City SC now has played two games with its three new offensive players — Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert and Simon Becher — and in those two games, each one of them has scored a goal.
“Let’s just keep on doing that,†interim City SC coach John Hackworth said.
Scoring is what the team was looking for from the trio, and scoring is what it has gotten as the club remakes its offense midseason. After Hartel and Teuchert scored against Dallas last week, Becher joined the fun Sunday, scoring on a neat little flick on a corner kick by Eduard Lowen as City SC took a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute.
One goal wasn’t enough. In a callback to a familiar theme for the team this season, City SC couldn’t hold on to the lead. It had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Mexican club FC Juarez in a Leagues Cup group match at CityPark and then lost 4-1 in the penalty-kick shootout that followed to throw some cold water on the evening. The loss in PKs meant City SC finished second in its three-team group.
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The club continued to take steps forward as its new players find their places, but the results haven’t necessarily kept pace. Teuchert looked to have his second goal in as many games, only to get his first-half shot blocked on the line by a Juarez defender. Hartel got the ball in a dangerous position in the second half only to shoot wide.
“I still think (there’s) a little bit to be desired,†Becher said. “But I think we’re starting to click a little bit more in the interchanges and running behind and playing off each other. I think it’s still going to be a process, something we’ll continue to work on and take the positives and try to work on the things that we think in review that we have to get better at.â€
“There’s a lot of positives there,†Hackworth said. “I think we’re continuing to become a better team. There’s things we need to do better for sure. But the guys that we called upon tonight did an excellent job. That’s a really good Juarez team, compliment to them for sure. But we dealt with it. We problem-solved our way through some interesting moments there, and that’s what I’m trying to get this group to do.â€
City SC went into the game already knowing it was in the Leagues Cup round of 32, a goal for the team as it looks to get its new players as much playing time as possible. It knew that its next game would be at CityPark regardless of whether it won or lost to Juarez.
The result filled in the remaining blanks: City SC will face the Portland Timbers on Friday at CityPark as the Leagues Cup enters the knockout stage. City SC tied Portland 0-0 in June and plays it again Aug. 24 in the first game when MLS play resumes. If City SC wins Friday, it could face one of several teams, but the most likely — and least desirable — would be Mexican behemoth Club America, which beat City SC in the Leagues Cup last season 4-0. That match would be in San Diego.
Because the result goes into the books as a tie, City SC can lay claim to a three-game unbeaten streak (a win and two ties), something it hasn’t done since early May. The penalty kicks could have gone a bit better for City SC, as two of its first three shooters, Teuchert and Hartel, had their shots stopped by goalkeeper Sebastian Jurado, while what looked like a save by Ben Lundt to keep City SC alive instead became a do-over when VAR confirmed Lundt came off his line early to make the save. On the retake, Juarez scored to end the match.
The postgame mood may also have been a little better had City SC finished at least one more of its good chances or if it had been able to hang on to the momentum that came from taking the lead for more than four minutes.
“I think that as a group, we’ve made a lot of progress,†said Josh Yaro, who started at center back alongside Kyle Hiebert in the team’s first game after trading defensive bulwark Tim Parker. “That’s a really good team, and as you can see, it was a tough game.â€
City SC was without goalkeeper Roman Burki, who has been bothered by what Hackworth termed “back issues†and missed just his second game of the season.
“There’s no need to try to put him in a situation where he could potentially get hurt,†Hackworth said. “So he hasn’t been in training (last) week because he’s having all these back issues and needed to get Ben an opportunity to play in an important game here in CityPark. He hasn’t done that in a couple of years.â€
Lundt had a busy night with six saves, a number Burki has exceeded only three times this season, and then having to face four penalty kicks. For Lundt, it was just his sixth start over all competitions in the past two seasons; he’s only won one of those games, a U.S. Open Cup match against Union Omaha last season, but this was one of his better outings. Juarez got its tying goal on a shot from the top of the box that just slipped inside the far post.
“Ben comes up today and he makes a lot of big saves,†Yaro said. “It just speaks to the volume of the keepers that we have on this team. I’m really proud of him for his effort, and not just that but he led us well from the back and made sure that we’re in the right spot. So kudos to him for a really good game.â€
“I thought when we went up a goal,†Hackworth said, “it was going to be a good moment for us to catch them on the next counter. They were going to have to come forward. Unfortunately, we gave up a goal too soon.â€