Big names and bigger dreams weren’t enough for Des Moines Menace to overcome a stout Union Omaha as they fell to the USL League One side by a score of 3-1 on Wednesday night. Goals on each side of halftime from Pedro Dolabella and Marco Milanese plus a very late dagger from substitute Menace alum Lagos Kunga propelled Los Búhos into the Third Round of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
With the win, Union Omaha won their opening game in the tournament for the third year in a row and improved their home record in their brief three-year history to 4-0-0.
The visitors from Des Moines came in to Omaha with five former MLS players in their starting eleven, but couldn’t get much going in the first half. Both teams seemed content to feel each other out with Omaha getting the larger share of possession and the Menace staying mostly compact and ready to break on the counter. Every time the visitors broke, however, two or three Owls would track back and block off any danger in attack. Similarly, Union Omaha would find themselves in dangerous positions on the wings, but just unable to connect on the final pass to expose Brian Rowe’s goal.
In the 22nd minute the first major chance of the night would go Omaha’s way as Pedro Dolabella found Dion Acoff in stride and running past his defender to unleash a rocket shot from just outside the box that rang heavily off the crossbar. Less than a minute later, Joe Gallardo would ring out a shot from the other side of the box that forced Rowe into a spectacular diving save to keep the game scoreless.
The pressure on the USL-2 side would continue until Union Omaha finally broke through in the 34 minute. Playing from a free kick, Joe Gallardo took the ball up the left wing and found Aáron Gomez just outside the six-yard box. Gomez was able to drop the ball back to Pedro Dolabella who calmly slotted home from about 15 yards out to open the scoring past a helpless Menace defense. This was Dolabella’s second goal in US Open Cup competition, following his tally against MLS side St. Louis City in 2023.
Union Omaha continued on the front foot, asking a lot of questions of the Menace defense, but Des Moines answered all of them keeping the score at 1-0 heading into halftime.
That wouldn’t last long, however, as two minutes after the break, Marco Milanese would extend the Omaha lead following a scramble in the goal mouth off a well taken corner. Steevan Dos Santos out jumped his marker to put the ball in the path of Luca Mastrantonio who fired a point blank shot at Rowe. The Menace keeper did well to keep it out, but couldn’t stop the rebound shot, nor the 2-0 lead.
The two sides would continue to trade jabs (and yellow cards) for the majority of the second half, but with Union Omaha still seeming firmly in control. That control would falter in the 87th minute as Leroy Enzugusi put his name on the scoresheet after finding a path through the Búho back line from a perfect pass from Braden Allen. Rashid Nuhu was late to react and while he did get a small touch on the ball, Enzugusi was able to keep control, round the keeper, and give the Menace life going into injury time.
That life put a spark in the Menace who made the final minutes of the match rather nervy for the home crowd. There were several chances that could have gone Des Moines’ way until substitute Lagos Kunga put the match beyond doubt.
In the ninth minute of stoppage time, the former Menace forward found himself alone in space just outside the box on a pinpoint pass from Nortei Nortey. Having just had a wonderful chance saved by Rowe a minute earlier, Kunga cut inside and let go with his left foot to put this match, and Des Moines’ Cup run, to bed.
When asked about the clinching goal, Kunga responded in high spirits. “This is what we live for, moments like this, to come in, get a goal, to help the team win.”
And while it may have been a goal that knocked his former club from the Cup, it was obvious he enjoyed the moment, saying “They say when you play your old team, you get a little extra motivation, so it felt good.”
For Union Omaha, that feeling will continue into the next round as they take their 17-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (dating back to last season) to the test. They take on USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive who enter the 2024 US Open Cup in Round 3. For Des Moines Menace, it’s another empty-handed trip back home to await the start of the USL-2 season, and another chance to dream of a trophy.