New York City FC advanced to the Round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup for the first time last night thanks to a 4-0 win over North Carolina FC.
Here’s Five Points from the match, presented by Etihad Airways…
Safe Passage
This competition was not kind to NYCFC in the first four seasons of play, but City finally got the Open Cup W which has evaded them last night at Belson Stadium.
It was a result that rarely looked in doubt from the first whistle in Queens, with Dome Torrent’s side scoring twice in each half to down North Carolina FC.
Despite a host of changes to the starting XI, NYC showed their quality on the night to hit four unanswered goals amid a party atmosphere created by the 2,000+ in attendance.
Now the Boys in Blue can look forward to a showdown with D.C. and a shot at the quarterfinals…
Parks at Rec
Keaton Parks has had to be patient in waiting for his first NYCFC start after joining the Club from Benfica earlier in the year but it’s fair to say he seized his opportunity vs. North Carolina.
The Texan midfielder turned in a Man of the Match display in a box-to-box midfield role, scoring his first two goals for City in the process.
Although his introduction to the team has been measured by Torrent, Parks only wanted to talk about cup progress and his ambition to win the tournament post-match.
He told NYCFC.com: "We said before the game, we want to win this cup, we don't just want to win this game. We'll take it one game at a time, of course. But we feel really good. We feel confident, and we're going to start preparing for next week already."
Homecoming in Queens
It was also a big night for Danny Bedoya, making his homecoming debut appearance at St John’s University, in his home borough.
Bedoya repped the Red Storm out of Belson Stadium earlier in his career and poetically made his NYCFC debut on Wednesday in familiar surrounds in front of family, friends and former teammates.
Signed after an impressive performance in a scrimmage game vs. the Long Island Roughriders last summer, Danny is another player who has had to be patient waiting for opportunities to show what he can do and now he’ll be hoping for more with D.C. up next at Audi Field.
Stuuuuu
Starting his second successive game, Brad Stuver had a night to remember in the NYCFC goal, despite the one-sided scoreline.
On at least four occasions, Brad made big saves to preserve his clean sheet and keep North Carolina off the scoreboard.
Perhaps the biggest cheer of the night came in second half stoppage-time when Brad made an instinctive double save from two close range shots.
Stuver simply would not be beaten, raising money for Athlete Ally & Playing for Pride in the process.
Queens Represent
Despite the reduced attendance compared to Yankee Stadium, the home fans still brought the noise and turned Belson Stadium blue on a fun night in Queens.
After the game, players shared high fives and selfies with those who’d made the trip and capped off a special and historic night for this young Club.
Now, the road blues will assemble for a trip to the capital next week as Dome Torrent’s men go into unchartered Open Cup territory and look to book a place in the last eight.
Keep it locked to NYCFC.com for all of the build-up as we look to win at Audi Field for the second time in Season 5.
Let’s keep it going…
