US Open Cup: Orlando boots Sacramento in championship game with three late goals
Their raucous capacity crowd of 25,527 fans chanted “We want the cup” before a ball was kicked. Orlando City delivered Wednesday night, capturing the first major piece of silverware since the club joined Major League Soccer seven years ago.
A couple thousand Sacramento Republic fans watched in shock as their team’s dream run through the US Open Cup fell apart in the closing minutes of the championship game. Facundo Torres hammered the go-ahead goal in the 75th minute, and slotted home an insurance penalty five minutes later as the host Lions defeated second-tier Sacramento 3-0.
“We are very proud of the community, of the club, the fans, the players. To have this opportunity to bring this trophy means a lot,” Orlando City manager Oscar Pareja said. “It was against a very tough rival, a very competitive match that after 50-60 minutes looked like a really tough final. After that, we could open the score and give more confidence against their block.”
Prior to this year, Orlando had never advanced beyond the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. The club has won just one MLS playoff game since its expansion campaign in 2015.
And yet, Orlando was far from the biggest underdog on the pitch Tuesday night -- let alone in America’s premier multi-tier tournament.
Sacramento Republic embarked on a magical run to become the first second-division side to qualify for the championship game since 2008.
“I think the guys made the city proud, everyone associated with the club proud,” Republic manager Mark Briggs said. “I think this run has ignited a flame in the city and got the supporters behind the club and buzzing about the club again after, obviously, a dark cloud was over it for a little bit.”
Sacramento was awarded an MLS franchise in 2019, with plans to enter the league this year. However, prospective majority owner Ron Burkle backed out of the deal in February 2021.
Republic took down MLS opposition in three consecutive round - San Jose Earthquakes in the round of 16, LA Galaxy in the quarterfinals and Sporting KC in a memorable semifinal that required penalties after 120 scoreless minutes. In that game, Daniel Vitiello stopped SKC’s fifth attempt, from former U.S. international fullback Graham Zusi, and Rodrigo Lopez coolly banged home the winner as Sacramento prevailed 5-4.
Lopez had few words in the immediate aftermath when asked to sum up the team’s remarkable journey.
“I’m just extremely proud of the team that I had the privilege of walking out with tonight,” Lopez said. “We didn’t hold anything back. I thought we were solid for 75 minutes. We gave up a goal and the tides changed.”
Sacramento’s sturdy defense, the backbone throughout the cup competition, withstood Orlando’s attack and a steady downpour in the first half. The Lions maintained 55.7% possession and outshot Republic 6-1, but never truly threatened Vitiello.
In the first half, Dan Casey bravely defended Orlando’s best chance at one end, and created Sacramento’s at the other. He fairly tackled Mauricio Pereyra and sprung Maalique Foster in on goal, but Foster’s shot dragged just wide of the bottom right corner.
Republic showed some positivity in attack and a bit of confidence out of halftime, winning the match’s first corner in the 48th and forcing Orlando keeper Pedro Gallese into an uncomfortable punch to defend a dangerous free kick in the 72nd.
But Orlando’s well-timed, aggressive press sealed Sacramento’s fate.
In the 75th minute, Ivan Angulo and second-half substitute Benji Michel hounded Casey and forced a turnover inside the Sacramento box. Michel placed it on a tee for Torres, who lashed a left-footed strike past the diving Vitiello.
“You make mistakes against teams of this level, you get punished. And that’s what happened,” Briggs said. “Torres (might be) going to the World Cup in November. Orlando paid $9 million for him. That’s more than the value of our club.”
Briggs was referencing payrolls. Sacramento Republic’s is around $1 million. That’s less than Torres’ salary.
Five minutes after the first goal, Michel won a penalty as he headed a loose ball around Vitiello and was tripped up from behind by Casey. Torres took the spot kick and buried it to effectively seal the outcome.
Michel added a third in stoppage time, splitting two defenders to track down Torres’ pass and slide it across the face of goal and into a yawning net.
Orlando’s win, however, could be clouded in a bit of controversy after Sacramento -- as first reported by ESPN -- filed a complaint with the U.S. Soccer Federation alleging that an Orlando City staffer was spying on the team’s training session.
A source confirmed to The Bee the USSF was looking into the incident and that a film crew had footage of it.
Sacramento practiced at Central Winds Park in Winter Springs, located 23 miles north of Exploria Stadium. Republic FC spotted an Orlando employee watching the session, asked him to leave and were refused for 30-45 minutes.
Orlando acknowledged the investigation in a statement, saying, “The Club has been made aware of the matter regarding Sacramento’s training session and is cooperating with U.S. Soccer.”
During the postgame press conference, Pareja addressed the report, saying, “Well, it’s part of the game. We understand that. The only thing that I say at this time is that nobody spies on anybody. There is a lot of knowledge about each team.
“We’ll cooperate with anything the federation wants us to say, and anything that they want to know. I want to recognize the way our players concentrated on the game and not letting anything like that filter into the group. That was fantastic. ... I thought it was very fair play for both teams. A fantastic team, Sacramento, but we were the best team on the field.”
This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 7:04 PM.