Orange & Blue advance to the fourth round for the second year in a row after the convincing road win over their fellow USL opponent
PITTSBURGH – FC Cincinnati advanced to the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the second year in a row following Wednesday night’s 3-1 road win over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at Highmark Stadium.
Jimmy McLaughlin put FCC ahead, 1-0, in the 39th minute before Lance Laing’s free-kick goal and a Daniel Haber tally one minute apart in the 61st and 62nd minutes gave Cincinnati an insurmountable advantage over its fellow USL opponent. Pittsburgh netted a goal with two minutes left in regulation but could not close the gap in the waning minutes as Cincinnati advanced through.
In tonight’s win, Cincinnati goalkeeper Spencer Richey made four saves in the victory for FCC, while Pittsburgh’s Daniel Lynd stopped four FCC shots.
U.S. Soccer will conduct a live stream of the fourth-round draw at ussoccer.com at 11 a.m. ET tomorrow, Thursday, May 24. MLS teams will enter the draw in the fourth round and will be paired against third-round winners in regional brackets.
FC Cincinnati comes back to Nippert Stadium on Saturday, May 26, when the first-place Orange & Blue host second-place – and arch rival – Louisville City FC at 7:30 p.m., in the club’s Hometown Heroes Match. Tickets are still available at fccincinnati.com or by calling 513-977-KICK (5425).
U.S. OPEN CUP | THIRD ROUND
FC Cincinnati at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Highmark Stadium | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Scoring Summary
FCC – Jimmy McLaughlin (Emery Welshman) 39’
FCC – Lance Laing (unassisted) 61’
FCC – Daniel Haber (unassisted) 62’
PGH - Danny Chin (Andrew Lubahn) 88'
Misconduct Summary
FCC – Lance Laing (caution) 68’
PIT – Andrew Lubahn (caution) 78’
FC Cincinnati: Spencer Richey, Lance Laing (Blake Smith 92+’), Forrest Lasso, Sem De Vit, Matt Bahner, Michael Lahoud ©, Will Seymore, Daniel Haber (Kenney Walker 75’), Jimmy McLaughlin, Russell Cicerone, Emery Welshman (Tomi Ameobi 86’)
Bench: Mark Village, Nazmi Albadawi
STATS: Shots 10, Shots on Target 7, Fouls conceded 13, Corner kicks 2, Offsides 2, Saves 4, Possession 45.8%
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: Daniel Lynd, Raymond Lee, Jordan Dover (Andrew Lubahn 72), Tobi Adewole, Todd Pratzner, Hugh Roberts (Dennis Chin 72’), Noah Franke, Kenardo Forbes ©, Christiano Francois, Joseph Holland, Neco Brett (Romeo Parkes 80’)
Bench: Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Ben Zemanski, Kevin Kerr, Michael Kirk
STATS: Shots 18, Shots on Target 5, Fouls conceded 13, Corner kicks 9, Offsides 4, Saves 4, Possession 54.2%
Referee: Kevin Fikar
HOW IT HAPPENED
26’ | FCC drew a free kick from 20 yards out in the right center channel and Lance Laing’s effort dipped down at the goal line forcing a leaping fingertip save by Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC goalkeeper Daniel Lynd
31’ | Spencer Richey was forced into a lunging save to his left near the post after Jordan Dover’s shot made it through, and Forrest Lasso cleared with a Riverhound collapsing onto the ball
39’ | FCC GOAL - Jimmy McLaughlin put FCC up 1-0 with a right-footed goal inside the far post. After Lance Laing worked around traffic on the left touchline, he fed Emery Welshman centrally as the Orange & Blue advanced forward. Welshman then threaded a pass behind the Riverhounds’ defense, sending Jimmy McLaughlin in where he calmly slotted it past Lynd once he committed off his line.
57’ | Christiano François broke in down the right and got into the box, sending a low cross into the mixer. Sem De Vit’s clearance attempt kicked off the crossbar and back into play, but Joseph Holland’s unmarked side-volley attempt from six yards was high of the target and FCC escaped the equalizing chance.
61’ | FCC GOAL – After FC Cincinnati earned a free kick from 30 yards out, Lance Laing stepped up and ripped a low, dipping left-footed shot through the wall and just inside the near post to increase Cincinnati’s lead to two.
62’ | FCC GOAL - Russell Cicerone dribbled deep into the area got free from a defender on the edge of the penalty box and pulled back, setting up Emery Welshman for a clear shot. Welshman’s effort from the top of the box was blocked in front, but the rebound fell directly in front of Daniel Haber, who hammered it home to push the advantage to three goals.
88’ | PGH GOAL – Andrew Lubahn got into space down the right side and sent a left-footed shot on target from a sharp angle. Spencer Richey parried it away, but his effort bounced off the post and Dennis Chin worked free in front to push it home and get Pittsburgh on the board.
GAME NOTES
FCC moved to 7-2-1 all-time in U.S. Open Cup play with tonight’s win
Cincy is now 2-0 all-time against USL opponents in USOC play and 2-1 all-time in road games in Open Cup play
Cincinnati improved to 4-0-3 in all competitions against Pittsburgh … FCC entered the game with a 3-0-3 mark all-time, all in USL league play … Cincy is now also 3-0-1 all-time at Highmark Stadium, including a 2-0-1 record in USL play
This is the second straight year that Cincinnati has advanced to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup
MLS teams enter the bracket in the next round, and last year the Orange & Blue defeated Columbus Crew SC in the fourth round, 1-0, at Nippert Stadium
Cincinnati has scored at least three goals in each of its U.S. Open Cup matches so far in 2018 … the team scored four goals in the second-round win over Detroit City FC last Wednesday
Jimmy McLaughlin scored his second career U.S. Open Cup goal … he previously netted the game-winning goal at then-NPSL side Indy Eleven in the 2016 second round … in the 2018 second-round game against Detroit, McLaughlin registered an assist on Emery Welshman’s third goal of the game
Lance Laing netted his first USOC goal in Cincinnati with his second-half tally … it was his first FCC goal overall this season
Daniel Haber also recorded his first USOC goal with FCC through his second-half score … it was also his first goal of the season in all competitions
Emery Welshman’s assist on Jimmy McLaughlin’s goal was his fifth point of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup … in last Wednesday’s second-round win, he factored in all four FCC goals (three goals, one assist) and now has three goals and two assists this tournament
FCC’s three goals were the first Pittsburgh allowed in 2018 at Highmark Stadium in six games … the Riverhounds were 3-0-2 at home with a 6-0 goal differential this season before tonight
FCC Head Coach Alan Koch:
On squad rotation during fixture congestion …
“We’ve got a great group. It doesn’t matter who’s going to play for us. I’ve absolute confidence in the group that played tonight, obviously, and I have absolute confidence in the group that plays for us every time we step on the field. Yeah, we rotated, technically, but we really don’t have a rotation. It’s very, very difficult to figure out the best players in each position on our team.”
On advancing to play an MLS team in the fourth round …
“I don’t care who we play. I was going to say I don’t care where we play; I’d rather play at home, of course. When we play at home, we get to play in front of all of our fans, which is awesome. But I don’t really care who we play in the next round what so ever. It’s exciting to play in these games. Tonight was exciting and whoever we get to play at home or away, we’ll embrace the challenge. We know our fans will, too. Our fans were awesome tonight. Coming all the way on the road in a midweek game was obviously a major sacrifice on their behalf and we appreciate the effort they made.”
