Paul Daugherty: The glory was in the effort for FC Cincinnati

And so it was on Tuesday night that Futbol Club Cincinnati won by losing. During its six-game dash through the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, FCC found the joy of winning, which isn’t hard, but also the nobility of defeat, which can be impossible.

After the New York Red Bulls of the MLS took out FCC in overtime Tuesday night, Jimmy McLaughlin, Kenny Walker and several other players lay on the field, too tired and deflated to move. It must have been five minutes. That still life summed up the evening, and the team’s Cup run.

“Nothing but pride,’’ manager Alan Koch said, after the semifinals loss that kicked the locals from the Cup. “Absolute pride, not only this game but all through this Cup run. We’ve seen it galvanize the team, the club, the city. You can see how important it (is) to the club and fans. For a weeknight, it didn’t look like too many people wanted to leave.’’

Koch called FCC’s Open Cup experience “magical,’’ and that wasn’t a stretch. Only three non-MLS teams in 22 years had reached the finals. The locals wouldn’t be the fourth. But sometimes, the glory is in the effort. Even in the pros.

Here’s what happened before (yet another) sellout crowd:

Cincinnati scored in the 31 minute, and again in the 62nd. Corben Bone caught New York defender Kehmar Lawrence out of position in the box for the first goal. Thirty-one minutes later, Austin Berry’s header made it 2-nil, to the crazed amazement of the 33,250 who yelled like they’d just won the PowerBall.

A USL team in its second season led a good MLS team by two goals, with barely 30 minutes to play. The same USL team that already had beaten two MLS teams to reach the Open Cup semis.

At 2-0, you could have been excused for wondering how much better, exactly, the MLS competition is than what FCC sees in the United Soccer League. At Tuesday night’s game, if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know.

By the end, after scorer supreme Bradley Wright-Phillips (16 goals in 24 games) headed expertly a shot into the left corner of FCC’s goal, past the lunging Mitch Hildebrand, you could tell. The Red Bulls owned the second half, on the field and statistically.

More: FC Cincinnati's Open Cup dream ends, NYRB advances to final

More: 2 goals in 3 minutes shatter FC Cincy's semifinal

More: FC Cincinnati watch parties span the city

If all you saw were the match statistics, you’d have believed New York won the game in a runaway. The Red Bulls possessed the ball more than twice as long as FCC, took more than twice as many shots. The second half was played almost entirely within 50 feet of Hildebrand’s nose. Mitch can only Say No so often.

“How many goals did Bradley Wright-Phillips score?’’ Koch asked, rhetorically. (Two, actually, the game-tying goal and the game-winner.) “That was the difference. Big-time players step up in big-time moments. They have some very, very good players.

“They just kept on going. When you’re playing against players that are used to playing day in and day out at a high tempo, eventually it does wear you down.’’

Or as Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch put it, “It was just about our ability to stay after the game and feel like we could overwhelm them over time. It wound up working that way.’’

But it was an even game until the 101st minute. Tell me again: How much better is the MLS than FCC Cincinnati?

A bit better. Not $150 million better.

That’s the franchise fee for an MLS expansion club. After watching FCC’s Open Cup show, that tariff seems excessive, greedy and presumptuous, don’t you think?

Said Marsch, “I heard the MLS commissioner was here tonight. I hope he takes note of what’s going on here.’’

Don Garber is highly aware of what’s happening. Sellouts, high-decibel support in a stadium everyone seems to love. Passion that has evolved quickly from a fling to a thing. “The atmosphere was as good as I’ve seen anywhere,’’ said Marsch. “Cincinnati would be a feather in the cap of MLS.’’

FCC is the envy of the MLS, er, USL.

Was it a charmed run, a bit of a fluke, or both? Cincinnati can validate its Open Cup success by making the USL playoffs, and advancing. It’s odd that a team that could take out three of the big boys in this tournament is fighting for a playoff spot in its own, minor league. The team that inspired you Tuesday night is the same team that lost 5-0 at Louisville Saturday.

That’s a long-term, raging debate. For the moment, a lingering pleasure floats over the efforts of the FC Cincinnatians, who even in defeat inspire wonder.