El Farolito Advances to the U.S. Open Cup’s Second Round
By Tommy Bailey/NPSL.com
It was not easy. People doubted them. They were considered the underdogs. In the end however, El Farolito once again thrived as the underdog in the Open Cup, this time beating the Real Monarchs 3-1 in the opening round of the tournament.
“Everybody on the team knows their role and what they get to do,” said El Farolito assistant coach Marcos Da Silva, who served as acting head coach for the game. “Everybody is really committed to this team, and we are committed for each other. We play for our fans in San Francisco. We also played tonight for our head coach who couldn’t be here tonight because of the birth of his daughter.”
Much like last year, the visitors found a way to grind out a victory and advance as the underdogs, even when it seemed like everything was going against them. El Faroltio had just 29% of the possession to the Monarchs 71% and completed 299 passes to the Monarchs 743.
The NPSL side took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute courtesy of Dembor Benson. Winger Kipre Sacre had the ball in transition on the right side of the field and found an on-rushing Benson making a run towards the back post. Sacre placed a nice cross into the box and found Benson who had a composed finish to give the visitors the early lead.
El Farolito had a chance in the dying seconds of the half to double their lead on a corner but it was not meant to be, and the amateur side went into the break with a satisfying 1-0 lead.
Being down by a goal, the Monarchs continued to press and throw the kitchen sink at El Farolito as the second half went on, looking to tie the game up.
After suffocating and relentless pressure all night, the home side finally broke through on a goal by 16-year-old Antonio Riquelme.
With neither side able to win the game in regulation, the game moved into 30 minutes of extra time to try to find a winner.
With the way the Monarchs were dominating the ball possession and getting down the field with ease, it seemed like El Farolito’s Open Cup run might be cut short. The game changed in the 108th minute when the Monarchs defender Kobi Henry received a red card after a second yellow for committing a foul on a promising attack by Benson.
El Farolito instantly benefited from the sudden man advantage, suddenly pushing the pace of play and getting the ball into their offensive side of the field with more ease.
Momentum turned for good in favor of El Farolito in the 112th minute when Helbert Soto, who had been a constant pest for the Monarchs all night long, got past Monarch’s Noel Caliskan, bating Caliskan into pulling him down in the box and committing the penalty. Soto then proceeded to step up to the spot and drilled the shot in the right corner of the net for a 2-1 lead. The visitors added another goal for good measure in the drying seconds of the game when substitute Brayan Gomez pounced on a rebound, calmly placing the ball in the back of the net to complete the upset.
“After this game I have a good feeling of things we can do in this tournament,” said Da Silva. “We know the type of teams that we are going to be facing in this tournament, so we are prepared. Everybody thinks that we are amateurs and because we are amateurs we don’t prepare well. We came in and maybe surprised a lot of people, and it was a really good game for us.”
Photo Credit: Tommy Bailey/NPSL.com
