With one strike, Giulio Doratiotto made history for himself and his club.
The 19-year-old product of Juventus’ academy subbed on for Phoenix Rising FC at the beginning of the first period of extra time against North Carolina FC in the Fourth Round of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Then, in the 110th minute, Doratiotto cut through the teeth of NCFC’s defense to gain positioning in the penalty area. Once there, a feed from Erickson Gallardo found his left foot, which rocketed the ball between two defenders and NCFC’s keeper for the go-ahead score.
Doratiotto ripped his shirt off in celebration, earning a yellow card — but it didn’t matter. Rising’s defense held strong for the final 10 minutes and left WakeMed Soccer Park victorious after notching a 2-1 win over North Carolina FC in front of an announced crowd of 822 fans on a cool Wednesday night.
“It feels amazing,” Doratiotto said. “I was waiting for that moment. I’m so happy to have the team get a win.”
The goal was Doratiotto’s first professional score, and the result gives Phoenix its first trip in the club’s 10-year history to the Round of 16 in the Open Cup. Rising will face the winners of the Seattle Sounders and Louisville City FC on May 21 or 22.
“We won a tough away game,” Rising coach Danny Stone said. “To be in the last 16 in obviously an exciting thing… And now, honestly, the attention turns to fast recovery. The credit goes to the players who fought very, very hard in a game tonight and, in the end, I think deserve to come away with a victory.”
North Carolina FC is now winless in its last four matches across all competitions. The club has not advanced to the Open Cup Round of 16 since 2014, when it was one of two lower division sides to make the quarterfinals.
“A lot of effort was given this evening,” NCFC coach John Bradford said. “The details, in terms of an early goal that has no business being defended the way we defended it and allowing it to come in, changes the game. We anticipated it being a physical match and it was. We’ve got to be able to keep our heads a bit better and don’t let the referee make decisions that can go either way, but ultimately go a way that didn’t help us.”
The game featured 12 yellow cards in all. North Carolina outshot Phoenix 20-14, but only put two of those attempts on target in the defeat.
The match was a weird one on multiple levels. It included a weather delay, a late change to the starting lineup, three players being sent off, and two periods of added time. Most of the game was played 10-versus-10, then NCFC saw a second player get a second yellow in added time.
It kicked off 26 minutes later than originally scheduled due to inclement weather in the area. Shortly after the opening kick, Phoenix struck first as Juan Carlos Azocar found the back of the net in the ninth minute. It marked the first goal for the 28-year-old Venezuelan midfielder in a Phoenix kit – he signed with the club this past offseason after spending the last three seasons with various USL Championship clubs while on loan from Deportivo La Guaira.
Gabriel Torres wasn’t officially credited with an assist, but he created the goal-scoring opportunity for Rising by beating his defender along the left edge of the box and crossing the ball, where it took two bounces before Azocar fired an off-balance, left-footed shot into the roof of the net. Shortly after the goal, NCFC defender Paco Craig was given a yellow card for pushing Azocar, trying to stop him from celebrating and causing a bit of a kerfuffle.
Azocar wasn’t originally in the starting lineup. He was a late addition for Phoenix after Edgardo Rito was a last-minute scratch upon suffering an apparent injury during warmups, a team spokesperson said. Azocar was promoted to the starting lineup in his place, while Jose Hernandez was added to the bench.
The match changed in a dramatic way in the 24th minute when Phoenix was forced to play the remainder of it with 10 men after defender Laurence Wyke earned his second yellow card and was sent off for a reckless tackle from behind at midfield on NCFC’s Oalex Anderson. Wyke had earned his first yellow in the seventh minute for a previous bad foul.
“Manage the emotions,” Stone said. “There can be a lot of different outcomes and eventualities and situations that we have to deal with …. When these things happen, it’s not a shock for anybody.”
Over the next 16 minutes, NCFC failed to capitalize on its advantage, and in the 40th minute, the game was made even again. Craig was given his second yellow after getting tangled up with a Phoenix forward Remi Cabral in the midfield, stopping his progress on an attack.
“I think (playing 10-on-10) favors a brave team, to try to have the ball,” Stone said. “The physical component of the game becomes a bit more prevalent.”
NCFC struggled with putting together meaningful scoring chances. Then, finally, in the 80th minute, Louis Perez fired in a corner kick from the left side, and Justin Malou spun to meet the ball with his right heel, guiding it into the net with flair for the equalizer. It was the first goal in an NCFC uniform for Malou – a 25-year-old Clemson University product who won a national championship with the Tigers in WakeMed Soccer Park in 2021.
“That was the message, just stay the course and try to get a goal,” Bradford said.
Picking up a great feed from Mohamed Traore, Azocar had the chance to notch the go-ahead goal for Phoenix in the 88th minute but put a chip attempt over the crossbar.In extra time, NCFC lost another player when defender Ezra Armstrong picked up his second yellow card for a hard foul in the 94th minute.
