Crew falls in Open Cup in 11-round shootout

goal from Nemanja Nikolic, tying it at 2-2 in the 114th minute on an Adam Jahn header finish of a Cristian Martinez cross in front of 4,992 at Mapfre Stadium.

It then withstood 10 rounds of a penalty kick shootout that, tied 9-9 heading into the 11th round, came down to the goalkeepers. Chicago’s Richard Sanchez buried his and Sanchez dove to stop Crew keeper Logan Ketterer’s attempt, sending the Crew to a 10-9 shootout loss.

“If you told me my first game would be 120 minutes and 11 rounds of PKs, I would tell you you’re crazy,” Ketterer said. “Tons of credit to the guys for battling for that long and getting that goal and going until the end.”

The loss was the Crew’s second straight in the fourth round. The Crew has not defeated an MLS team in the Open Cup under Berhalter.

Early, however, the game looked promising for the Crew.

Martinez arced a shot to the top right corner that was just tapped away by the outstretched fingertips of Sanchez in the third minute. He didn’t miss seven minutes later.

Niko Hansen intercepted an errant pass from Tony Tchani and curled a ball across to a hard-charging Martinez. The 21-yearold from Panama took a touch then tucked a shot inside the right post to give the Crew a 1-0 advantage.

Hansen had one more shot on target — right at Sanchez in the 16th — in the first half, but the Crew went without much offense over the next 30 minutes as Chicago proved the more dangerous team.

Ketterer, the team’s third-string goalkeeper, made three saves in his first non-scrimmage appearance for the Crew. He could not save the Crew from another defensive breakdown in the 45th. Rafael Ramos delivered a low cross to Nikolic, who tapped in the equalizer.

Playing a Chicago lineup heavy on starters, Crew SC’s youngsters — nine players aged 23 or younger made an appearance — hung in there, as Berhalter predicted, but fell just short.

“I thought they did a great job,” Berhalter said. “That’s what I told them. ‘Keep your head high. You guys really showed resiliency and

courage to keep going.’”

Crew SC starting keeper Zack Steffen was not available for the Chicago game because he was with the U.S. national team through an exhibition Saturday against France in Lyon. But he was rewarded for a stellar May in net. MLS announced Steffen as the player of the month after he recorded five straight shutouts during a 3-0-2 stretch for the Crew.