Their quest for glory, for now, was short lived. But it moved the needle for both the club and its community.
For the first time in their history, New Jersey Alliance FC qualified for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Alliance fell 4–2 in penalties to Chattanooga Red Wolves SC at Newark’s Lubetkin Field on Tuesday. Despite facing a professional side, Alliance treated the match just like they would any other.
“There’s a little bit of butterflies,” said Alliance head coach Robert Kruk. “The nerves are coming in. It’s just a good thing, that means we’re all excited to be here, and we’re excited for this opportunity.”
The club had been training since January for what was the biggest match in their history. The preparation had paid off
“We’re feeling great,” said team captain Marlon Kyle Preciado. “We’ve been preparing for this for a long time already, and the team, we are more than excited to get this started because we believe in our work.”
Alliance FC are a semi-professional soccer club that compete in the United Premier Soccer League. For the first time in their 13-year history, the club this year qualified for the U.S. Open Cup — the country’s oldest national soccer competition.
Their first test, the Red Wolves, were a professional club that play in USL League One — the third division of U.S. professional soccer.
“It’s more of a privilege,” said Preciado. “Anybody wants to play a team like that, that’s higher level, to see where you guys are at as a team, and we’re more than excited to bring the game onto them, you know? We’re very positive about today.”
Alliance are one of 10 UPSL teams to have qualified for the tournament.
The club’s players, coaches and staff are proud of this achievement, but their ultimate goal is something bigger than themselves.
The club has come a long way since it began, but with a potential $600,000 on the line, the winnings would have undoubtedly helped both the local soccer community and the broader Newark community.
In general, something that we’re trying to grow is all sports,” said Edgar Guardia, the club’s president and founder. “Newark is a beautiful city, but also has its downpoints. We would like to build on those downpoints, give people options.”
“For us, it would be providing the environment,” said Briana Morales, Alliance’s vice president. “Let us build fields so that we can continue playing, we can continue inviting youth, we can continue working with the youth … If we build the fields, then they continue playing.”
Losing the match did not take away the club’s sense of accomplishment.
“For me, from 2012 to now, has been quite the ride that I wasn’t expecting,” said Guardia. “I mean, now we’re pushing to, like any other club, wanting to step up to the next level. This is gonna show us, and show everybody, that although we’re not where we can be, that we can still perform.”
