FC Tucson streaking into Saturday's USL League One semifinal match vs. Union Omaha

FC Tucson’s seven-match unbeaten streak may have ended, but the Men in Black have built up another four-match undefeated run en route to the USL League One semifinals.

The fourth-seeded Men in Black will look to run that streak to five on Saturday, when they face top seed Union Omaha in Nebraska.

“We were at a critical moment and our backs were against the wall and we were able to perform our best,” said FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman. “So we’ve handled adversity well on a number of occasions this season so these two streaks are sort of representative of the growth of the team.”

Union Omaha beat FC Tucson three times during the regular season, but the Men in Black won the most recent contest, a 1-0 match played Sept. 25. The win extended what became a seven-match unbeaten steak, one that included three clean shutouts and a couple wins on the East Coast.

FC Tucson’s current four-match streak has included three wins at Kino North Stadium and a 2-2 draw at Forward Madison on Oct. 23.

“Now it’s different because we’re close to the finish line so it means more to be on this streak and the fact that we were able to secure it in front of our fans, it’s even more significant I think,” said FC Tucson defender Luca Mastrantoni.

“So I would say that the second one is more meaningful than the one that we had before but at the same time those are the streaks that brought us here in the fourth spot.”

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FC Tucson is the second-hottest team in the USL League One’s final four.

The second-seeded Greenville Triumph is riding a nine-match unbeaten streak, with its last loss coming Aug. 28, 2-1 at FC Tucson. They had a bye last week.

Union Omaha went into the playoffs with a win and a draw to end the season and then had a bye for the first round.

The third-seeded Chattanooga Red Wolves limped into the playoffs with a three-match winless streak, then beat North Texas SC in the quarterfinals, 2-1.

Corner kick

FC Tucson will hold a send-off rally for the team Thursday afternoon at their headquarters, 3350 S. Country Club Road. The rally begins at 2:30 p.m.; the Men in Black are scheduled to leave for the airport at 3 p.m.