Western Mass Pioneers Fall to Union Omaha In U.S. Open Cup First Round
Western Mass Pioneers Fall to Union Omaha In U.S. Open Cup First Round
Windy weather conditions and lack of fitness belittled the Pioneers' efforts against one of the USL League 1's best teams.
The Western Mass Pioneers fell short of the reigning 2023 USL League 1 regular season champions Union Omaha, losing in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup 0-4.
The wind gusts of 30 m.p.h. and the Pioneers lack of fitness made the challenge tougher for the home side, who didn’t record a single shot on target. A Joey Gallardo Jr. hat trick and a Steeven Dos Santos goal propelled the visiting side into the second round of the U.S. Open Cup.
“In the first half, they came out very strong,” Pioneers head coach Federico Molinari said at the end of the game. “Then we stood up and had the ball, but we were missing the final pass for our forwards.
Gallardo scored his first goal in the third minute with a deflected shot that fell into the right side of Gianluca Cersosimo’s goal.
“The first goal being so early shook us a little bit,” Molinari said. “But then in some moments we had control of the game.”
Already down a goal, the Pioneers held possession for the rest of the first half, but were unable to create a dangerous chance.
Cersosimo stepped up with two big saves from shots that came from Dos Santos and Perkins II to close off the half.
With the start of the second half, Pioneers coach Molinari went for a riskier approach setting a higher defensive line and playing a more intense press. However, they failed to muster a shot on target against Omaha’s steady backline.
Following a couple of turnovers caused by the high winds disturbing passes, Cersosimo pulled off a huge save in the 47th minute denying Josue Gomez of scoring Omaha’s second.
“We knew the second half was going to be tough with us as we lost legs,” said Molinari.
In the 66th minute, Omaha center-back Luca Mastrantonio played a long ball that was headed down by Pedro Dolabella. It fell into the path of Dos Santos. Having had a couple of efforts stopped by Cersosimo, Dos Santos settled the ball with two touches before placing the ball between the legs of the Pioneers’ goalie.
Six minutes later, Gallardo got on the end of a loose ball that Pioneer right-back Joaquin Lauria Calvo failed to get to and smashed a half-volley towards the front post and into the back post.
Gallardo grabbed his hatrick in the 88th minute with a tidy front post finish to put the Union Omaha up 0-4. Mark Bronnik, a 17-year-old debutant for Omaha, assisted Gallardo.
With five minutes left to go, Molinari subbed on 17-year-old Thomas Wadas for former Revs II player Ben Awashie. It was Wadas’ second game for the first team and his first against a professional club.
“It’s good to play against tough competition,” said Wadas about Union Omaha. “They’re a very good team and they showed it today.”
The Western Mass Pioneers will continue to prepare for their first USL League 2 match on May 14th against the Boston Bolts at 7 p.m. and finalize their squad for the summer.