FC Cincinnati resume competition in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, May 11 when the Orange and Blue travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution. Kickoff for the Round of 32 from Foxborough, Massachusetts is set for 7 p.m.
FC CINCINNATI AT NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION – WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022 – 7 p.m. ET – GILLETTE STADIUM
HOW TO WATCH
National Stream: ESPN+
Talent: Josh Eastern (play-by-play), Ross Devonport (analyst)
Be sure to follow @FCCincinnati on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for live updates from the game.
SCOUTING THE NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (3-5-2, 11 PTS., 11th EASTERN CONFERENCE)
Last season, the Revolution won their first Supporters’ Shield in the rich history of the club. This season has not seen the start New England were hoping for, as the Revs have yet to totally catch their footing since falling in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals to Pumas.
The Revs are 2-2-1 in their last five games, coming off a 2-2 tie with the Columbus Crew on home turf Saturday night. DeJuan Jones scored for New England in the 70th minute, and Adam Buksa put the Revs ahead in the 82nd, only for an 89th minute Columbus equalizer to stun the home side. Buksa leads the Revolution with four goals this season, followed closely by their No. 10, Carles Gil’s three. Standout goalkeeper and USMNT netminder Matt Turner returned at the end of April to boost the club’s efforts to return to 2021 form.
As a result of their 2021 Supporters’ Shield, New England are one of eight teams to have qualified directly to the Round of 32 and enter the U.S. Open Cup at this stage. The club are the 2007 U.S. Open Cup Champions, and twice finished runners-up (2001, 2016). In the last tournament held, the Revs advanced to the Round of 16 where they fell to Orlando City SC after extra time, 2-1.
STORYLINES OF THE GAME
BACK IN THE CUP
Several weeks have passed since the Third Round when the Orange and Blue defeated Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 2-0 after extra time to advance to the Round of 32. Álvaro Barreal played hero on that night at TQL Stadium when his brace confirmed FCC’s assertive performance and sent Cincinnati through.
That game saw two players make their first career professional starts (Roman Celentano and Harrison Robledo), another make their first start with FC Cincinnati (John Nelson), and three others make their first start of 2022 (Isaac Atanga, Zico Bailey, Haris Medunjanin). Since that opportunity, Pat Noonan’s squad has seen the experience from that game reaped, particularly for Celentano who was named to the MLS Team of the Week on Monday.
FCC IN THE CUP
The Orange and Blue are 9-3-2 all-time in the U.S. Open Cup, which most notably FC Cincinnati used a semifinal run in in 2017 to gain national acclaim with a 4-1-1 record, earning wins over AFC Cleveland in the Second Round, Louisville City FC in the Third Round, and the Columbus Crew in the Fourth Round. The club then advanced on penalties against the Chicago Fire in the Round of 16 and topped Miami FC in the Quarterfinals. FCC then lost in extra time to the New York Red Bulls in the Semifinals in front of a then sell-out crowd of 33,250 fans at Nippert Stadium.
PAT NOONAN: NEW ENGLAND MADE
FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan will face off for the first time against the club which selected him in the first round (9th overall) of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. Noonan made 119 regular season appearances with the Revs, where he scored 37 goals.
Noonan was key to the club’s only U.S. Open Cup trophy. In the 2007 Final at FC Dallas, Noonan scored a goal and assisted two others to lead the Revs to a 3-2 win.
SON vs. FATHER
FC Cincinnati Assistant Coach Kenny Arena will face off against his father, New England Head Coach Bruce Arena. The duo have only faced off as coaches on opposing sidelines once, when Kenny was an assistant with LAFC on August 3, 2019, a 2-0 LAFC win over the Revs.
BUSY, BUSY STRETCH
Wednesday night’s contest will be the fourth of five FC Cincinnati games in a 15-day stretch. It will also be the club’s second of three road games in one week. So far, so good for the Orange and Blue as FC Cincinnati earned the first three-game win streak in club history, securing all nine points from two wins over Toronto FC and Saturday’s victory at Minnesota United FC.
