Papillion, Nebr. (March 12, 2025) – Defensive breakdowns led to a less than stellar beginning to Union Omaha’s quest for a third star, as they fell 3-0 to rivals Greenville Triumph.
With former world superstar Ronaldinho in attendance after the Triumph’s groundbreaking ceremony for their upcoming stadium, Greenville broke down the Owls with canny movement and a clinicality that the visitors severely lacked.
“I think it’s a really disappointing result,” said Head Coach Dominic Casciato post-match. “I think we did a lot of good things in the final third, but we lacked the focus and intensity needed in both boxes tonight.”
Casciato noted Omaha’s early control of the match, which included a shot by Kemy Amiche that was saved off the line by Brandon Fricke after a weak punch away from goalkeeper Rankenburg. After 25 minutes, the Owls seemed to have the field tilted towards Greenville’s goal, with a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks and a 13-4 tally on crosses.
In the 36th minute, though, the collapse began.
“We gave away a really soft goal, and then gave another soft goal away off a set-piece where we just switched off again right before halftime.”
Leo Castro began the scoring after latching onto a long ball beyond Blake Malone. He caught Russell Shealy in no-man’s land and had the composure to lob him from deep to showcase his composure for Ronaldinho.
While poor marking again came back to haunt Omaha in the 45th minute, it also yielded a possible goal of the season contender. Off a deep free kick, Castro nodded the ball on to Ben Zakowski, blowing past Charlie Ostrem on a diagonal run. Zakowski unleashed a wicked shot off the volley that no goalie could hope to save, putting the Triumph up two at halftime.
It went from bad to worse right after the break. Leo Castro was at the double, escaping Brent Kallman to split the defense and head home a dagger in the 47th minute. An Owls team that started with five newcomers in the lineup looked disjointed and downtrodden.
They pushed throughout the second half, with 70% of the ball in the final 45, but only garnered three shots in that time. The Triumph were more than content to sit back and parry away the 35 crosses hoofed in by Union Omaha, as well as all other efforts.
“You can’t give away goals like [we did] and expect to win games,” said Coach Dom. “[It was] a big lesson for us tonight. I think we’re going to get better from this and learn from this.”
Union Omaha travels west to Colorado next, for a U.S. Open Cup showdown against USL League Two’s Flatirons FC in the latter’s Open Cup debut. That match will take place on Thursday, March 20th at 8 PM. After that, they travel back southeast to South Georgia Tormenta FC on March 29th for a 6 PM league face-off.
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 and 2024 USL League One Champions and three-time 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.
