gamblerssoccer.com - The New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, winners of six straight
regular season matches, won their first match in the U.S. Open Cup Tournament
1-0 in double overtime over the Austin Lone Stars Tuesday night before
1,427 at Nelson Field. Mickey Trotman connected on the loan goal of the

match in the 109th minute to give New Orleans (9-6) the victory.

A pressing Austin offense lost control the ball on the left side to the
Gamblers’ Ricardo Blanchard, who crossed to the middle of the field to
Trotman, who had broken free from Lone Star defender Bryan Pearce. Trotman
broke toward the goal and one touched the ball over Austin goalkeeper Robert
Weaver into the top on the net.

"This was a quality team that we faced tonight," said Gamblers
head coach Mike Jeffries. "When you get into U.S. Open Cup play, there
is a lot to play for, so every game is tough. I’m proud of our effort and
now we need to get back to the business of preparing for our game this
weekend."  Quinn O’Sullivan pitched the shutout in goal for the Gamblers

through regulation and both overtime periods, a total of 109 minutes.

O’Sullivan came up with a critical save in the 61st minute. Lone Star forward
Ben Crawley placed a hard shot from right side of box that O’Sullivan saved,
but the ball bounced back out to Crawley, who attempted a bicycle kick
that O’Sullivan batted out of play. The Lone Stars (9-3) took eight shots on goal,

compared to only four for the Gamblers. Weaver had two saves for Austin, while

O’Sullivan saved four.

The U.S. Open Cup Tournament features teams from divisions one, two and
three and amateur leagues in the United States, including teams from the
MLS and the A-League.

The Gamblers will face a team from the MLS in the third round. The pairings
for the third round, which are done geographically, will be announced in
the next 10 days when all of the second round matches have been completed.
"We are anticipating that we will playing against our parent club, the Dallas Burn,

at the end of July," said Gamblers general manager Henry Green.