The legendary New York Pancyprian Freedoms, three-time US Open Cup champions from the early 1980s, needed to rely on a strong defense and penalty kicks to move on in this years’ edition, securing a victory after a scoreless draw than ended with a 5-4 win on penalties against host FC Cincinnati 2 at NKU Soccer Stadium in northern Kentucky.
The shootout took an early turn in favor of the hosts as Luis Argudo of the Pancyprians skied his penalty chance in the second round. Cincinnati buried its next couple, even culminating in some celebratory dancing.
The shimmy would be short-lived, however, as Brandon Kristel missed his shot in the fifth round to draw the shootout back even. Jordan Bailon scored in the fifth for New York to send it to sudden death.
Cincinnati’s William Kuisel hit the bar on his attempt, leaving it for Pancyprian’s Jens Hoff to bury his shot to knock Cincinnati out of the Open Cup.
The result sends the Freedoms to the Second Round for the first since the last time they participated in the tournament back in 2016 (The Freedoms beat the New York Red Bulls U-23s 2-1 at Belson Stadium in Round 1).
New York, known for its energetic, pressing football, were content to sit back and let Cincinnati attempt to break them down through the course of the first half.
Cincinnati maintained possession and played the majority of the first 45 minutes in Pancyprian’s defensive third, but they were unable to create any truly dangerous opportunities. Meanwhile, New York attempted to spring a few counters but they were quickly snuffed out by either Cincinnati’s defense or a lack of reinforcements assisting on the runs.
The second half started where the first left off, as Cincinnati created the best chance of the game with a simple cross into the box, but the ensuing header was well-defended and gobbled up by Pancyprian’s keeper, Josh Levine.
The rest of the half was more of the same, with one last opportunity in regulation time by New York sliding sneakily just wide of the near post on a beautiful shot attempt. Extra time ensued, and despite a flurry of subs by both sides, Cincinnati continued to create the better chances but couldn’t find the back of the net. Extra time ended 0-0 and the match moved on to penalties.