After four close regular-season matches, FC Tucson faces Union Omaha one more time with a berth in the USL League One final on the line.
Omaha beat FC Tucson three times — all by one goal — during the regular season, but the Men in Black won the most recent contest in Nebraska. They’ll play again Saturday, when the fourth-seeded Men in Black face top-seeded Union Omaha on Saturday in the USL League One semifinals.
The game will be played at Werner Park, one of the league’s most unique venues. The home of the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers baseball team, Werner has a narrower soccer field than most venues in USL League One. A standard soccer pitch is 75 yards wide; Union Omaha does not say how wide its pitch is, but it’s narrow enough to be considered a homefield advantage.
FC Tucson defender Noah Franke says the smaller field means his team will get pressed more. Of course, FC Tucson will try to do the same to Union Omaha.
FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman has been preparing for the change.
“We’ve shortened the field for practice,” he said, “(and) we’re prepared to play the kind of game you’re going to have to play at Werner.”
Union Omaha is 7-3-4 at home this season, and FC Tucson is 4-4-5 on the road.
“They’re a very strong team, obviously, you see that throughout the year,” Franke said. “But we’ve had great runs where teams don’t want to play us and we were arguably one of the best teams when we’re in form. And right now, we’re in form.”
FC Tucson’s Sept. 25 win over the Owls was a homecoming for Franke, who played collegiately at Creighton. Due to scheduling conflicts with baseball, the match was moved from Werner Park to Morrison Stadium on Creighton’s campus.
The Men in Black then delivered a 1-0 win in what was arguably their best regular-season victory.
“It was cool, especially because we got to play in my old college stadium,” Franke said. “I know this time of year it’s going to be freezing and they’re going to have a lot of fans and it’s going to be a tough environment, but that’s what we want — we want to play the best teams in the hardest environments to really show that we are a good team to really show where we’re at.”
Corner kicks
Omaha is one of the toughest places to play in USL League One, as Pearlman learned when they played the Owls at Creighton. “I didn’t see any of that Midwest hospitality you hear so much of,” Pearlman said
FC Tucson midfielder Charlie Dennis and Franke were both named to the USL League One All-League Second Team. The all-league teams were selected by team management. Dennis led FC Tucson with nine goals and eight assists, second in the league. He was eighth in the league in scoring. In addition to his defensive contributions, Franke notched four assists.
