Harrisburg City Islanders News Release -- www.cityislanders.com
Monday, June 4, 2012
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Heading into the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Harrisburg City Islanders (3-1-4) will welcome the MLS’s New York Red Bulls (8-3-2) to Skyline Sports Complex on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Harrisburg defeated the Red Bulls in 2010’s Open Cup, winning 1-0 at home.
The winner of the Tuesday’s matchup will head to RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. or PPL Park in Chester, Pa. for a June 26 date in the quarterfinals against the winner of the tie between D.C. United and the Philadelphia Union, who also play on Tuesday night.
Both teams had riveting performances in their respective Open Cup contests last Tuesday. New York looked impressive in a 3-0 victory against USL PRO’s Charleston Battery. Leading scorer Kenny Cooper ignited the offense in the 14th minute, tucking in a Mehdi Ballouchy pass to put the visitors up 1-0. From there, the Red Bulls rolled, padding their lead with goals from Heath Pearce and Connor Lade in the 41st and 70th minutes respectively.
While the MLS squad showed their dominance in last Tuesday’s third round, USL PRO’s City Islanders showed their grit in another rainy night on City Island. Storming back from a three-goal deficit in the second overtime period, the Islanders took the game to penalty kicks against Major League Soccer's New England Revolution. In the fifth round of penalty kicks, goalkeeper Nick Noble followed Andrew Marshall's goal by thwarting New England’s Benny Feilhaber to complete the wild comeback.
J.T. Noone, who tied the game for the Islanders in the 120th minute, said after the match, “As for the Red Bulls game, we hope to carry our momentum into that while also making sure to keep progressing in our league.”
Kickoff for Tuesday’s game against New York will take place at 7:30 p.m., with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 general admission. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.cityislanders.com or call 717-441-GOAL.