Stockade FC drops season opener

Team bows in double overtime to Long Island at U.S. Open Cup tourney

Kingston Stockade’s FC debut in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup did not go as planned. After watching a 2-0 lead disappear and playing two overtime periods a man down, the team lost to the Long Island Rough Riders 6-3 on Wednesday night in Massapequa.

Stockade cruised through the first 55 minutes of play, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Bruce Jeter off a Pedro Espindola assist in the 11th minute and Michael Creswick in the 52nd.

Stockade dominated the first 20 minutes of play before Espindola was forced out the match in the 22nd minute by a hamstring injury.

While this appeared to slow Kingston a bit, the Rough Riders never posed a serious threat until Tyler Botte got them on the board in the 57th minute.

Botte’s goal gave Long Island new life and it dominated the latter part of the half, paving the way for Thomas Wharf to deposit the equalizer for the Rough Riders in the 81st minute.

Long Island, a Premier Development League affiliate of Major League Soccer’s New York City FC, is no stranger to the U.S. Open

Cup, having made nine appearances in the tourney since its debut in 1994.

Things got worse for Stockade when Bernardo Mattos was booked for a red card in the 90th minute. But Long Island couldn’t find the net in stoppage time and the match went into two 15-minute overtime periods.

Despite playing with 10 men, Stockade held tough in the first overtime period and kept the score 2-2. But that wouldn’t last as the Rough Riders rode all over Kingston in the final OT period.

Junior Rosario gave Long island a 3-2 lead in 107th minute, its first of the night, after Long Island had failed to convert a pair of corners into a goal.

Things got worse for Stockade when Charlie Ledula scored to give Long Island a 4-2 advantage before Botte added another goal two minutes later to put the visitors down 5-2.

Matt Koziol stuffed a penalty kick into net in the 115th minute to make it 5-3, but Kingston Stockade FC could get no closer. Ledula capped off the night for the Rough Riders with a goal in the 119th minute to round out the scoring.

Wednesday’s loss echoed last year’s National Premier Soccer League Northeast Region semifinals when Stockade built a 2-0 lead over the Clarkstown SC Eagles in the first half, only to see the Eagles score six goals in the second to lose by the same 6-3 tally.

Kingston hopes to rebound on Saturday when they open its 2018 NPSL campaign at home at Dietz Stadium against Rhode Island at 6 p.m.