Right after work last night (25 April), I drove from Ballwin to St. Louis' Downtown West. St. Louis CITY SC was hosting USL League One side Union Omaha in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
After parking in a paid lot some three blocks west of the stadium, I walked to CITYPARK to watch the match. (I was to have attended IPMS/Gateway's business meeting that night, but the host was sick, and the meeting was rescheduled for next week.) After getting a pretzel and beer from a food stand, I found a place in the Supporter Section to watch the match.
Despite this being a Tuesday night, the match was a sellout. The 22,423 fans attending set a US Open Cup Third Round attendance record. The St. Louligans and the other supporter groups were there in force to make noise and wave flags throughout the match.
CITY SC rested many of their regulars, but those in the Starting XI put in a superb effort from the start. Aziel Jackson opened the scoring in the 3rd Minute, and CITY kept Union Omaha at arm's length throughout the half.
The home side kept up the pressure in the Second Half, getting an own goal in the 48th Minute. Akil Watts and Jackson scored four minutes apart to increase the lead to 4-0 before the visitors got on the board in the 79th minute. Eduard Loewen added an insurance goal four minutes from time.
It was a most happy night for us CITY SC supporters. The players and coaches stayed on the pitch to acknowledge their supporters, with especially great greetings for the supporter groups.
CITY SC advances to the Fourth Round, to be played 9-10 May against an opponent to be determined tomorrow (27 April). The club is aiming to be the 8th St. Louis team to win the Open Cup, last won locally by St. Louis Busch Seniors in 1988.
In the meantime, the club hosts Portland Timbers in MLS action this Saturday.
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:
CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
USL League One: USL League One
Union Omaha: Homepage - Union Omaha
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup: U.S. Open Cup 2023 | U.S. Soccer Official Website (ussoccer.com)
St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)
MLS: MLSsoccer.com - The Official Site of Major League Soccer
Portland Timbers: Portland Timbers
