Storm First U.S. Open Cup

TOURNAMENT

STORM FIRST: U.S. Open Cup

AFTER A successful summer National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season, Storm Men’s First Team was invited to the Qualifying Rounds of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which is the United States’ longest running professional tournament. We competed in our first ever Open Cup in its 108th edition of the event, with our first match drawn against our local rival in Georgia Revolution. The match was played on Saturday, October 17th away at 8PM at Ola High School in McDonough, GA. After a lackluster start from the team, Revs scored the opening goal towards the end of the first half through a cross and a header from Christian Duncan. Seeking a response out of halftime, the team took to the field to attack from the onset in the second half. As the game was winding down, Head Coach Josh Bivens made a tactical switch, moving center back Jacob Bivens to striker alongside the front three to play as a target player. In the 91st minute a ball was played forward and flicked on by Jacob Bivens to Stephen Bivens who lofted a volley pass over the right center back for Revolution where Gerard Forges hammered a left-footed volley into the roof of the next to setup extra time while scoring Storm’s first ever goal in the competition.

Kicks from the Mark

As extra time wore on, Storm took complete control of the match when, with a minute left in the first period of extra time, we had earned a free kick on the right edge of the penalty area. With a low delivery, Jacob Bivens had beat his man to the near post and flicked a right footed volley into the far post, giving Storm a 2-1 lead and likely victory. With seconds remaining, a gaggle of players went to ground on the right edge of the penalty area before a Revs player lofted a cross in between Storm’s 2 center backs where Christian Duncan scored again to force a penalty shootout. With momentum on their side, Revs won the impending penalty shootout 3-1 to send them through to the next qualifying round. Although not the result they wanted, Storm will be back next year in 2022 and push for a deeper run into this prestigious event.