Matchday

FC Cincinnati stunned as 2023 season ends: "It hurts"

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FC Cincinnatiā€™s storybook 2023 season has ended in heartbreaking fashion, with the Supportersā€™ Shield winners letting a two-goal lead slip from their fingers in the Eastern Conference Final before falling at home to Hell is Real rivals Columbus Crew.

Saturdayā€™s 3-2 extra-time loss was almost unimaginable after the Orange & Blue took a 2-0 goal lead deep into the second half on goals from Brandon Vazquez and Luciano Acosta.

With Cincinnati minutes away from hosting MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 9, the Crew turned it around late with three straight unanswered goals ā€“ the third and decisive one coming in the 115th minute on super-sub Christian RamĆ­rezā€™s tap-in.

Head coach Pat Noonan understandably struggled to make sense of what transpired at TQL Stadium.

ā€œThe goal was to win MLS Cup and I think we were close, and thatā€™s why it hurts,ā€ Noonan told reporters postgame. ā€œIt hurts because of losing at home, it hurts because of the scoreline mid-game, it hurts because of who beat us tonight.

ā€œSo thereā€™s a lot of things that make this a hard one to take and I feel for the guys.ā€

Late breakdown

Things were mostly going Cincinnatiā€™s way throughout much of the night, starting with Vazquezā€™s 14th-minute opener. Acosta, named Landon Donovan 2023 MLS MVP this week, doubled the lead right before the break with a curling effort to the far post off a backheel flick from Ɓlvaro Barreal.

ā€œI thought we had opportunities to certainly get the third,ā€ Noonan remarked of his teamā€™s chances to put the game away.

They didnā€™t, and the Crew responded by bringing on RamĆ­rez and Julian Gressel. The latter forced Alvas Powellā€™s 75th-minute own goal and participated in Diego Rossiā€™s 86th-minute equalizer. By the time RamĆ­rez pushed home Cucho HernĆ”ndezā€™s header to complete the comeback, several Cincinnati players were struggling to run and noticeably fatigued.

ā€œWe lost our legs,ā€ Noonan said. ā€œThey just wore us out. The guys gave everything, I cannot fault them.ā€

Picking up the pieces

Despite Saturdayā€™s gut punch, there are mostly positives for Noonan and Co. to take from a historic season that saw Cincinnati win their first-ever trophy and take home multiple individual prizes ā€“ including Acostaā€™s MVP, Noonanā€™s Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year award and the suspended Matt Miazgaā€™s MLS Defender of the Year nod.

"We'll look at the beginning of '24 with an immediate need to hit the ground running and be ready to move forward," Noonan said. "I think we have a lot of pieces in place to maintain some consistency in our success.

ā€œ ... Everybody just needs to take this moment and feel the disappointment,ā€ he said. ā€œAnd then hopefully thereā€™s a period of time where guys can step back and appreciate where weā€™re at as a club and the position that we're in to hopefully compete for trophies every year.ā€