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Strikers Hope To Build On Open Cup Success

Goalkeeper Diego Restrepo has led Fort Lauderdale to consecutive wins in penalty-kick shootouts
Jack Bell (@JackBell} | Jun 23, 2016

Two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup games. Two penalty-kick shootouts. Two wins.

Can the Fort Lauderdale Strikers make it three in a row? That question will be answered next Wednesday in yet another Florida Derby, this one at Orlando City SC of MLS in a fifth-round match.

“We’re thinking like last game -- we’re going to win,” Strikers central defender Gale Agbossoumonde told NASL.com. “We have a lot of confidence. In this competition, any team can beat any team. It’s not like we’re going there afraid. We’re going to their house [Camping World Stadium] to play and beat them. Like we did with D.C. Our mood is positive.”

Fort Lauderdale has made its deepest foray in the Open Cup propped on the bruised shoulders of goalkeeper Diego Restrepo. In the Strikers’ marathon match against Richmond Kickers played in the midday Florida heat on June 1, Restrepo stopped three PKs for the win. On June 15, Restrepo, who was born in Venezuela, played at the University of Virginia and has represented the U.S. at the youth international level, was in the spotlight again, crucially turning away Luciano Acosta to preserve Fort Lauderdale’s chances.

“For a goalkeeper, it’s like the final of a World Cup,” said Restrepo, 28, who took over in goal for the Strikers in early May and had a 4-1-1 record during the balance of the NASL Spring Season as the club overcame an 0-2-2 start to stay in contention until the final game (a loss at FC Edmonton). “It’s your time to shine.”

Amid a barrage of shots from D.C. (21 over all, 10 that required saves), Restrepo received a big-time assist from Agbossoumonde, when the defender saved off the line not once, but twice. The initial one came near the end of regular time, the second in the first 15-minute period of extra time. On that first play, Restrepo said he aggravated a shoulder injury when “Gale saved my butt as I went out to punch the ball then got blindsided and went down hard on my shoulder.”

“I guess it’s just a defender’s mentality --  you have to keep it out of the goal,” Agbossoumonde said. “On the first one, I saw Diego come out and my first reaction was to tuck in behind him. The second time the ball was coming from deep and the timing was perfect for me to get to it.”

For Agbossoumonde, 24, a former U.S. youth international who has played in the USL, overseas, in MLS, and now in the NASL (“a very hard league that is very underestimated”), the Open Cup holds a special place in his heart. In 2012, he was part of the Carolina RailHawks squad that ousted the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS in the third round before bowing out against Chivas USA.

“For me, the reaction here has been bigger because this is the first time this club has gone this far,” he said. “The manner in which we beat D.C. was pretty exciting, especially at 0-0. Anytime you can keep a game at zero you have a chance to win. We’re all excited. Now we have to do it again.”

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