A little more than two years ago, we ran a post in these pages titled “NYCFC are bad at the US Open Cup.” That was true back then, when New York City FC had just two wins in seven games played to date, and never seemed to take the tournament too seriously.
But much has happened since the start of the 2022 competition, when the tournament returned after a two-year hiatus due to COVID. The club are on a tear right now, with three upset wins in a row. Of course, it’s New York City FC II who are representing the organization this year: The Baby Blues were asked to stand in for the First Team after Major League Soccer decided to mostly opt out of the the US Open Cup. Now they’re the last MLS NEXT Pro side left in the tournament — they’ll host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC of the USL Championship on Wednesday, May 8 in Queens.
In advance of that matchup, let’s take a look back at New York City’s performances over the years, and the club’s evolving relationship with the oldest soccer tournament in North America.
2015-2018: You can’t make me
Nobody is accusing former head coaches Jason Kreis and Patrick Vieira of throwing the US Open Cup matches that happened on their watches, but they didn’t exactly try to win those games.
In 2015, when New York City faced the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League on the Long Island campus of Hofstra University, Kreis left David Villa and Thomas McNamara on the bench, and gave backup goalkeeper Eirik Johansen his only start that year. The result? Giovanni Savarese, then head coach of the Cosmos, found a way to draw even in the 90th minute thanks to a goal from the well-named Lucky Mkosa, then go on to win it in penalties.
It didn’t get any better in 2016, when New York City played the Cosmos again, this time on The Bronx campus of Hofstra. In fact, it got worse with Vieira in charge. The former Invincible didn’t bother to put any of New York City’s Designated Players on the lineup card, never mind in the Starting XI, and a heavily rotated side lost to Savarese’s Cosmos by a clean 1-0 in regulation time.
Vieira fielded a legitimate team in 2017, when New York City traveled across the Hudson River to face the New York Red Bulls in the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup. But an attack with Villa, McNamara, Jack Harrison, and Maxi Moralez was held scoreless at Red Bull Arena thanks to some witchcraft. (See below.) On the other end of the field, Daniel Royer of the Red Bulls got his shot past goalkeeper Sean Johnson. As Vieira might say, domage.
.@Tommy_Mc15 oh so close to breaking the @opencup deadlock…#NYCFC 0-0 Red Bulls pic.twitter.com/McmOneMb7z
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) June 15, 2017
It’s a safe bet that Vieira didn’t have his head in the game during the 2018 US Open Cup, when New York City once again played the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. At the time, the head coach was linked with a move to Nice, and he had strenuously denied the rumors for weeks. New York City lost to the Red Bulls 0-4 on June 6. Four days later, he was on his way to the South of France, likely reclining in a l’Espace Prémiere lounger with a coupe de champagne, a tactics board, and a little Mario Balotelli magnet.
For those of you keeping score at home, that’s four US Open Cup games for NYCFC through 2018, and four quick departures. New York City was held scoreless three times in those four games.
| Year | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | NY Cosmos | 2 – 2* | New York City |
| 2016 | New York City | 0 – 1 | NY Cosmos |
| 2017 | NY Red Bulls | 1 – 0 | New York City |
| 2018 | NY Red Bulls | 4 – 0 | New York City |
| 2019 | New York City | 4 – 0 | North Carolina FC |
| DC United | 1 – 2 | New York City | |
| Orlando City | 1 – 1* | New York City | |
| 2022 | New York City | 3 – 1 | Rochester NY FC |
| New York City | 1 – 0† | New England | |
| NY Red Bulls | 3 – 0 | New York City | |
| 2023 | FC Cincinnati | 1 – 0 | New York City |
| 2024 | FC Motown | 0 – 3 | NYCFC II |
| NYCFC II | 4 – 2 | NY Red Bulls II | |
| Hartford Athletic | 2 – 3† | NYCFC II |
* Penalty kicks
† After extra time
2019-2023: Why not try?
Head coach Domè Torrent took over the squad after Vieira’s departure, and he decided to treat the tournament seriously. In 2019, he accomplished something that escaped his predecessors, and won a US Open Cup game.
The 4-0 win over North Carolina FC of the USL Championship at Belson Stadium in Queens was less notable for the impressive scoreline than the lineup. Torrent started Taty Castellanos at striker after a run of games of playing him on the right wing, or using him as sub — Héber and Alexandru Mitriță began the night on the bench. This game also saw the first career starts for Keaton Parks and Justin Haak.
New York City advanced to the Round of 16, where they faced DC United at Audi Field. Wayne Rooney scored in the 32nd minute to give his team the lead, but Mitriță clawed one back a few minutes later. Then Ismael Tajouri-Shradi did this to win the game:
An exquisite finish from @isitj29 to turn it around… 🎯 #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/gL8YjI4n28
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) June 19, 2019
New York City advanced to face Orlando in the tropical heat of Exploria Stadium in July. NYCFC had 64% possession and yet they couldn’t buy a goal. But after a scramble inside the box in the sixth minute of stoppage time, and a lucky deflection, Moralez scored at the death to send the game into 30 minutes of sweltering, sweaty, scoreless extra time. It was the fourth game New York City played in 12 days, the players were spent. Orlando won the penalty shootout, then promptly went out to eventual cup winners Atlanta United.
New York City FC US Open Cup Record
| W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -6 |
The US Open Cup was suspended in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID. When the tournament returned in 2022, the head coach was Ronny Deila. Like Torrent, Deila took the cup seriously.
And like Vieira, Deila was firming up plans for a move to Europe while in the middle of the tournament. Delia’s first cup game was a comfortable 3-1 win over MLS NEX Pro’s Rochester New York FC (RIP). His second and final was an extra-time victory over the New England Revolution in the Round of 16 that took a little more work — and required an appearance from Santiago Rodríguez off the bench to seal the 1-0 win.
Deila departed New York City less than three weeks later to take over Standard de Léige, and he left with a perfect 2-0-0 US Open Cup record.
That placed then-interim head coach Nick Cushing in charge for the Quarter Final game against the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. In what was just Cushing’s second game at the helm, New York City crumbled in an ugly game that saw the Red Bulls score three times, and the referee show three red cards.
Not much went right for New York City in 2023, and that includes their US Open Cup match against FC Cincinnati. An NYCFC that struggled to get away results all season lost on the road at TQL Stadium 1-0, and an attack that featured Gabe Segal as striker managed just one shot on target. All Cincinnati needed was a Brandon Vazquez header off a set piece to advance to the next round.
The game did feature the debut of goalkeeper Matt Freese in the New York City Starting XI, and his 7.2 rating from FotMob was the highest on the team. (Hudson River Blue readers gave him a less charitable 5.0.) It would take another few months before Freese locked up the starting job, but now he’s not only New York City’s number-one goalkeeper, he’s making a case for himself to become one of the best in the league.
2024: Let the kids play
Which brings us to this year, when a series of unpopular decisions by MLS executives to more-or-less ignore the competition allowed NYCFC II to represent the club in the US Open Cup.
They’re now one of the darlings of the tournament, an overachieving team of talented kids who have played their competition off the field in their three upset wins. The Baby Blues aren’t just getting results, they’re playing fantastic soccer that’s as aggressive as it is attractive. This is a team that’s fun to watch.
NYCFC II US Open Cup Record
| W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
This is also the last MLS NEXT Pro team left in the competition, and just one of four squads from the third tier of the US soccer pyramid still playing: The other 28 teams are either from first-tier MLS or second-tier USL Championship.
The team have 10 goals in three games, which is one goal more than what the First Team managed in 13 games. Two NYCFC II players, 22-year-old Taylor Calheira and 22-year-old JJ Jiménez, have 3 goals so far in the competition, which put them in second place for the Golden Boot. The 16-year-old midfielder Maximo Carrizo is close behind with 2 goals.
NYCFC II also have two road wins. The First Team also tallied two road wins, but it took them five years to pull off that feat — and the last time they won on the road was in 2019.
To put it another way, NYCFC II have put together a US Open Cup record in three games that rivals what the First Team accomplished in seven years. Granted, the Baby Blues entered in the First Round, and have yet to face a team of the same caliber as a Red Bulls or Cincinnati. But they weren’t supposed to beat a more physical and experienced FC Motown on the road, or a more accomplished New York Red Bulls II in Queens, or a Hartford Athletic stacked with former MLS players and current internationals. Too young, too green, too small: The Baby Blues were supposed to go out early, but they’re proving the pundits wrong at every turn.
Next, they’ll play Colorado Springs at home, and for the first time, the Baby Blues could be considered the favorites.
Colorado Springs play in the second-tier USL Championship, but they’re dead last in the league, with just 1 point after six games. They scored a league-low 2 goals and allowed 10, for a league-worst goal differential of -8.
The Baby Blues will likely approach the game as if they’re underdogs, and hungry to prove themselves. That attitude has served them well so far. But win or lose, their performances this year have gone a long way to improve New York City’s record in the US Open Cup.
More importantly, the way they play are getting many New York City fans to care about the tournament — possibly for the first time in club history.
