Facundo Torres opened the scoring in the 75th minute before converting a penalty to secure the first trophy in the history of Orlando City, which thrashed the Sacramento Republic 3-0 on Wednesday to win the Open Cup.
The Uruguayan’s successful penalty in the 80th minute left the game all but settled for the Lions, who hadn’t won a title since joining MLS in 2015. Orlando native Benji Michel scored the third goal in stoppage time.
Sacramento, which plays in the USL, was seeking to become the second club in that lower division to win the cup in a quarter century. The Rochester Rhinos captured the title in 1999.
Torres’ first goal came after a pass from Michel, a player from Orlando’s youth team, who signed with the first team before the 2019 campaign. The Uruguayan’s goal made the crowd that filled Exploria Stadium chant: “ We want the cup!”
Michel was fouled in the box and Torres turned the penalty into a goal. The 3-0 came in the sixth minute of replacement.
Torres, who signed the juiciest contract awarded by Orlando in January, could be part of the Uruguayan team that will play the World Cup in Qatar starting in November.
“We are very happy with the production that ‘Facu’ has had, especially in the last month and a half, when we needed it most,” said Colombian coach Óscar Pareja. “I think those players who change games and put their teams on their shoulders are hard to find. In ‘Facu’ we have already found it”.