PHOENIX, Arizona (Wednesday, May 8) – Phoenix Rising FC got a game winner from Giulio Doratiotto in the 111th minute to send the club into the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time in franchise history.
Rising now faces the winner of the Seattle Sounders vs. Louisville City match later tonight. Dates and times for that match will be announced by U.S. Soccer tomorrow.
Tonight, Rising took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute of the match when Panos Armenakas cut across the middle of the field and poked a short pass forward for Gabi Torres. The Brazilian picked up his second assist in as many games by playing a cross in to the feet of Juan Carlos Azocar, who finished high over the right shoulder of goalkeeper Jake McGuire to give the visitors the early lead.
The task to see out the result with a 1-0 advantage got much more difficult in the 24th minute when Phoenix’s Laurence Wyke was shown his second yellow card of the match for a slide tackle near midfield. The call forced Rising to play the final 66 minutes of the game down a man.
Fortunately for Phoenix, the referee put the game back on level terms when North Carolina’s Paco Craig was shown his second yellow card of the match for an off-the-ball foul on Remi Cabral in the 40th minute.
Hemmed in while playing down a man, Rising retook control of the match after the second ejection. The defending USL Championship Title winners slowed the game down and controlled possession for large portions of the second half, not allowing anything threatening to get to goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky, until a corner kick in the 80th minute.
Mo Traore played Azocar into the box in the 88th minute. Azocar beat his defender on the dribble, then tried to flick a shot over McGuire from six-yards out, but on the way back down to Earth, the lofted shot clipped the top of the bar and went out for a goal kick to send the match into overtime.
North Carolina’s NC – Ezra Armstrong was shown a second yellow of the match in the first overtime, giving Rising a man advantage for the remaining 25 minutes.
Erickson Gallardo came free on the right flank after taking a pass from Renzo Zambrano in the 111th minute. The winger sent in a perfect cross to a cutting Doratiotto, who finished calmly into the far corner of the goal to send Phoenix into the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time in franchise history.
Scoring:
PHX – JC Azocar (Gabi Torres) 9
NC – Justin Malou 80
PHX – Giulio Doratiotto (Erickson Gallardo) 111
Discipline:
PHX – Laurence Wyke (caution) 7
NC – Paco Craig (caution) 9
PHX – Laurence Wyke (caution) 24
PHX – Laurence Wyke (ejection) 24
NC – Paco Craig (caution) 40
NC – Paco Craig (ejection) 40
NC – Justin Malou (caution) 54
NC – Raheem Somersall (caution) 85
NC – Olez Anderson (caution) 86
NC – Julian Placias (caution) 90
NC – Ezra Armstrong (caution) 90+2
PHX – JC Azocar (caution) 90+8
NC – Ezra Armstrong (caution) 95
PHX – Erickson Gallardo (caution) 117
Lineups:
Phoenix Rising FC – Patrick Rakovsky, Laurence Wyke, John Stenberg, Mohamad Traore, JP Scearce (Jose Andres Hernandez 112), JC Azocar (Giulio Doratiotto 91), Panos Armenakas (Alejandro Fuenmayor 46), Renzo Zambrano, Gabi Torres (Erickson Gallardo 74), Remi Cabral (Ryan Flood 116), Fede Varela (Emil Cuello 64).
Substitutes Not Used: Rocco Rios Novo.
North Carolina FC – Jake McGuire, Paco Craig, Justin Malou, Bryce Washington, Shaft Brewer (Rafael Mentzingen 62), Flores Nelson Blanco (Louis Perez 62), Jacori Hayes (Ezra Armstrong 62), Raheem Somersall, Rodrigo Da Costa (Julian Placias 78), Evan Conway (Garrett McLaughlin 90+7), Olez Anderson (Mikey Maldonado 97).
Substitutes Not Used: Akira Fitzgerald.
