OSA FC

2017 US Open Cup Round 2: Reno 1868 FC needs PKs to become first pro team from Nevada to advance

May 23, 2017 by Nick Schiffler

Reno 1868 FC were able to make their first Open Cup match a successful one – but they had to battle through 120 minutes of soccer and a penalty shootout to do it.

The first-year USL club traveled to Seattle to take on OSA FC, winning 4-3 in a penalty shootout after playing to a 1-1 draw in the second round of the 2017 US Open Cup. Reno goalkeeper Russ Klabough saved two penalties in the shootout, and Junior Burgos converted his to send Reno into the third round of the tournament.

OSA, an amateur team from the fourth-division NPSL, came out hot playing at home. They pressed Reno from the opening whistle and were rewarded 15 minutes into the match, when Eli Gordley collected the ball bouncing around in the six-yard box stabbing it home into the net.
Buoyed by the goal, OSA kept up the pressure, hitting the crossbar twice in ten minutes, but Reno turned the game around and equalized in the 30th minute. Cameron Vickers laid a pass toward goal to Dembakwi Yomba, who used his strength to hold off the OSA defense and his finesse to slot the ball into the net.

Reno controlled most of the rest of regulation, and Mackenzie Pridham hit the crossbar himself. The road team had three glorious chances in quick succession to score the winning goal in second-half stoppage time. The best of those chances required a game-saving tackle from behind from OSA defender Beau Blanchard to stop a sure Reno goal.

Neither team could find the same level of inspiration in the 30 minutes of extra time – although OSA goalkeeper Joshua Adachi was forced into making several fine saves – so on it went to penalties.

Blanchard shot first for OSA and had his effort saved. The teams traded marks before Reno’s Antoine Hoppenot, a former Philadelphia Union player, blazed his effort over the bar to level the shootout. But Klabough gave Reno the advantage back by making a dramatic kick-save on OSA substitute Hamza Haddadi.

Neither team missed from the mark again. It came down to Reno’s final shooter, Junior Burgos, who coolly tucked his penalty into the net before racing into the corner to celebrate the hard-fought victory with his teammates.

OSA had also gone to penalties in their first round match against the Seattle Sounders U-23s. In that game, they played 120 minutes of scoreless soccer before making all 5 of their penalty kicks to advance – making an appearance in the second round of the tournament for the first time in their history. They’ll now turn their focus back to NPSL league play.

Reno entered the tournament as the first pro club from Nevada to qualify for the US Open Cup, and now they are the first to advance. The club’s reward for the victory is a Third Round US Open Cup match on May 31 at fellow USL club Sacramento Republic. The winner of that game will get the chance to face an MLS opponent in the fourth round of the tournament.

Reno Lineup: Klabough, Griffiths, Ward, Richards, Felipe, Casiple, Pridham, Ward, Silva, Burgos, Yomba
OSA Lineup: Adachi, Blanchard, Jackson, S. Rogers, Ocampo, Anderson, Bwana, Russell, Shaxton, Roldan, Gordley

SUBS
62′ Reno Hoppenot on, Yomba off
67′ OSA Ayala on, Shaxton off
79′ Reno Lagrassa on, Pridham off
105′ Reno Mfeka on, Vickers off
109′ OSA Haddadi on, Gordley off
119′ OSA Wright on, Russell off

GOALS
16’ OSA – Gordley
30’ Reno – Yomba (assisted by Vickers)

PENALTIES
OSA Blanchard- saved
Reno Casiple – make
OSA Roldan– make
Reno Richards – make
OSA Jackson– make
Reno Hoppenot – miss
OSA Haddadi– saved
Reno LaGrassa – make
OSA Wright – make
Reno Burgos – make

2017 US Open Cup Round 1: OSA FC need PKs to eliminate Sounders U23s in Pacific Northwest amateur stalemate

May 16, 2017 by Nick Schiffler

In a battle of two amateur teams from the Pacific Northwest, playing in downtown Seattle under the shadow of the Space Needle, OSA FC were able to knock off Seattle Sounders U-23s in a penalty shootout. The NPSL side advanced 5-3 on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in the First Round of the 2017 US Open Cup.

Neither team was able to find the net in regulation or in the 30 added minutes of extra time. The deadlock continued through the first five penalty kicks taken, each team converting, until the Sounders’ Macauley King tried to chip his penalty down the middle. OSA keeper Joshua Adachi kept his nerve, made the save, and allowed OSA to make their next two kicks to ice the victory.
The Sounders U-23s, who play in the Premier Development League (PDL), caused problems for their NPSL opponents and city rivals in the first half. Forward William Bagrou was able to get himself free on multiple occasions, the most dangerous of which came in the 39th minute, when he shed his defender to get on the end of a cross, but could only head the ball down into the turf and to a grateful Adachi.

OSA began forcing the action in the second half. Everything they did came through Alex Roldan – whose older brother Cristian is a regular for the Seattle Sounders of MLS. Alex Roldan created several chances seemingly out of nothing throughout the game, often serving as a one-man counterattack, and was named the man of the match for his efforts.

The closest anyone came to scoring in regulation, though, was when the Sounders hit the post in second-half stoppage time. Sergio Rivas was free on goal and shot past the keeper, but just off the outside frame of the goal.

OSA returned the favor in extra time, with Hamza Haddadi heading strongly against the woodwork from close range just before the final whistle blew to take the game into penalties.

Although OSA FC were the designated home team, the field was not their typical home field. Both teams usually play in locations south of the Seattle city center. Instead, on Wednesday, the scene was Memorial Stadium, the home of Seattle Reign FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.

OSA FC had made it to the tournament once before, in 2015, albeit under a different name in a different city. Then known as FC Tacoma 253, they fell to Kitsap Pumas in the first round. The Sounders U-23s were making the team’s third trip to the US Open Cup. Both times they won their match in the first round before falling in the second – last year, they defeated Outbreak FC before they were knocked out by that same Kitsap Pumas club.

As first-round winners, OSA FC will get the rare opportunity to host a professional side. Their next Cup match takes place in the Pacific Northwest, a second-round contest on May 17 against USL expansion side Reno 1868 FC. Reno are in their first season and have never appeared in the US Open Cup.

PENALTIES
OSA Blanchard- make
Sounders Rivas- make
OSA Roldan– make
Sounders Keitz – make
OSA Jackson– make
Sounders King – saved
OSA Haddadi– make
Sounders Sandbekkhaug – make
OSA Bwana- make