Jersey Express Survive Early Pressure, Advance to Third Round of US Open Cup

credit: Bob Hector Larson
The Express celebrate their first tally of the season

The Jersey Express began their US Open Cup quest by taking down a game Greek American side by the score of 3-0 on Wednesday night at home at N.J.I.T.’s Lubetkin Field in the second round of the US Open Cup.

The win was a marked improvement over last year that saw the Express knocked out of the competition in the same round by the Brooklyn Italians.   The win is also the first in the history of Jersey Express in this competition.

Drawing Greek American in the second round was not exactly a cake walk for Jersey Express S.C.

The amateur side has enjoyed success in the competition before albeit over 40 years ago.

This version of Greek American came out strong, aggressively going after the Jersey Express defense, but the home side held fast.

Jersey’s 4-2-3-1 formation was meant to attack the Greek Americans, but the Express found themselves chasing the ball for the first 20 minutes of the match.

At the half, the match was surprisingly scoreless but Jersey Express had cemented itself as the stronger side after the slow jittery start.

Coach Anderson Da Silva substituted Juan Correa in the attacking mid-fielder’s role and he paid dividends.

His cross was headed home by striker Marko Drljic who put the Express in the lead.

Captain Chris Karcz gave Jersey some breathing room in the 88th minute when scored off a pass from Correa who worked the right flank to create the opening.

Jersey finished the scoring when Adin Kavara found the netting in the 90th minute.

Matt Turner kept the clean sheet and the Express took their place in the third round for a Wednesday night home match-up against Red Bulls 2 a developmental team of parent club MLS’s New York Red Bulls.