Western Mass Pioneers Fall to Boston City FC
Boston City FC has earned its ticket to the Second Round of the U.S. Open Cup following a victory versus Western Mass Pioneers on Wednesday. Boston will face off against GPS Omens at Malden Catholic High School next week.
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“It was a wild, come-from-behind win — Boston City FC twice hauled back one-goal deficits to advance 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw against Western Mass Pioneers,” U.S. Soccer reported.
Soccer News: Despite three red cards and playing extra time down two men, Boston City FC recorded a win over Western Mass Pioneers to advance to the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The visiting side won 5-4 on penalties after finishing regulation a 2-2 draw.
“We had to fight and we made things difficult for ourselves, but we won and now this round over and our journey continues,” said Boston City FC head coach Palhinha. “We have very good players who are confident when they take penalties, or try to save them, so we were confident going into the shoot out.”
A performance by goalkeeper Vitor Scariot proved the difference over Western Mass Pioneers as Boston prepares to take on GPS Omens next Tuesday in a Second Round matchup.
Boston City was able to bounce back from the brink of defeat twice to force a penalty shootout. Boston’s Paulo Henrique, Ronaldo Vieira and Kamali Webson were all sent off with a red card during the match along with the Pioneers’ Toto Coimbra.
The Pioneers opened the scoring when Evan Burokas fed Ike Goncalves who struck a shot past Scariot just five minutes into the second half.
Jhonata Batista equalized in the 78th minute following a superb exchange of passes involving Nana Addai and Kamali Webson.
Both sides had chances to steal a winner, but the contest finished 1-1 at the end of regulation. A minute into extra time Viera pulled the ball back for Burokas to slot a finish past Scariot as Western Mass again enjoyed the upper hand.
Kevin Herrera whipped in a ball from wide on the right and Webson applied a perfect finish for the equalizer.
Captain Vieira received a straight red for a foul and Webson followed him off the pitch for picking up a second yellow card, but the eight men dug deep and saw out the remainder of the 120 minutes. The match concluded a draw with penalties being the decider.
Addai, Batista, Gabriel De Souza and Gilly Desouza all tucked away their penalties.
Scariot denied Pioneers captain Maxi Viera with the third kick of the shootout, which gave substitute Kevin Herrera the opportunity to win the First Round fixture. Herrera sent Pioneer goalkeeper Carson D’Ambrosio the wrong direction for the win.
“We’ve each taken three penalties in practice this week and I’ve scored low in the right corner every time,” said Herrera. “You don’t look at the keeper, or change your mind, you just have confidence that you’re going to score.”
Boston City will take on GPS Omens at Malden Catholic High School at 7:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday, May 16th.
Photo Credit; Boston City FC
