NYCFC II defeated Colorado Springs Switchbacks on Wednesday night at Belson Stadium in Queens, advancing to the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The win means that they are the last MLS reserve team in the competition and eliminating a USL Championship club shows just how far the MLS Next Pro program has developed players in a short period of time.
“The players are really excited for opportunities to play higher-level teams,” said head coach Matt Pilkington of the USL competition. “We had six teenagers out there in the line-up, so for them to fight it out, go the distance, keep a clean sheet and work well for each other throughout, I thought it was a really good performance.”
Much has been made of MLS sending a majority of reserve teams to represent first teams. One of the arguments was to get more experience to younger players. Early on, as the teams began to drop out, that logic was questioned. However NYCFC II have proven that the experience is helpful and that the growth of the game between the divisions is not as far as some might think.
Currently, NYCFC II is 11th in Group A, having consistency issues with the start of the league season. Their form in the US Open Cup is a different matter as they’ve been able to score timely goals and show first team head coach Nick Cushing that there are options should they be needed.
“The more games the better,” said Pilkington. “Every time we win a game we go to the next round. It’s great. It’s something to prepare for, to look forward to, something to test players with and we’ll keep doing the right things. We’ll keep training and keep working hard to prepare for what’s coming next.”
Next in the Open Cup will be New Mexico United of the USL Championship who defeated Real Salt Lake 4-2 last night. New Mexico is currently second in the Western Conference, giving NYCFC II their most formidable challenge yet. Still, the team will prepare for the challenge and, given the magic of knockout football, they will have a chance to topple another division 2 rival.
photo from NYCFC