最新杏吧原创

最新杏吧原创 City SC picked up one of the biggest wins in club history Tuesday night, and it didn鈥檛 even win.

City SC advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup by tying the Houston Dynamo 2-2, then coming out on top 4-2 on penalty kicks, with backup goalie Ben Lundt, pushed into emergency service when Roman Burki left the game with a sore hip flexor in the 26th minute, making two saves as the club moved within two wins of its first trophy.

鈥淚t doesn't get any better at the club,鈥� said coach Yoann Damet. 鈥淲hy shouldn't we be happy? The guys, they've put in the work for four months now, and today, we get the reward. It's the Cup. It's never easy. You go to the penalties, it could go either way. We made it, and we're going to go into the break, punching our ticket for the semifinal. There is all the reason in the world to be happy if you're a 最新杏吧原创 City fan.鈥�

鈥淚'm very happy for us as a club,鈥� said Marcel Hartel, who scored both goals for City SC and then made one of the penalty kicks, 鈥渇or us as a team to win a game today, and just looking forward to the next two games. We can make big things happen, we can have a trophy in the end. This is what we play for. We want to win trophies, and now we have two games to go. We will see who we are playing against, if we play home or away, and then we go for it.鈥�

City SC will play either San Jose or Colorado, which play Wednesday night in Colorado, in the semifinal round. If Colorado wins, the game will be in the Denver area. If San Jose wins, the game will be at Energizer Park. Because of the World Cup break, the semifinals won鈥檛 be until Sept. 15 or 16, with the final in October. By then, City SC could have a few new players on its roster.

When City SC got to the MLS playoffs in its first season, it needed five wins to take the title, and it never got any closer. This time, a trophy, albeit not the biggest available for City SC, is very much in reach.

Lundt and Hartel were just two of the heroes for City SC. Sergio Cordova drew the penalty in the box that led to Hartel converting a penalty kick in the 52nd minute. Dante Polvara made an impressive slide tackle from behind to deny Ondrej Lingr what looked like an easy goal in the 105th minute, a chance that was set up because Polvara had gotten caught up field, allowing Lingr to come in alone on Lundt.

In addition to Hartel, Eduard Lowen, Timo Baumgartl and Chris Durkin made penalty kicks, with Baumgartl, a center back, taking his with the aplomb of a veteran goal scorer.

For Lundt, it was his first game with the first team in more than a year. His previous game with the first team was May 10 of last season, the last of nine in a row he started while Burki was out with a broken bone in his hand. He made one start with City2 earlier this season.

Burki鈥檚 hip flexor had been bothering him for a few days, Damet said: 鈥淗e knows his body, he鈥檚 a good pro, he鈥檚 been doing that for years, so he thought, we thought, he could go through the game, and obviously he felt a little something a little bit in the warmup and he wanted to try. We鈥檒l see and we鈥檒l evaluate him.鈥�

Burki slipped and fell on a clearance attempt, allowing Houston to tie the game in the 11th minute, just a minute after Hartel had put City SC ahead. In the 23rd minute, Durkin played a ball back to Burki, and Burki's pass upfield did not go far and he had to scramble back into his goal box to stop the ensuing shot. The next thing anyone knew, Burki was sitting in his penalty area as the play headed upfield. Trainers attended to Burki, and he got up rubbing the upper part of his right thigh, then walked off the field on his own.

Into service went Lundt, who has been with the club since the beginning but has appeared in only 14 games, nine of them last season.

鈥淭he script in general was a little bit crazy today,鈥� said Lundt, who also had a lunging save in the run of play in the 103rd minute to tip away a shot going in. 鈥淩oman was hurt, the first shot on goal is a goal, that's not a good feeling. And then I make a save at the beginning of the second half, then we keep possession, we get a penalty, and then you're in the game聽鈥� and penalties, I like penalties. I've been good at it in my career, but again, I'm more proud of being the guy to step in when there's an opportunity.

"I don't really try to judge myself on one performance, doesn't matter how it could have went today, bad game, good game, doesn't really matter, but I am proud that I show up every single day during training, show everybody that I'm the guy that gets the chance when there's an opportunity, and that's really what I'm more proud of.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy with Roman as the No. 1,鈥� Hartel said. 鈥淩oman is the best goalkeeper in the league, and it鈥檚 hard for (Lundt). But today, you can see what a good goalkeeper we have as a second goalkeeper. He came in, he showed up and he had confidence. He played well out from the back, and I鈥檓 very, very happy for him that he saved the two penalties and he deserved it.鈥�

Even if Burki has to miss a game, it鈥檚 not a bad time to get hurt. After its game Saturday against Austin, City SC doesn鈥檛 play again until July 16, enough time for a lot of healing.

Houston went ahead in the 41st minute on a shot from outside that beat a diving Lundt. Four minutes into the second half, Agustin Resch pulled down Cordova in the box, and City SC was awarded a penalty kick, which Hartel put just inside the left post to tie the game.

The next 40 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime didn鈥檛 produce any goals, so it went to penalty kicks to determine a winner. Lowen went first and scored, and then Lundt dived to his left to deflect a shot by Guilherme and give City SC the edge. Both teams made their next two shots, and then after Durkin put City SC up 4-2, Lundt dove to his left again to block a shot by Hector Herrera, and one of the bigger celebrations at City SC over the past two seasons ensued.

鈥淚t really shows how tight we're getting,鈥� Lundt said. 鈥淚 haven't played in a year; it's so difficult to come in all of a sudden in a knockout game. It's so hard, but it really shows everybody's happy for each other. I've been supporting everybody, I've been happy for guys getting opportunities, and you could really see it coming for me today. The guys were super happy, supportive, and yeah, that's a sign of a strong team.鈥�