The Ocean City Barons have been eliminated from the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup after they fell to DC United, 2-0, on Tuesday evening at the Maryland Soccerplex. The Barons held the game scoreless until the 74th minute when a Christian Gomez penalty kick forced Ocean City to throw the kitchen sink forward looking for an equalizer, but they were unable to tie the game. United would add a late stoppage time goal to put the game away and end the Cup run of the tournament’s last remaining amateur club.

Barons Lineup	School / Hometown
GK - Tunde Ogunbiyi	Boston College / Gwynedd, PA
DEF - Jamal Neptune	Hofstra / East Windsor, NJ
DEF - Kevin Curran	Loyola / Upper Township, NJ
DEF - Jimmy Davis	LaSalle (’09) / Pittsgrove, NJ
DEF - Joe Banks	Drexel (’07) / Sicklerville, NJ
MID - Karl Reddick	Boston College / Pottstown, PA
MID - Leon Brown	Wheeling Jesuit (’04) / Sicklerville, NJ
MID - Rory McCrea	Hofstra / Leeds, England
MID - William Swetra	James Madison / Egg Harbor, NJ
FWD - JT Noone	Temple / Harrisburg, PA
FWD - Byron Carmichael	Marshall (’03) / Lumberton, NJ
Substitutes
Ryan Richter	LaSalle / Southampton, PA
Kyle Miller	Holy Cross / Woodbury, NJ
Neal Melchionni	Lehigh / Marmora, NJ
Scoring Summary
74th (D.C. UNITED)	Christian Gomez (Penalty Kick)
90th+ (D.C. UNITED)	Ange N’Silu (Unassisted)
Game Stats	OCEAN CITY						D.C. UNITED
Shots	8						20
Saves	10						4
Fouls	5						11
Offsides	6						3
Corners	5						6

Many of the more than 2,000 fans in attendance, many of them Barons fans who traveled down to the game, expected the defending Open Cup champions would have more possession, increasing their opportunities for goals, but numerous players stepped up on the Barons’ defensive end to keep the game level going into the halftime break.

 

In the first half DC United controlled the game, holding the vast majority of possession and outshooting the Barons by a considerable margin. The Barons defense, led by captain Joe Banks (Drexel / Sicklerville, NJ) stayed organized and helped Barons goalkeeper Tunde Ogunbiyi keep the game scoreless through the first 45 minutes.

Ogunbiyi stood out for the Barons, making six saves in the first half, many of which were directly in front of the goal. He finished the game with 10 stops.

Offensively for the Barons, most of the game was spent trying to counter attack and sending long balls up field to Byron Carmichael, but were unable to connect. In the 42nd minute Karl Reddick passed the ball up the right side, Carmichael chased it down in a one-on-one sprint to the ball with DC goalkeeper Milos Kocic. The two players collided as Kocic fell on top of the ball to maintain possession.

DC United definitely upped the pressure in the Barons end during the second half, trying to convert on their opportunities. Ocean City’s backline held strong for a majority of the half but DC forward Ange N’Silu would earn the home side a penalty kick in the 74th minute. Christian Gomez played a ball into the box for N’Silu, which caused Ogunbiyi to come off his line. However, in his attempt to stop the ball, he made contact with N’Silu, upended the striker and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Gomez, who came off the bench to replace an injured John DiRaimondo earlier in the second half, struck the ball low and to Ogunbiyi’s right and despite the Boston College keeper guessing correctly, he just missed the attempt.

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Third Round Ocean City 0:2 DC United Maryland Soccerplex - Boyds, MD Media coverage: Press of Atlantic City OC plays well in 2-0 loss to D.C. (Video)  Barons supporters savor historic journey Curran, Swetra carry banner for locals  Soccer is a way of life for Barons owner Susan Lulgjuraj’s blog NBC40: Highlights & Interviews Wash. Post: DCU scapes past OC | Insider Wash. Times: Late goal lifts United DCUnited.com: Subs lead United Quotes | DC dig deep | Stats BehindTheBadge.com Photos: D.C. United | Flickr | OC Barons More Barons: Twitter | Facebook More Cup coverage: TheCup.us

With the Barons down 1-0, they pulled out all the stops for the remainder of the game.

“When you go a goal down in a cup competition, if you’re going to lose [by] one, you might as well lose [by] 10,” said Holloway, who was ejected early in the second half for arguing with the fourth official. “So, we had to change some things up, we went more attacking, the goal forced us to come out of our defensive mode, in turn, that gave DC United a bit more space.”

The Barons’ all-out approach produced three clear cut chances for the visitors in the final minutes of the game.

In the 87th minute, Barons super sub Ryan Richter, who entered the game in the second half, nearly drew a penalty kick when the LaSalle product was taken down in the penalty area. The referee saw no foul and play resumed.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Ocean City earned a free kick on the far side of the field about 35 yards from goal. Neal Melchionni (James Madison / Egg Harbor, NJ) served the ball into the box where it was headed on goal by Ryan Richter, forcing Kocic to make a diving save. After Kocic got a glove to the first attempt the ball went up in the air and found the head of JT Noone  who sent it back toward goal, but this time Devon McTavish came to the rescue and cleared the ball off the line with Kocic still recovering from the initial save. The more than three bus loads of fans sitting nearby who made the trip from New Jersey believed the ball had crossed the line, but the referee had a good view of the play and denied Ocean City the tying goal.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for our guys, unfortunately we come up short, but we knew that when we went a goal down – why not go for it? Why not enjoy ourselves and try to get a goal back? And we very nearly did,” said Holloway after the match.

Kocic came up big once in again as stoppage time approached, leaping to get a hand on a shot from distance by Rory McCrea which was headed into the upper 90 to the goalkeeper’s right hand side.

DC United sealed their 2-0 victory during stoppage time. After a foul, Gomez struck a free kick on goal where Ogunbiyi made the save, but couldn’t control the rebound. N’Silu was there on the doorstep, fought off a defender and knocked in the team’s second goal to put the game out of reach.

With the win, United will host the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Second Division in the Quarterfinals, next Tuesday July 7. The City Islanders, led by Ocean City native Chad Severs, came back to upset the New England Revolution 2-1 in extra time. Harrisburg knocking out New England was one of four upsets out of the six Open Cup games on Tuesday night as four USL teams defeated MLS teams. The Third Round will conclude on Wednesday night with two more games. For more information about the tournament, visit TheCup.us.

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