"Most of the teams were certainly stacked with great talent," Ercoli said. "Their [the MLS teams’] budgets were larger. Over the course of a season we probably wouldn't have fared as well, but in a one-to-one, do-or-die situation, we had a lot of gamers."
Leicester City standout and English international Jamie Vardy, who helped revive the club as a part-owner and who was a member of the 2020-21 English F.A. Cup winning side, is hopeful.
"The '99 Open Cup is special," he said in an email interview. "It’s the only way the lower league clubs get a chance to compete against the MLS teams. I’m the only player in the history of the F.A. Cup to play in every round of the competition and then go on to win it. Winning the Open Cup again with Rochester is an ambition that we want to replicate.
“The more people doubt us and say we can’t do it, the more it motivates us to achieve it again…It will take as long as it takes but I won’t lie to you it’s something we’ve talked about," Added the England international.
Vardy on the New Rochester Train
Head coach Bruno Baltazar said that a third-tier team winning U.S. soccer’s national championship was a long shot. But teams can dream. And they can use the 1999 title as inspiration.
"We don't have the responsibility of winning the Cup," he said. "Clubs in MLS are much more well-structured and stronger. The budgets are amazing. They can bring top players from all over the world. But it is inspirational what happened in '99. We want to chase that dream. Our keywords are believe and possible."
RNYFC aren’t the only first-year Rochester, N.Y. team vying for national glory this year. Flower City Union, who made their debut in another third division league, the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), three weekends ago, also have designs on Cup success.
Flower City beat the Western Mass Pioneers in the Second-Round last week and now face three-time Open Cup champs D.C. United of MLS in the Third Round.
"It'd be great for us to advance in the tournament, make a run as an underdog club,” said vice chairman Mark Washo, who understands the difficulty. “It's hard."
Both clubs have had their challenges up to this point.
Under an ownership group headed by David Weaver, the CEO and founder of Rochester-based Aphex BioCleanse Systems Inc., Flower City joined NISA in 2021. Rochester native Jimmy Paola, who works in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, became owner late last year. Wanting to establish a reputation as a community team, Flower City unveiled an opportunity for fans to own shares in the team through wefunder.com. Minimum investment was $150. Fans have pledged $63,600.
A Second Party Heard from in Town
"It's really all organic word of mouth," said Washo, the Flower City boss. "The reaction has been pretty strong."
Head coach and Rochester native Zach Agliata who, at 29, is one of the USA’s youngest pro coaches, coached in the New York Red Bulls organization in various capacities. He missed the beginning of preseason while completing his masters’ degree in coaching at the Johan Cruyff Institute in the Netherlands.
