U.S. Open Cup Game Report
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
READING, Pa. -- Reading United A.C. advanced to the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the second time in club history following an emphatic 5-2 victory against the Greater Binghamton FC Thunder on Wednesday night. In front of their hometown fans, United used three second-half goals to pull away from the Keystone Confernce Champions. Darius Madison turned in his finest performance in a Reading United uniform, as he scored a first-half goal and assisted on three other goals for the Blue & Gold.
In his first home game in charge of United, Head Coach David Castellanos had his side on the front foot from the opening whistle. Madison spearheaded the Reading attack, probing the left side of the Binghamton defense in the early going. It was the Union Academy product that produced the first scoring chance of the match, hitting the frame of the goal on a diving header following a perfect cross from Nick Surkamp.
United broke through in the 18th minute as Madison made space for himself on the right side of the Binghamton penalty area and hit a low cross that found Oumar Ballo, who smashed a shot through traffic and past Thunder goalkeeper Jason Stenta.
Though United held a majority of possession, Binghamton were able to claw themselves back into the match when they pounced on a mistake in Reading's midfield in the 35th minute. An errant pass was picked off by Thunder midfielder Jonny Sinclair, who cruised up the left touchline and fed a cross to Alex Varkatzas who calmly slotted the ball past United keeper Alex Bono.
As the clocked ticked toward halftime, United regained the lead in the 44th minute. Lucas Baldin picked up possession in midfield and made a slick turn to create space for himself. With Madison streaking down the left sideline, Baldin threaded a perfect ball to the pacey forward. Madison did the rest as he beat his defender and found himself one on one with Stenta. The Philadelphia native rifled his shot into the side netting to stake United to a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Binghamton came out of the half looking more confident and pressed United as they looked for an equalizer. In the 50th minute, Reading defender Robby Sagel looked to have cleanly dispossessed Bozidar Jelovac in the penalty area, but referee Darth Newman whistled for a foul and the big forward stepped up to the spot. Jelovac took his spot kick cooly, sending Bono the wrong way to level the match at 2-2.
Needing a spark to regain the initiative, Castellanos inserted Ignacio "Nacho" Maganto into the match in the 61st minute. The move paid off immediately. Madison picked up a ball on the left sideline and used his speed to race past Thunder defender Michael Koegel. Madison's low cross found Maganto, who made no mistakes in hammering home his first goal of the 2014 season to hand Reading a 3-2 lead in the 63rd minute.
Castellanos urged his team forward and United found a fourth goal just six minutes later. Off a Reading United corner kick that Binghamton struggled to clear, the ball dropped to defender Skylar Thomas who sent a shot into the back of the net to double United's lead.
With the match firmly in their control, United looked to put an exclamation point on a solid outing. Once again, Madison found himself with the ball at his feet deep in the Thunder's half. The forward calmly worked the ball towards the end line and then engineered a play that United fans will be talking about for years.
Madison tiptoed along the end line, losing one of his cleats while unleashing a flurry of skill moves that allowed him past his mark and into the six yard box. United's Man of the Match unselfishly squared a ball to Surkamp who tapped the ball home to wrap up the scoring at 5-2.
"It's a great start to my summer," Madison said of his memorable performance.
Castellanos was full of praise for his star forward. "Darius is an exceptional talent. He showcased his abilities tonight, I'm very proud of him."
Castellanos was reflective on his first victory as Reading United Head Coach. "It's a special moment for us as a coaching staff and as a team getting that first win under our belt in a pressure situation. U.S. Open Cup games are like NCAA Tournament games and it's one and done. Any little mistake can beat you." Castellanos continued, "I'm very, very pleased with this result."
Reading United will now face a third round match against USL PRO's Rochester Rhinos on Wednesday, May 28th at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, N.Y. The current Rhinos roster features four former Reading players, led by goalkeeper John McCarthy and forward Alex Dixon.