St. Louis City SC claimed the first major trophy in club history on Wednesday night, defeating the Columbus Crew on penalties after a 120-minute 0-0 tie in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final.
Backup goalkeeper Ben Lundt was the hero of the shootout. He entered the game in the 78th minute after starter Roman Bürki took a knee to the head while making a save, and he went on to make a key stop, diving to his left to get a hand on Santiago Rodriguez's shot that deflected off the post. St. Louis converted all five of its penalty kicks, with Timo Baumgartl scoring the first. Lukas Mac Naughton, Chris Durkin and Damion Downs also converted, and Daniel Edelman finished it with a shot down the middle as goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen went the wrong way.
The victory also earns St. Louis a spot in the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Columbus was seeking its second U.S. Open Cup title in club history but came up short.
The final was the first U.S. Open Cup championship decided by penalties since 2015, when Sporting Kansas City beat the Philadelphia Union. The tournament is open to both professional and amateur clubs, but Major League Soccer teams have dominated it for more than two decades.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing