Union Omaha’s reputation as Open Cup giant-killers was born on a cool night in Illinois in the spring of 2022.
“We really felt like we could beat any team, even back then” said Dion Acoff, who set up a late equalizer in OT against MLS’ Chicago Fire and then buried the decisive penalty in the shootout that kick-started a fairytale run to the Quarterfinals for the debutant Division III Nebraskans.
“It was a first little taste of the Open Cup and the tradition we’d go on to build in the competition,” added Acoff, now 33, who’s become a living symbol of one of our tournament’s most successful underdogs. “It started a kind of habit for us.”
That habit of beating teams from above them in the U.S. pro soccer pyramid has grown into a full-blown addiction for the two-time and defending USL League One champions. Acoff’s celebration after sealing the win over the Fire in 2022, the raising of his forefinger to his lips in that universal gesture of shhh, became symbolic of the club’s firmly held belief that, on any given day, they can beat anyone.
It’s no wonder artistic renderings of that moment, Acoff’s iconic celebration, adorn many of the hand-made posters you’ll see at Werner Park. His iconic image is raised high by members of the Omaha Parliament, the club’s independent supporters group that Acoff never hesitates to praise. “If it’s not for the fans, we wouldn’t be as good as we are or have been through these years,” he said.
That famous 2022 run, Union Omaha’s first appearance in the Open Cup, included another road win over an MLS team in the Round of 16. They beat 2019 Open Cup Runners-up Minnesota United FC 2-1 on the road in St. Paul, a victory punctuated by Joe Brito’s famous knee-slide celebration after bagging the winning goal in the 51st minute. “We just feel that if we do things our way, we won’t be surprised if we win,” Acoff said when asked about the club’s heroics in Cup play. “Whether the team were playing is from the [Div. II USL] Championship or even MLS.”
The numbers don’t lie. Now with nine wins, three losses and two draws all-time (and those two draws ended in technical ‘wins’ via shootout), the Owls have only ever lost to MLS teams in the Open Cup. They’ve never been defeated by a team from the Div. II USL Championship – and they’ve beaten as many MLS teams as have beaten them.
Acoff was at the center of the latest Cupset pulled off by Union Omaha, scoring the lone goal in a win over USL Championship side San Antonio FC in our 2025 Third Round in April to set up another date with an MLS team in the Round of 32. It will be a return trip to St. Louis CITY, the side that knocked Union Omaha out of the 2023 Open Cup in front of 22, 423 fans.
These so-called upsets shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone paying attention. Union Omaha have established themselves as the dominant side in the Division III USL League One (two titles and a further first-place regular-season finish since hatching in 2020). “We can play with any of the Championship teams,” Acoff said, having been a part of a perfect record against Division II teams in the Open Cup that amounts to three wins in three games (one via shootout). “I feel like we are a Championship team in a lot of ways because, really, we proved we should be there by winning USL League One.
“I don’t see much of a difference if I’m honest,” Acoff insisted.
Acoff, there from the club’s birth in the country’s most historic tournament, is the guiding light of this massive underdog endeavor. His presence in Omaha is also a homecoming for the forward-turned-defender, who reached the NCAA Final Four as a player for the local DI college side Creighton University. Just before his senior year, his scholarship wasn’t renewed and he returned to his native California to line up for the University of California at Santa Barbara.
“I didn’t have a senior year; I just kind of quit the game. So, because of that, I didn’t get drafted [into MLS],” said Acoff who, instead, took the unusual path of playing professional ball in Iceland. “I was like ‘no chance, I’m not about to go to Iceland – I don’t even know where it is on a map’.”
In the end, he found it. And he went. “I felt like I had nothing to lose so why not.” In his first year there, he helped second division side Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur get promoted to the first division. His performances, playing out wide, were outstanding. After his side – nicknamed the ‘Meat Eaters’ – were relegated back down, Acoff was signed by Valur. That’s when “things started to happen.”
Based in Reykjavik, Valur is the top team in the Land of Fire and Ice. While there, Acoff “basically won everything there is to win in Iceland.” That included back-to-back first division titles, Iceland’s League Cup in 2018 and a pair of Icelandic Super Cups. He also lined up in the early stages of the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League.
After a year in Finland with Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho, up near the arctic circle, and another stint in Iceland during the Covid Years, Acoff began considering a return to the States. “I was thinking about retirement because I didn’t really have any connections to soccer in the U.S. anymore.”
That’s when Jay Mims called and asked “if I wanted to come back home,” remembered Acoff. His assistant coach at Creighton all those years ago, Mims was involved in the early stages of a new pro side in Omaha – a chance for Acoff to return to the city he loved and play pro ball for the first time in the States. And the rest is history. Mims, who’s since moved on to an executive job at USL Championship side Memphis 901, was the architect of Union Omaha’s 2022 Quarterfinal run in the Open Cup.
“I love the city and I love the fans, so it was a no-brainer,” said Acoff about his chance to finish his career in the place where he played most of his college soccer. “I love everything the organization has built up here and I love being a part of it.”
What’s been built in Omaha, now under coach Dom Casciato for a third straight year, is a powerhouse in the lower leagues of the American pro system. And an Open Cup Cinderella without rival. When asked what it feels like to beat an MLS team, Acoff, with particular knowledge of the feeling, struggled to find the right words. “It’s relief and it’s also jubilation,” he said. “We’re the underdogs and so we like that role when we’re going up against the top teams.
“The pressure is not really on us, so that’s a huge benefit,” added Acoff. “We can just play freely and give it our best shot and hopefully the result falls with us.
Up next for the Owls – one of just four surviving Division III teams in the 2025 Open Cup – is another road date on May 7 with St. Louis CITY SC (LIVE on Paramount+), the MLS side they lost to 5-1 in the 2023 Open Cup. “You have to keep the nerves from taking over,” Acoff said. “To take advantage of the situation and go about your business the way we always do as a club.”
The last time Union Omaha met an MLS team was last year, in the Round of 32 of our 109th edition, and they were seconds away from taking it to a penalty shootout and a glorious chance at beating a top-flight side for the third time in their Open Cup history. But things broke the other way as eventual Runners-up Sporting Kansas City – with big stars on the field like captain Johnny Russell and Willy Agada – won out via a last-second winner from Designated Player Alan Pulido in OT.
“We were right there that day,” said Acoff, looking ahead to the chance to create more chaos, more magic, in the Open Cup. “We were right on the doorstep of taking that one to a shootout. We were all over them.”
A senior player, someone who’s been there for the ups and downs of Union Omaha’s wild times, Acoff is expected to be a leader among many of his young teammates in the locker room. But he’s also just along for the ride, young at heart, and revelling still in shushing the big boys – showing what he, and his brave band of Owls, can do on the day.
“I love the process. I love the game,” he said, drifting back. “I’ve kept that youthful feeling through the years, that feeling that if you do what you’re supposed to do, you can play against anyone – at any level.”
Fontela is editor-in-chief ofussoccer.com/us-open-cup. Follow him at@jonahfontela on X/Twitter.