CARSON, Calif. - It happens. Sometimes, the opposing goalkeeper stops everything. And sometimes, teams feel as if the calls went against them.
For the New York Red Bulls, it just so happened that everything came together against them on Tuesday.
Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin made 14 saves and the Galaxy scored three extra-time goals as New York lost to the Galaxy 3-1 in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match. Cronin made world-class saves throughout the match as the Red Bulls peppered the Galaxy goal with shots.
But Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said that his club should have walked away with a win and a U.S. Open Cup berth.
"It was a game we should have won but we didn't. At the end of the day, we had enough chances where we could have buried one and won the game in regulation," Arena said. "But Steve Cronin was excellent today."
For New York, the lone bright spot was newcomer Juan Pablo Angel. The former Aston Villa striker entered the match in the 60th minute and finished the match with seven shots and six shots on goal. Cronin, though, stopped five of them.
The only shot Cronin could not stop was a free kick Angel knocked in with 11 minutes remaining in extra time.
"I was pleased with his performance," Arena said. "He had some other chances. I think he'd like to have a couple of those headers back."
Still, by the time Angel stepped onto the field, Cronin had made six saves and had stopped a New York penalty kick. Cronin knocked down Josmer Altidore inside the penalty area in the 12th minute. Altidore took the penalty kick but slipped a low shot on goal that Cronin easily scooped up.
"Anytime you save a penalty, that gives you a lot of confidence," Red Bulls defender Todd Dunivant said. "He was off from there. We had about 10 really good chances and he snuffed them all out. He kept them in the game. That was the difference."
For forward Clint Mathis, their own offensive shortcomings cost the Red Bulls the match.
"That's part of the game. You have to finish your chances. We didn't finish the PK," Mathis said. "Unfortunately they got a few goals on us that we don't agree with. ... Sometimes you get those calls and sometimes you don't. If you don't finish those chances it doesn't do you much good."
New York coaches and players said the final two Galaxy goals were offside. After Donovan converted a penalty kick three minutes into extra time, the Galaxy pushed forward. Santino Quaranta whipped a cross in from the left side of the penalty area. Kyle Martino put his head on the cross, slammed it into the crossbar and over the goal line.
After Angel's free kick goal in the 109th minute, the Galaxy got a late insurance goal when Quaranta finished off a Galaxy counterattack.
"I told Landon at the end of the game he didn't make a good decision on the pass to Santino because he should have been aware that Santino was a good two yards offside and Landon told me four," Arena said.
After giving up two goals in the final five minutes in a 3-3 regular-season draw at Real Salt Lake on Saturday, players said the calls have gone against them in two consecutive matches now.
"Both games were some dodgy, dodgy refereeing decisions against us," Red Bulls skipper Claudio Reyna said. "So we're just kind of shaking our heads but we can't get dejected."
While the Red Bulls are off to a 3-0-2 start in league, the club is now eliminated from any hopes of lifting their first Dewar Trophy. For Dunivant, a member of the Galaxy's double-winning 2005 squad, the loss is difficult to handle.
"We wanted to win this competition. We didn't fly all the way out here to come away with a loss," Dunivant said. "We started our full team and were looking to win the game. It's disappointing that we're out of it so early."
If anything, though, the loss puts the rest of the year in clear focus.
"We've got to focus on the league now," Dunivant said. "This club is still looking for its first championship and Open Cup would have been nice but we have to set our sights now on MLS Cup now."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
