Historic Rhode Island’s Cup Run Undone
Sometimes we have to imagine what might have been. Rhode Island FC, playing in their first season as a club, we’re all lined up for an Open Cup run. The City of Pawtucket was the venue of our first Final in 1914, RIFC’s coached by a 2007 Open Cup winner in Khano Smith – and founded by another in native-born Michael Parkhurst. The stars were all aligned for the Cup old meeting the Cup new. But Charlotte Independence, of a division below the Rhode Islanders, had other ideas. They never went away in a back-and-forth game that ended 4-4 and stood out for the drama it offered us. When shootout time came, the script was already written and editor-approved. Albert Dikwa, hero of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ run to the Quarterfinals last year, and Joe Brito, hero of Union Omaha’s run to that same vaunted stage in 2022, were lined up among Rhode Island’s five kick-takers. But the Open Cup respects no scripts and into the bin it went. Charlotte goalkeeper Austin Pack was the hero this day and Little Rhody’s Cup glories will remain, for the time being, in the deep and inky past.
Teenage Sensations
It was a round for the babies. For the young ones, unsure on shaky legs, trying to see if all the sacrifice and training and barking coaches made any kind of difference in the end. Four games were decided by teenagers, debutants some, but fresh faces all. Ali Elmasnaouy, just 18 and making his pro debut, scored the winner for Oakland Roots against El Farolito to cap the first day of play. Day Two, well, that was a baby bonanza. A trio of American teenagers got their kicks and then some with game-winning goals in three of the night’s eleven games. Maximo Carrizo, just 16, did it for NYCFC II in an upset over Championship side Hartford Athletic. Mark Bronnik, 17 and looking closer to 14, scored the essential winning penalty in a shootout win for Union Omaha over El Paso Locomotive. And Nighte Pickering, old man of the trio at 19, scored both in a 2-0 win for Memphis 901 over Sunday’s lone remaining amateur outfit Miami United FC. It would seem that the kids, as they say, might be all right.
Four Stars for Pinho (Again)
Stefano Pinho, at 33, is no spring chicken. The striker is 33 and it’s safe to say he’s seen and done many, many things on a soccer field. But what he did in Montevallo, Alabama on Wednesday was outrageous, bordering on unseemly. With his Birmingham Legion on the road against the underdog Chattanooga Red Wolves, and facing a Cupset after going down early, the Brazilian-born striker scored four second half goals (in minutes 48', 80', 105'+1 and 107'). He made quick work of equalling his top-scorer tally from the 2017 Open Cup (4) when he and a then NASL-based Miami FC led by Italian World Cup winner Alesandro Nesta stormed through to the Quarterfinals. F. Scott Fitzgerald is rumored to have said: “there are no second acts in American Life.” We’re not entirely sure what that means, but we do accept one thing as a certainty: there are second halves. Stefano Pinho knows.
Hit & Hope Springs Eternal
Andre Lewis was a desperate man. There were seconds left and his Spokane Velocity were losing by one at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. Only time for mayhem and an all-or-nothing gamble. So he spun off his man 40 yards from goal (that man was happy to let him shoot from there – who wouldn’t be?). The Jamaican hit a knuckler with only power and long-hopes behind it. And this being Vegas, the long shot ended up in the goal too. We shouldn’t be too hard on Las Vegas Lights’ goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena for it was one of those shots that comes at you like a bad dream. It wasn’t enough to save Spokane Velocity, though. Down a man, they lost in extra time. But it was a testament to the old cliche that you can’t score if you don’t shoot. And it was the second last-gasp decider of Velocity’s debut Open Cup for that man Andre Lewis – who did something similar in the First Round (from much closer in) at historic Memorial Stadium in Seattle to send amateurs Ballard FC back home wondering what might have been.