In its first official match in history, new NISA club Irvine Zeta FC squeaked out a victory to advance into the Second Round of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
Amateur side SC MesoAmerica, winners of the 2023 USASA National Amateur Cup, battled to the end but Zeta midfielder Shinya Kadono’s first half thunderbolt from 30 yards out lifted the hosts to a 1-0 win at Championship Soccer Park in Irvine on Wednesday night.
“At the end it was a just result,” Zeta head coach Daniel Gonzalez said. “We played the game we wanted to play, we got the job done and that’s what we needed.”
A moment of brilliance on the defensive end from Irvine goalkeeper Mitchell North capped off Kadono’s solo effort on a night where edging out a victory to set the right tone for the club’s future turned out to be more important than winning pretty.
Kadono, a local boy who grew up in Irvine, struck the MesoAmerica net just after the ten minute mark when his darting run from the left sideline and into the central area earned him a window of space to release an unstoppable shot directly into the side netting.
Zeta’s first ever goal came after just 12 minutes via the local boy who is also the club’s captain.
“ is a great player,” Gonzalez said about his midfielder and his trademark goal-scoring maneuver. “He tries that at practice.
“We work on it every day and he hits them really well.”
Zeta’s early lead earned them the chance to sit back and absorb pressure while MesoAmerica frustrated itself in front of the 18-yard box.
North had a fairly quiet evening barring one key moment 30 minutes after the starting whistle that kept the hosts in the lead.
“I get the credit for scoring,” Kadono said. “But we should give more credit for those saves out there.
“Especially with that first half save.”
The captain and first-ever goal-scorer for Irvine didn’t hesitate to credit his goalkeeper after the save on MesoAmerica forward Leo Espinoza who should have tied the game at one after half an hour.
“I knew what he was going to do,” North said as Espinoza broke toward goal on the one-on-one chance. “He closed his hips and pulled it to my right, so I went with it early and guessed him right.”
The right-legged stop proved as big as Kadono’s opener as the hosts managed to see out the narrow one-goal win.
Frustration boiled over for MesoAmerica late in the game when left-back substitute Gonzalo Salguero picked up a second yellow card for a late challenge, leaving the visitors a goal and a man down with two minutes remaining.
The Second Round draw will take place on Friday with the tournament resuming the week of April 2-3.
