimes can be hard whenever you have a break like that, and you have to come out, do a quick warmup and get going again, but I’m really proud of the effort that the team made.”
With the number of matches where Los Búhos have had to play from behind, it looked a relief for the home side to find the net within the first ten minutes. Laurence Wootton marauded forward on the break in the 9th minute before squaring it to Sergio Ors Navarro just outside the box. The Spaniard settled himself, drew the defense in, and slotted it right past goalkeeper Luca Marinelli.
The match’s first twist came in the 30th minute, when lightning off in the distance forced the match into a weather delay. That break seemed to allow Westchester to regroup in a match where they were second-best through the first third, and they came out firing once the teams started up again. The result? A perfect inswinging cross from Kyle Evans, and an inch-perfect header into the upper 90 from Daniel Bouman to level the score.
After that shout at a goal at the end of the first 45, Westchester put the home team to the sword in the 52nd with a swift counterattack beginning from their own box. That had Westchester sitting pretty for their first result on the road this season… and by the end, that did still hold true. However, this Owls team pressed and pressed until they found an equalizer for a match in which they won the expected goals battle 2.67 – 0.55.
“I’m very proud of the fight that the guys showed to come out on a very hot day and then respond to adversity and get a goal late again to preserve our unbeaten streak here at home. We’ll continue to focus on us and do the right things to get three points instead of one next week,” said Head Coach Vincenzo Candela afterwards.
It was who else but Sergio Ors Navarro to score yet again in the 80th minute, this time with a neat little backwards flick off the cross from Allen Gavilanes that seemed to catch everyone off-guard. As if the home crowd needed more galvanizing, that set the stage for a blockbuster finish that never quite came off. Still, it was another point added to their league-leading total after falling behind, and another show of mettle amidst a contentious affair that also featured a potential Marinelli handball outside his own box.
“We really want to win all our home games,” said Brent Kallman, in summary of the match. “We want to be aggressive and dominate, and we did that. They changed their approach a little bit after the weather break, and we kind of knew it was coming, but we still have to avoid giving away those moments where we fall asleep and they get in too clean or they get chances. If we don’t beat ourselves, we’ve got a really good chance to win all these games, especially at home.”
Union Omaha has a busy week ahead of them. The Owls will take a midweek flight up to Maine to face Portland Hearts of Pine on Wednesday. After that, they return home for the club’s first-ever international friendly, against Liga MX’s FC Juárez Reserves. This historic match will take place at Morrison Stadium on Saturday, July 25th, kicking off at 6:00 pm. Tickets for this opportunity to square off against some of Mexico’s brightest talents are on sale 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.
