While basketball is set to take over Indianapolis this weekend with the final rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the Omaha Union came into town to give sports fans one more bracket buster, as the lower-division Owls took down hosts Indy Eleven, 2-1, in Round 2 of the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Tuesday.
“It doesn’t matter if we play an amateur team or a team from Europe,” said Omaha manager Vincenzo Candela. “We’re up for absolutely anything against anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
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The second half proved to make up for a lack of action in the first, with Omaha captain and former Minnesota United mainstay Brent Kallman catching a yellow card five minutes after the break.
Nine minutes later is what might have been the game-deciding moment as Eleven keeper Reice Charles-Cook was handed a red card. That put Indy down one man, and opened the door for the strong Omaha offense.
Omaha made use of that advantage in the 75th minute, as Samuel Owusu found the back of the net on an assist from Adrian Billhardt to break the stalemate. The Owls added on to the lead in the 84th from a Kempes Tekiela goal.
Even though Indy would try to mount a comeback with a Jack Blake goal in stoppage time, the League One team was too much for the home team.
“(This result) shows that we have a special group,” Candela said. “We’re very determined in doing something special this year, so this is a wonderful achievement for the group and a nice step up.”
Defense highlighted the first half of play, as neither team was able to put the ball into the back of the net. This is not to say that both teams didn’t have ample opportunity, with both teams combining for five corner kicks within the first eight minutes of play, and a combined 13 in the half. The only other notable action in the first 45 minutes was a pair of Omaha substitutions, as the team replaced two of their starting men in the 35th minute, bringing in Diego Gutiérrez and Younes Boudadi in favor of Sergio Ors and Cameron Lawrence respectively.
Both teams started play in the US Open Cup with shutout wins; Omaha defeating BOFHS St. Louis 8-0 and Indy taking down Des Moines Menace 3-0.
With the win, Union Omaha has now upset six higher division teams in 17 all-time Open Cup matches. Now, they advance to the Round of 32 where they will face a Major League Soccer team for the seventh time.
Union Omaha will find out its opponent for the Round of 32 on Thursday.