In a thriller, D.C. United defeats Charlotte to advance in the US Open Cup

On a cool, rainy Wednesday night in our nation's capital, D.C. United and Charlotte FC faced off in the round of 16 of the US Open Cup. For the small crowd that gathered at Audi Field to witness got treated to 120 minutes of exciting soccer that only adds to the lore of the Open Cup. 

In a bonkers affair where both teams put it all on the line, had drama, a late equalizer, two comebacks, and a third-string goalkeeper to be called upon for a penalty kick shootout to later become the hero in said shootout. D.C. United would come out victorious as they defeated Charlotte 2-1 in penalties after drawing 3-3 in 120 minutes, securing a quarter-final berth in the US Open Cup since 2013.  

“It's the next step that we wanted,” said D.C. United head coach Troy Lesesne “When you haven't been there since 2013, which is the last year that our club won the US Open Cup, that's a long time.”

Scorer of the first goal of the game, David Schnegg. Photo Credit: D.C. United

Jordan Farr saves the day 

In the 117th minute of the second half of overtime, Lesesne decided to bring in Jordan Farr for starting goalkeeper Joon Hong Kim for the ensuing penalty kick shootout. Farr has only featured once on the bench for league play this season. 

“We knew going into this, if we went to penalties and we had a substitution left, we wanted him to be in that situation,” Lesesne said. “It’s an unbelievable performance. To save four out of five is truly special.”

Farr, who joined D.C. this season, made his debut in this game and had been considered a penalty shootout specialist during his time in USL, performing well with both San Antonio FC and the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Lesesne came to the decision to play Farr in the penalty kick shootout due to seeing him stop penalties during practice. 

Before coming into the match, Farr said, “I said a little prayer behind the bench. I feel like it calmed me down and gave me a bit of peace.”

Farr would become the hero for DC as he made four saves during the shootout, only allowing Brandt Bronico to convert his penalty. Meanwhile, Aarron Herrera and Jackson Hopkins converted their penalty kicks, as Kristian Fletcher and Mati Peltola missed their penalties. Farr would deny Liel Abada from converting in Charlotte’s final penalty to secure the victory for the Black and Red. 

Farr said this about the opportunity of coming up big during penalties: “We’re talking about trampoline goalkeeper with my brother when I was 6. It’s just something you have got to love to do. You’ve got to love moments like this but also throw yourself in front of things. And as a keeper, that’s the mentality we like to have.”

Lesesne told the press that Farr said the following before coming into the match: “Hey, meet me at the corner flag,’ meaning he’s going to win it and we’re going to go celebrate together.” Farr confirmed this and added, “You have to have confidence like that if you’re stepping into this type of situation.” 

The Game 

D.C. had a chance to open up the scoring in the 2nd minute after David Schnegg played a through ball to Hosei Kajima inside the box. Kajima took a shot, but David Bingham’s stretched out leg kept the ball away from the net and sent it out for a corner kick. 

Three minutes later, a lapse of judgement by Bingham nearly cost Charlotte, as he played the ball in the middle of the box, onto the foot of Joao Peglow inside the box, but the Brazilian midfielder couldn’t control the ball and Bingham was able to get to his line just in time to save the ball and keep the game scoreless at that moment. 

D.C. would get the first goal of the game in the 17th minute, after a Herrera cross found Schnegg at the top of the box. The Austrian left-back got an absolute blistering shot that went past Bingham and into the near side of the goal.

Charlotte tied the game in the 58th minute when Patrick Agyemang went on a run towards the box, warding off the mark of several D.C. defenders while heading towards goal. Agyemang got a quick shot that beat Kim to tie the game. 

Three minutes later, a Eryk Williamson corner kick found Bill Tuiloma inside the box. The New Zealand International headed the ball to the ground and in between two defenders, going past Kim and nestling in the far-left corner to give Charlotte the lead. 

D.C. would equalize late in the game. In the 86th minute, Peltola played a long pass to the right side of the field to Randall Leal. Leal sent a bending cross into the box that found Garrison Tubbs open. Tubbs settled the ball with his stomach and rattled a shot that went past Bingham and into the back of the net. 

“I think we have been this way the whole time under Troy,” said Jackson Hopkins, talking about the team's ability to bounce back twice during the game. “There have been a ton of games where we have been down and fought back, whether it’s earlier in the game or towards the end, we never give up.” 

Charlotte would take the lead in the 94th minute. Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty played a low cross inside the box to Tyger Smalls, getting a one-time shot that went past Kim to give the side from North Carolina the lead. 

However, the lead did not last long. In the 103rd minute, Hopkins would carry the ball towards the box, laying the ball off to Stroud, who sent a cross towards the mouth of goal, the ball was cleared by Tim Ream, however his clearance did not leave the box, and Hopkins would collect on the failed clearance and into the back of the net. 

On the ability that United had to come back during this game, Lesesne had this to say: 

“We've had times in which we've been in good form, and we felt some confidence off of that, and then we've had sometimes where we've lost, you know, four matches in a row, and we've been down, but. Never stops fighting, and the group never stops saying to stay together.” Said Lesesne, “I think that's because we have so many good individual characters in the locker room.  It's just a pleasure to work with these guys every day, and they deserve more results like this. And then we have to keep performing, we have to keep performing in that way to achieve results like that. So. When I enjoy this, then we got to quickly turn to Red Bull at home this weekend.” 

Now, D.C. will travel to Nashville to take on Nashville SC in the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, which will take place between July 8th and 9th. 

D.C. will now focus on league play as they host the New York Red Bulls in another installment of the Atlantic Cup at Audi Field on Saturday, May 24th, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 pm.