New CITY Sporting Director Corey Wray and new Head Coach Yoann Damet made good on their promise to take the US Open Cup (a tournament that St. Louis is deeply connected to via 10 previous winners from the city) seriously, capturing the club's first-ever major trophy as they topped hosts Columbus Crew 5-3 in PK's after 120 minutes of tense, scoreless soccer that saw CITY captain Roman Bürki stretchered off after taking a knee to the head.
Backup Ben Lundt finished the match in goal once again in this tournament, much like his previous heroics versus Houston in the quarterfinals when he subbed in for an injured Bürki and made 2 saves in the penalty shootout against the Dynamo. In Columbus, Lundt stopped the first shot he saw in PK's from Crew midfielder Santi Rodríguez, which was enough as CITY went 5 for 5, with Timo Baumgartl, Lukas MacNaughton, Chris Durkin, Damion Downs, and finally Daniel Edelman all converting from the spot to send a massive contingent of CITY fans who made the trip east on I-70 into delirium. An estimated 3000 CITY faithful descended on ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, hoping to witness history and were not disappointed, as CITY overcame a poor first half and an injury to key man Alex Mățan (which prevented the Romanian from making the matchday roster) to capture the 11th US Open Cup in St. Louis history.
Photos and video from the history making day:
