OMAHA, NE. (July 3rd, 2021) – The Red Wolves faced their toughest challenge yet in the young USL League One campaign as the squad travelled to Nebraska to take on table-toppers Union Omaha at Werner Park. Jimmy Obleda did not feature on the touchline for the visiting Red Wolves after picking up a red card in Greenville last weekend. The squad was led by Assistant Coach Kevin Sawchak, securing an all-important point on the road.
The lineup saw a new combination for the match Saturday night, as Galindrez and Frischknecht formed a two-up-top partnership, and goalkeeper Tim Trilk made his season debut in place of Sebastian Mora-Mora. A bright start from the Red Wolves saw Juan Galindrez go close to opening the scoring a couple times in the first twenty minutes, including an effort that went thundering off the crossbar. Dominating possession and creating chances was the mantra early on for the visiting side but could not break down the best defensive side in the league, who have made it a character staple to sit back and allow the game to come to them. Jay Mims and his side have yet to have more possession in a game all season, and this match was more of the same in the first half.
The breakthrough would come in the 35th minute for Union Omaha, and it was Greg Hurst that put the home side ahead. A short corner that was eventually whipped in and then headed on by John Scearce found Greg Hurst who beat Tim Trilk to make it 1-0 Union Omaha. The Red Wolves fought hard in the closing stages of the first half, including an audacious half-field effort from Rey Ortiz, but failed to find an equalizer and went into the half trailing at Werner Park.
The second half started with a gut-punch for Union Omaha, as John Scearce saw red for violent conduct and brought the home side down to ten men. With an opportunity to continue pushing for the Red Wolves, super-sub Marky Hernandez was brought on to provide the spark for the travelling side. The game saw an increasing level of physicality and intensity down the stretch, seeing Marky hit the post off a crossed effort closely followed by a howitzer from outside the box hammering the post for Omaha. Following those opportunities, as the game died down, Jackson Dietrich was brought on to help find an equalizer. Only 5 minutes later, the breakthrough came, and it was a brilliant ball from Dietrich to set up the move. His cross into the box found Frischknecht who hammered an effort off the post, but the rebound found Marky Hernandez who fired in yet another late equalizer for the cardiac Red Wolves to draw level.
The Red Wolves would find one final chance in the 95th minute against 10 men Omaha, as a ball fell to Marky Hernandez, but his match winning effort was blocked by the home side’s backline, and the subsequent low cross could not meet the foot of a Red Wolf attacker. The visiting Red Wolves boasted 63% of the ball and 16 shots at goal, stealing an oh so valuable point on the road against top of the table Union Omaha.
The Red Wolves are back in action Saturday, July 10th at 7 PM EST, returning to play FC Tucson in front of home supporters at CHI Memorial Stadium.
