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AS Frenzi

2024 US Open Cup Round 1: Club de Lyon FC edge 10-man AS Frenzi on stoppage time winner

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Players from Club de Lyon (red) and AS Frenzi battle for the ball during a First Round match in the 2024 US Open Cup. Photo: AS Frenzi
Players from Club de Lyon (red) and AS Frenzi battle for the ball during a First Round match in the 2024 US Open Cup. Photo: AS Frenzi

Club de Lyon clinched a place in the Second Round of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 90th-minute winner against amateur side AS Frenzi to secure a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night in Daytona Beach, Fla. Lyon forward Juan Martinez headed in the winning goal off a corner kick, his second of the night.

For Club de Lyon, it marked the first tournament win for the Orlando-based NISA club after losing their Open Cup debut last year to San Antonio FC (USL Championship)

Martinez and Lyon were on the front foot from the opening minutes of the match. The NISA club controlled the early possession. In the ninth minute, Martinez whipped a corner kick into the box. The set-piece led to chaos in the box and Frenzi midfielder Kevin Miranda wound up with an own goal, giving Lyon a 1-0 lead.

Lyon controlled most of the first half and doubled its advantage in the 23rd minute. Martinez controlled the ball in the box, cut past a defender and his left-footed effort snuck into the corner of the goal to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

AS Frenzi, who is the first club to qualify for the tournament as the UPSL Spring season champions, fought back to give itself a chance to advance to the next round.

In the 35th minute, Miranda made amends for his earlier own goal by finishing a swift attacking move from Frenzi. Defender Ryan Heron whipped in a cross from the right flank, and Miranda arrived in the box to head it home.

After working to half the deficit, Frenzi completed the comeback soon after halftime. Forward Jean Forestal slotted the ball into the back of the net in the 47th minute to put the hosts on level footing.

Frenzi’s momentum would be short-lived, however. Defender Justin Dorman, already on a yellow card, committed a heavy foul and was booked a second time. Down to ten men, Frenzi buckled in for the second half. 

With a man advantage, Lyon pushed for a winner in normal time. Martinez nearly found the breakthrough, but his long-range effort clanged off the crossbar to keep the match level.

However, Lyon continued to push until Martinez eventually secured the victory in the 90th minute.

AS Frenzi wins 2023 UPSL title, secures 2024 US Open Cup berth

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AS Frenzi celebrates winning the 2023 Spring Season championship. Photo: Riley Rumbley (@ri.rum)
AS Frenzi celebrates winning the 2023 Spring Season championship. Photo: Riley Rumbley (@ri.rum)

For the first time since the 2019 tournament, there is a new way to qualify for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Earlier this year, US Soccer announced that the winner of the spring season of the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) would automatically qualify for the following year’s tournament. The honor of being the first team to qualify via this method went to AS Frenzi of Central Florida, who beat Sporting Wichita SC, 2-1 after extra time in the UPSL national championship on Sunday afternoon.

The game took place at Segra Field in Loudoun, Va., home of USL Championship side Loudoun United FC. Both Frenzi and Wichita won their respective semifinal matches on Friday at Segra to reach the Saturday’s final.

 

Technically, Frenzi are the second team to officially qualify for the 2024 US Open Cup. Just under 24 hours prior, SC MesoAmerica punched their ticket by winning the 2023 USASA National Amateur Cup.

Coming into the game, one of the biggest stories was the amount of youth that AS Frenzi brought with them to nationals. The biggest example being 16-year-old Yan Diomande, who entered the Final only one goal behind in the golden boot race for the UPSL Playoffs. The striker, who players for the Ivory Coast Under-17 national team, made his mark on the game in the 8th minute. Diomande got the ball down the left wing, breaking away from his assigned defender, before coolly slotting the ball into the back of the net. It was 1-0 Frenzi early.

As the first half started to wind up so did Sporting Wichita. Despite a slow start out of the gate the team settled into the game. The breakthrough came in the 44th minute after forcing multiple good saves from Frenzi goalkeeper Andrew Ketelsen. Wichita wing-back Yuki Sekiguchi pounced on the loose ball in the box and fired it home. The goal came as Wichita had been peppering the Frenzi goal for the last 25 minutes.

The remainder of the first half saw both teams unable to break the deadlock. Both keepers pulled off wonder saves to keep the game tied. Sporting Wichita’s Rafa Furlani had multiple one-on-one saves as Fenzi’s youthful attack was non-stop, especially latter on in the second half.

Regulation ended with the score still tied, 1-1, bringing the game to extra time. Both keepers continued to pull out amazing saves. As the game entered the 115th minute everything pointed to this game being decided by penalties.

Instead, the teenager Diomonde stepped up to stake his claim. He curled the ball into the bottom right of the net with five minutes to play. That goal put him atop the Golden Boot race but also, more importantly, gave AS Frenzi their first UPSL national championship.

Frenzi head coach Tyler Westen knows teams always have different methods of building squads. But Frenzi’s youth first focus was paramount to its success.

“There’s a lot of different ways that teams have built their teams since we’ve been in the UPSL and from the beginning we wanted to focus on basing our team on youth players and placing them with the right experience,” Westen said. “We found some talent in guys like Yan Diomonde and I’m very very proud of this group of players.”

Other than the obvious trophy and prize money this win also birthed AS Frenzi’s qualification to the US Open Cup. A challenge that head coach Westen is excited for.

“Well, preparation is going in as it starts tomorrow. This experience is only going to make these guys better, we’re obviously extremely excited for this new challenge and can’t wait to get started.”

It is important to note that all other members of the UPSL are still eligible to take part in Open Cup qualifying later this Fall. While the UPSL is a “national league” according to USSF, similar to the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) or USL League Two (USL-2), it opted not to follow the “national league” track for Open Cup qualifying. That means they do not get automatic spots for multiple teams based on league performance.

2023 United Premier Soccer League Spring National Championship Broadcast

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