Steevan Dos Santos supplies two assists in the season opener
FRESNO, Cal. (March 16, 2024) – Union Omaha started off their season with three points, but it took a whole lot of grit to hold off Central Valley Fuego.
It might be stating the obvious that a face-off against a Jermaine Jones-led team would be the kind of match you need to dig your heels into, but that’s exactly what this was. And as far as season openers go (or a home opener, in Fuego’s case), this had many of the classic hallmarks: a slow start, rust almost visibly being shaken off in real-time, and bundles of energy despite that.
The deciding factor the Owls being first to bed into the match. The first shot for either team came after 16 minutes, but a moment later Will Perkins found a great diagonal pass into Steevan Dos Santos, who slid Joe Gallardo in on goal. His shot flashed just wide, but earned him a corner to take.
From there, a textbook set-piece play saw some perfect screening to let Dos Santos nod it down to Blake Malone, who stabbed it home first-time for not just the first goal of the season, but his first goal for his hometown club!
Throughout the match, Steevan Dos Santos brought the same physicality that made him integral to 2023’s Players’ Shield team, and it was much needed in such a knock-down drag-out affair. His hold-up play would link up both the returnees and newcomers to Los Búhos.
“Us from last year just try to make it easy for the new guys, [and give] a good environment for them to feel like a part of the team,” said Dos Santos. “Of course, it’s the first game of the season, so it gets better and better as the season progresses.”
He’d help the team out with a second assist not long after the halftime interval. A huge amount of credit also goes to pro debutant Will Perkins, whose lung-busting run from the edge of his own penalty box progressed the ball all the way up the right flank. When his cross found Pedro Dolabella on the opposite side, all it took was a cut to the byline, a chip to the far post, and a flick back by Dos Santos to find substitute Aarón Gómez with nothing but net in front of him.
There was an escalating chippiness to the match, reflective of the intensity required to start a season on the right foot. And while Union Omaha owned the first half, with an 11-1 imbalance on shots, it was the Fresno outfit who started turning the screws in the second. By the 70th minute they’d taken the lead in possession for the match. By the 71st, Fuego had cut the lead in half; José Carrera-Garcia’s looping ball over the top found Shavon John-Brown one on one with Rashid Nuhu. He took the long ball down well, slotted it past Nuhu, and left Omaha’s backline appealing in vain for offsides.
As smoke rolled in from the home stands, the outlook on the match only got more hazy. Luca Milanese cramped up after an awkward challenge, Mechack Jérôme earned a yellow card ten minutes into his Owls debut as he tried to help see out the match, and Fuego pressed further and further. As the clock ticked into stoppage time, they delivered a cavalcade of corners and free kicks into the box.
Despite Omaha’s last shot of the match coming on their 62nd minute goal though, they held out for a gutsy win to start the season off right.
Steevan Dos Santos commented on that, saying, “We knew it would be a difficult game. Fuego came from an away victory in their first game at home. We controlled most of the game, and had chances to score one or two more goals. Suffered at the end, but we fought to the end, and it was a well-deserved win.”
The squad showed this fight in the absence of head coach Dom Casciato, who was spending time with his new baby boy Mario.
Ladulé LoSarah filled in as acting head coach. “Congratulations once again to Dom and his wife Mercedes on the birth of their boy Mario!” he said post-match. “He showed a lot of trust in the rest of the staff, particularly Beto, Vinny and Justin to come here on our own and take care of business. It just speaks about what this team is prepared for, and the preparation we do showed itself on the field today.” From working with spirit to executing roles and responsibilities, Ladulé was impressed with how the performance showed the team’s foundation for success.
This is notable not just for the shift behind the touchline, but between the lines as well. The starting eleven had four newcomers, five if you count Blake Malone returning from two years with Colorado Rapids II. Much of that came on the right side of the pitch, with Malone anchoring the backline, Will Perkins and Missael Rodríguez combining on the flanks, and Nortei Nortey often drifting over from midfield. Even the substitutes continued the trend, with goalscorer Aarón Gómez and veteran Mechack Jérôme making their Owl introductions in the second half.
Perhaps the most special of these was Perkins, who made his professional debut against the Fuego after a five year collegiate career with Michigan State University and Western Michigan University.
“It was an amazing night to say the least,” he said. “It means the world to make my pro debut, and I can’t wait to build off that performance. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, the coaching staff, and the supporters behind me, so I thank all of them as well.
“Also, I can’t express how important 3 points on the road are, so hopefully we can keep that up on this away stretch and be in a good position for our home opener.”
As Perkins alluded to, Omaha remains on the road for two more matches. A Tennessee one-two punch stands in the way of their home opener, with Chattanooga next up on Saturday, March 30th and One Knox following on Friday, April 12th. The Owls’ first match at Werner Park falls on Saturday, April 20th in a grudge match against Charlotte Independence.
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.
