“These guys are killing me. We’re not supposed to be losing this!”
The words of a random, passing by Hartford Athletic staff member accounted for many of the opinions at Trinity Health Park on Wednesday night. After 120 minutes and multiple red cards, New York City FC II of MLS NEXT Pro advanced to the Round of 32 of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup past the USL Championship side, 3-2 after extra time.
NYCFC II head coach Matt Pilkington said after the match that he knows how important a game like this is to his young players. He and the first team have regular discussions about who should be considered for a MLS call-up, and results like this play a huge part.
“It’s a massive opportunity for players to develop, and I don’t think we give enough attention to all the MLS NEXT Pro teams and other teams in this competition because they don’t often get to play USL teams or teams within the structure of the U.S.,” said Pilkington. “So I do think we should be celebrating this opportunity and celebrating the fact that we have young teams and young players at 16 years old and 17 years old competing against season pros and how that’s going to help their development. It’s going to help the development of the league, and it’s going to help the development of the country. So, the more opportunities we can give these players, the better.”
Unlike NYCFC II’s game last round against New York Red Bulls II, no notable first-team players were in Wednesday’s lineup in Connecticut. In fact the only lineup change from the team’s league game on Sunday was in goal as Tomás Romero stepped up for his second straight USOC match instead of Alex Rando.
The home side came out swinging as the rain poured down on Trinity Health Stadium. The announced crowd of 2,517, including the ruckus Bonanza supporters and traveling members of The Third Rail, tried to cheer on their respective teams as the temperature began to drop. Enoch Mushagalusa and Mamadou Dieng both had dangerous looks in the first six minutes. A sixth minute header by Dieng looked to be the opening goal but it was called offside by the linesman. Other highlights included multiple bicycle kick attempts by Dieng that couldn’t get on target.
New York got periodic chances at the other end. A corner kick in the 40th minute, the Baby Blues first of the match, was easily cleared. The visitor’s only had three shots total, none on target, and entered halftime with 39% possession. On the other side, Hartford had eleven shots with four being on target.
The second half marked a tonal shift for both teams. While New York started where it left off on the backfoot, the possession game was slowly creeping in their favor. Still Hartford had control, with former New York Red Bulls player Reece Buckmaster got behind the backline but shot wide left against his former team’s biggest rival.
In the 63rd minute, NYCFC II started a quick counter with Taylor Calheira finding Jonathan Jiménez on the right side. Last round’s hat-trick hero got into the box, beat one defender before getting past another sliding one. Keeper Paul Walters tried to come out but Jiménez fed the ball back to Calheira for the empty net tap in.
It was a moment that completely went against the run of play. And it felt like Hartford quickly went into panic mode, using all three standard substitute windows to bring in five players within 11 minutes of the go-ahead goal. These players included experienced ones like Joe Farrell, Deshane Beckford, and journeyman forward Romario Williams.
Hartford’s offense, buoyed especially by Williams and fellow sub Marcus Epps, employed a high press to try and box in NYCFC. It almost looked as though the game was back level in the 72nd minute when a Dieng shot was blocked by Romero. With the ball in the air, the keeper tried to catch or punch it away but missed, possibly influenced by the slick surface, sending the ball towards the line. However Romero was just able to snatch the ball before it crossed over the goalline, much to the ire of the home crowd.
In the 78th minute HFD got its break when NYCFC II defender Alexander Hauschild brought down former Williams in the box during an attack on the right side. The former Jamaican national team player shot right down the middle to equalize in the 81st minute.
Both teams had chances to win it late, especially in an extended stoppage time. A heavy challenge by New York’s Piero Elias against Beverly Makangila was a sign of things to come. Makangila was helped off the field and left the game, replaced by Anderson Asiedu at the start of extra time.
The Baby Blue saw yellow, but William’s seemed to take justice into his own hands. Right as play resumed in the 90+8’ with a goal kick, the forward jumped and barrelled Jake Rozhansky from behind in the air right in front of the sideline. Williams earned a yellow of his own, with the nearby bench voicing their displeasure (most of which was caught on the sideline microphone and heard on the broadcast). Head coach Brendan Burke was shown yellow and eventually assistant coach and former player Aaron Wheeler was shown a straight red.
As emotions heated up, the whistle blew to signal full time. Neither team had ever played extra time in a competitive match, let alone in the US Open Cup.
Extra time started quickly for both teams. Jiménez jumped on a loose ball in Athletic’s end and ran into the Hartford box. His shot was deflected by keeper Walters, but sent right back in the bath of NY’s Jonathan Shore. However the 17-year-old couldn’t get all of it and the attempted shot went wide right.
Hartford responded right off the subsequent goal kick. Williams headed the ball towards Deshane Beckford who got free on the left side. He drove into the box and scored past Romero to give Hartford its first lead of the game in the 92nd minute.
The lead didn’t last long though as New York’s attack found the team’s regular dynamic duo in the 99th minute. With the ball on the left edge of the box, Jiménez crossed the ball towards Calheira. A downward header got past Walters, bouncing off the ground and into the net for a brace to tie the game.
“I saw JJ had the ball and he’s good with putting that little chip ball in,” said number 99 about his 99th minute goal. “So I was trying to get a little separation with the center back. Once the ball was in the hair I knew as long as I got my head on it I knew I had a great chance.”
It’s the second time Jiménez has assisted Calheira on a goal this tournament. Not surprising considering the two spent a lot of time together, even carpooling up to Wednesday’s night’s game.
From the start of the second ET half NYCFC dominated, beginning with a Máximo Carrizo shot that easily went wide right. In the 109th minute, Jiménez got under a cross on the left side in open play. Getting close to the box, his shot was saved by Walters. The rebound fell right to Carrizo in the box, who point-blanked a strike into the net for the subsequent game winner. New York ended the second ET outshooting Hartford 5-0.
“It’s great. I mean, it’s fantastic for him and the work he’s put in. He’s quite young, so we have to manage his loads at times, but he looks fresher and fitter than he’s been,” said coach Pilkington about Carrizo. “He comes alive around the box. He nearly scored in extra time before he got the goal, so he’s dangerous. I think even towards the end, for him to play 90 plus 30 in a game like this just shows how hard he’s working in training and how hard he’s been working in games so far this season.”
Things got ugly before the end as Hartford got more physical. A foul by Athletic brought Joe Schmidt in the face of referee Christian Centeno, who showed him a yellow. Anderson Asiedu was then shown yellow for essentially checking an NYCFC player from behind in the 119th.
In the next minute, a potential Hartford breakaway was stopped when Marcus Epps was pulled down from behind by Rozhansky who pulled him by the jersey. The two teams converged and Epps made contact with Rozhansky, either a punch or a shove to the face, sending the City player to the ground.
Rozhansky was shown yellow, Epps was given a straight red card.
After the subsequent free kick for Hartford, now playing with 10 men, New York cleared the ball with Rozhansky running up the left sideline. Beckford entered from stage right, slid right into the NYCFC player’s legs, and brought the two teams together once again. This time with more physical contact between the two sides. Beckford and NYCFC’s Chris Tiao were both shown straight reds for violent conduct. The game ended not long after.
The result marks the second time an NEXT Pro team has ever beaten a USL Championship team in the tournament (2022 Round 2; St. Louis CITY SC 2 vs Indy Eleven). It also makes NYCFC II the lone remaining MLSNP team in the 2024 tournament. The team now has a chance to play either more USLC competition or, possibly, a team from Division 1 Major League Soccer.
“That’s our goal. When we came into this game, we knew in the next round, the big dogs (would) come in,” Calheira said. “We’re all developing, and that’s where we want to be at the end of the day. The better the competition, the better we move on, the better we grow as teammates, and that’s what we can do moving forward.”