Pedro Heizer

2014 US Open Cup Round 3: Laredo Heat stun Fort Lauderdale Strikers with stoppage time penalty kick (video)

May 29, 2014 by Pedro Heizer

The Strikers run in the 101st edition of the US Open Cup has come to a devastating end.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the final minute of stoppage time, Orlando Bayona coolly put a penalty kick past veteran Oka Nikolov to give the Laredo Heat of the Premier Development League a 3-2 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League.

The Strikers started off hot, scoring two goals in less than 20 minutes. Fort Lauderdale opened the scoring in the eighth minute on Gonzalo De Mujica’s first professional goal thanks to a great pass by Darnell King that sent Carlos Salazar up the middle, who fed De Mujica to give the home team the early 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, the Strikers added to the lead, once again, thanks to Carlos Salazar who found Yaikel Perez at the top of the penalty box to give Fort Lauderdale the 2-0 lead.

However, the turning point came in the 20th minute when the Strikers were reduced to 10 men after goalkeeper Lionel Brown handled the ball outside of the box and was shown a straight red card having denied Laredo a goal scoring opportunity.

Back-up keeper Oka Nikolov entered the match at the expense of Matt Hall.

Down to 10 men, it didn’t take long for Laredo to capitalize on their man advantage. Salvador Luna carved his way into the box and crossed to the back post for Irving Villanueva to head home for a goal in the 27th minute.

As the Heat tried to equalize the game, the play on the field became chippy, and in the 80th minute Laredo’s midfielder Placide Buduri, who had just came into the game, made a hard tackle on Pecka, which saw the Brazilian fall straight on the floor. Referee Caleb Mendez showed Buduri a red card and Laredo was forced to play with ten men.

But the loss of a player didn’t stop the Heat as they continued to work on finding the equalizer. Then in the 86th minute forward Orlando Alvarado, who had been inserted into the match just two minute prior, found a loose ball in the penalty area and sent it past Nikolov to make it, 2-2.

In stoppage time, Laredo drew a penalty kick through Orlando Bayona. The forward stepped up to take the ensuing spot kick, burying a high effort past Oka Nikolov to send Laredo into the Fourth Round of the Cup.

“It’s tough when you’re up 2-0 and you go down a man,” said Strikers head coach Gunther Kronsteiner. “It was the exact same situation as we were in last week . My congratulations to the Laredo Heat, they were down by two goals and they could have given up, but instead they kept fighting back.”

It was the first time the Strikers have fallen to a Premier Development League (PDL) team in three Open Cup matches.

Laredo advances to play the Houston Dynamo of MLS in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup.

FULL MATCH REPLAY

2013 US Open Cup Third Round: FC Dallas ends road drought with 2-0 win in Fort Lauderdale

May 30, 2013 by Pedro Heizer

FC Dallas registered their first road victory since 2007 in the US Open Cup Tuesday night in the Third Round, downing the NASL Fort Lauderdale Strikers 2-0 on second half goals from Blas Perez and defender Matt Hedges.

However, don’t let the score fool you, it was a very hard-fought and chippy game by both sides.

Strikers’ midfielder Walter Restrepo threatened the Dallas goal twice in the early moments of the match. His first shot from point-blank range was saved by Chris Seitz in the second minute and his second attempt in the 11^th minute, a chip shot over Seitz, hit the crossbar before rolling uncontested back into the Dallas keepers hands.

“The Strikers took it to us in the first half,” said FC Dallas’ head coach Schellas Hyndman. “A lot of that was enthusiasm, and they tried to set the tone early in the match.”

“He was an aggravation for us up front,” said Hyndman of Restrepo’s presence throughout the game.

“We knew Walter and Darnell had some speed that would give them trouble,” said Fort Lauderdale Strikers’ head coach Daryl Shore. “You have to give credit to the guys behind them that were able to put them in good situations. I thought for the first 54 minutes we were the better team. We’re very disappointed because we thought we deserved better given how we played.”

“We dominated the game for most part,” Restrepo said. “We had the better chances, but they were able to finalize on their two chances.”

FC Dallas finally broke through in the second half to take the lead.

Midfielder Je-Vaughn Watson found some space on the right side, curling in a ball that flashed across the box to Castillo at the far post. The Colombian tapped a ball to Blas Perez who was unmarked in front of goal and slid it under Strikers goalkeeper Matt Glaeser to put Dallas on top in the 54^th minute.

“That was one of the few crosses that we’ve made,” said coach Hyndman. “Getting that first goal always puts the pressure off and then I thought we even started playing better.”

Defender Matt Hedges added the insurance goal in the 66^th minute on a header. Midfielder Michel recorded the assist.

“Fort Lauderdale is a strong side,” said FC Dallas captain George John. “Any time in this tournament that you come into an opposing team’s field, it’s tough to get a victory. They came out with a lot of energy and had a couple of great opportunities, but luckily we were able to come into halftime with a clean sheet and regroup. We got two goals and were able to come away with the victory to move on to the next round.”

Dallas moves on to the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time since 2011 and will host the winner of the match between the Houston Dynamo and FC Tuscon at FC Dallas Stadium on Wednesday, June 12.

2013 US Open Cup Second Round: Fort Lauderdale survives scare from 10-man Laredo, advance via penalties

May 22, 2013 by Pedro Heizer

It wasn’t as easy as they had hoped, but the second-tier NASL Fort Lauderdale Strikers advanced 7-6 in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw against amateur PDL Laredo Heat in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match at Lockhart Stadium on Tuesday.

“That’s what the US Open Cup is all about,” said Strikers’ coach Daryl Shore. “You put everything on the line when you play these games.”

With the decision, Fort Lauderdale will host MLS Western Conference leading FC Dallas at Lockhart Stadium on Tuesday, May 28, in the Third Round of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

After a first half of soccer that was about as uneventful as watching grass grow, Mark Anderson finally broke the nil-nil scoreline in the 54^th minute when Darnell King raced down the middle, passing through the Heat’s defense and delivering a great ball to Anderson who had no trouble putting it in the net.

In the 66^th minute, Laredo’s Daniel Galvan Barbosa was given a red card after he shoved Darnell King to the ground after King broke free from the defense.

Despite playing a man down in the last 24 minutes of regulation, Laredo still managed a goal from defender Camilo Bolero in the 83rd minute, tying the score at 1-1.

“When we went up a man I think we took the foot off the gas a little,” said keeper Matt Glaeser. “Bolero’s ball took a deflection and I went the wrong way, I could have done better.”

“Matt’s our goalkeeper,” assured Shore. “He’s been here a long time, he was just on a bad run lately but he came up huge for us in the end.”

After a deadlock score through 120 minutes of play, it took penalties to declare the winner.

Shot after shot, neither team missed a penalty try until Genaro Hernandez had his shot stopped by Matt Glaeser in the seventh round. Stephane Guillaume stepped up for the Strikers with a chance to win, but his shot was saved by Emmanuel Frias.

Then Gregory Mulamba’s attempt for Laredo was saved by Glaeser, his second consecutive save. Finally, Toni Stahl took his chance, and with a short run up, struck the ball low and to the left to win the shootout for the Strikers in the eighth round of the tiebreaker, sending them on to face FC Dallas.

“I expect them to bring their full team,” said coach Shore. “It’s a chance for our guys to face an MLS team and see what we are really about.”

“We’re going to have to come out and play a lot better than we did tonight if we want to beat FC Dallas,” said Glaeser. “But I do think we are capable of beating anyone.”