 Baltimore MD - After three consecutive losses in the league, Crystal Palace had to travel 2,500 miles for a change of fortunes. They defeated the L.A. Legends of the PDL on Tuesday night by a score of 2-1 in the 1st round of the US Open Cup on the campus of Azusa Pacific University 24 miles east of Los Angeles. The result means Palace will have a slightly easier trip in round two. The Baltimore side will visit fellow USL2 league-mates the Harrisburg City Islanders on Tuesday June 24th with the contest kicking off at 7:05pm. If Palace beat Harrisburg, they will face Major League Soccer opposition, most likely a regional neighbor such as DC United, in the third round.
The opening 45 minutes were a scrappy affair on a short and narrow field, with Palace seemingly content to sit back and absorb the Legends offensive efforts. As the half wore on, both teams created chances but were unable to take full control of the match. But that all changed in the closing minutes of the half as an Andrew Marshall’s throw-in from the right was flicked across the six yard box by the head of Mike Lookingland to Pat Healey waiting at the back post. Healey struck a sweet left-footed volley inside the post to give Palace the advantage going into the break.
 The second half saw Palace start to win the possession battle and they gained an unexpected advantage in the 59th minute when the referee showed a straight red card to the Legends’ forward, Ross Schunk, after following through with his cleats into the thigh of Shintaro Harada. Palace were keeping the L.A. defense busy with Dan Lader and Pat Healey looking confident moving the ball through the middle, while Larry Mark, Val Teixeira and David Feazell were making runs to the byline and whipping over plenty of crosses. But the Legends weren’t going to give up easily and created several dangerous chances.
With 10 minutes left, L.A. equalized against the odds after earning a free kick that was initially cleared. The ball ended up with Reid Baker who put a perfect through-pass to an on-rushing Kevin Gallaugher in the middle of the box and he beat Brian Rowland with a low strike. Soon after, another Legends’ player had a great opportunity as he took a pass standing on the penalty spot, swiveled and fired but his shot hit the post and bounced out of danger.
In the 90th minute, Andrew Marshall took a huge throw-in 35-40 yards from the end line, which reached Pat Healey just inside the box. Healey took it down with one touch, turned his marker and smacked a rising shot inside the left post from 16 yards to give Palace the lead for good.
Palace’s next game is a league fixture at home against the second-placed Cleveland City Stars on Friday June 13th kicking off at 7:30pm at UMBC Stadium, a special night honoring the Baltimore Beltway Soccer League. You can buy tickets for that game here.
Watch streaming video of the game courtesy of HI-POD
According to HI-POD's website, the video stream only
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