In a game between two clubs without a loss in the qualifying stages, something had to give. On a damp and chilly night, at the second venue of the evening, the hosts Azteca FC could not ride their seven-game undefeated run any further as they were defeated by Northern California’s Olympic Club, 3-1.

Goals from a trio of former pros helped the Olympic Club, a social club in the Bay Area that dates back more than a century, secure a win to qualify for the 2020 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

This contest, originally scheduled for the Aurora Public Schools Stadium in Aurora, Colo., would have a venue change less than an hour before kickoff due to non-functioning lights at the original stadium. The game was moved to nearby Ridgeview High School and remarkably, kickoff was only delayed by about 20 minutes.

The first half was mostly one-way traffic for the visiting Olympic Club. Former MLS and USL player Matt Fondy opened the Olympic account in the 5th minute, outpacing his defender on a ball over the top, and slotting it past Azteca goalkeeper Austin Harms. Matt would have several more good chances in the first half. The play would continue be physical the rest of the half. None more so than between Azteca’s Daniel Jimenez-Anaya and Olympic’s Austin Toth. After several sliding challenges by both players, the referee had finally seen enough, and booked the Azteca player in the 43rd minute. The Olympic Club would go into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead.

The second half saw the home side start on the front foot, winning a penalty in the 48th minute, when an Azteca player was clipped and brought down from behind. Erik Chavez-Richart would go to his left to convert it. moments later.

With the scores now level, the game would find another gear. Both sides had ample chances up to the hour mark. A scramble in front of goal in the 63rd minute saw Fondy with another attempt at goal, gather his own rebound and slide it across to Bryan Burke who laced it into the net to return the lead back to the visitors.

Both sides would continue to trade chances until the 86th minute. Fondy, with another shot on frame, would see it deflected and fall to Javier Amaya-Hil for the third and final goal.

In an anti-climax to what was an otherwise tight game, a fracas began at the final whistle resulted in two red cards and two yellow cards. One of the red cards was shown to Azteca’s Daniel Jimenez-Amaya for abusive language. As that sending off was happening, the remainder of the players on the field came together in the goal mouth. From there, Erick Chavez-Richart was shown red for violent conduct; Azteca’s Jesus Munoz-Barraza and Olympic Club’s Austin Toth were both shown yellows for unsporting behavior.

With the victory, The Olympic Club advance to the US Open Cup in their first attempt, hoping to add some success in the men’s US Open Cup to go along with their two USASA Women’s Open Cup titles from 2015 and 2016.

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