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.
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
2012 US Open Cup Round 3: Sam Garza brace guides San Jose Earthquakes past Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup success finally arrived for the San Jose Earthquakes on Tuesday, as over a decade of efforts to host a victory in the nation’s oldest soccer tournament finally came through. Playing in the cozy confines of Cagan Stadium on the campus of Stanford University, the Quakes dispatched of NASL side Fort Lauderdale Strikers by a score of 2-1 in front of 1,271 fans to advance to the Fourth Round of the Open Cup tournament. A pair of second half goals from rookie Sam Garza was enough to secure the win for San Jose after Strikers forward Mark Anderson had staked the visitors to a 1-0 lead with a 55-yard first half golazo from inside his own half.
2012 US Open Cup Second Round: Fort Lauderdale Strikers run away with 7-2 win against Fresno Fuego
The Premier Development League’s Fresno Fuego were doing well on the opposite of the country with a 1-1 scoreline early in the second half, but just before the hour mark things began to unravel. The North American Soccer League’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers scored four straight en route to a 7-2 victory in the Second Round, setting up a Third Round meeting with the San Jose Earthquakes in California.