St. Louis CITY Lift First-Ever Trophy With US Open Cup Shootout Win Over Columbus

St. Louis CITY SC are champions of the U.S. Open Cup, sealing the first trophy in the club's history with a 5-3 penalty shootout victory over the Columbus Crew at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Wednesday evening. The 111th edition of the tournament was decided from the spot after two scoreless hours of football.

The hosts had carried the game early, pinning St. Louis back and nearly breaking through before the interval. Crew defender Mohamed Farsi crashed an effort off the post late in the first half, with a diving Roman Bürki doing enough to help it on its way, keeping the deadlock intact at the break.

Drama struck in the second half when Bürki, the CITY goalkeeper, was forced off after a collision with Anass Zaroury as the match drifted toward extra time. Neither side could find a winner in the additional 30 minutes, sending the final to a shootout contested between the two backup keepers.

Ben Lundt, who had replaced the injured Bürki, made an instant hero of himself by denying Santiago Rodríguez's opening penalty to hand St. Louis the early advantage. The visitors never let it slip, converting all five of their spot kicks, with Daniel Edelman dispatching the decisive one to spark wild celebrations and claim a historic first piece of silverware for the club.