“That's it for me, man,” he added. “I just want to see what we can do, win a couple games, play against a pro team and kind of get that adrenaline rush a little bit again.”
McLaughlin has history in the Open Cup. He was part of the FC Cincinnati team in 2017 that, before becoming an MLS franchise, made it all the way to the Semifinal as a second-division USL Championship team. They knocked off MLS’ Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire – a game that drew 32,287 fans (the second-largest crowd in the Open Cup’s Modern Era).
That game was broadcast nationally on ESPN.
McLaughlin, who remains as humble and hard-working today on the amateur training field as he was as a pro on live national TV, scored the third kick in the shootout win over the Fire before Mitch Hildebrand’s clinching penalty save.
“Blaise [Santangelo] is a legend, man, and he's got so much passion, he puts everything into it and he's changing the lives of a ton of guys,” said McLaughlin. “It's really special what he’s built. He's an incredible person and I hope to continue watching it grow.”
Betzwood Bomber, a Blue Jay and RFK
Santangelo’s history in the area’s soccer goes way, way back.
He grew up one of seven children in the Betzwood neighborhood near West Norriton and played high school ball at Archbishop Carroll for late U.S. Men’s National Team legend Alex Ely, who was an Open Cup winner with the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals of the 1960s.
“When the Flyers were winning Stanley Cups in the ‘70s we had a street hockey team we called the Betzwood Bombers – and we’d play other towns,” Santangelo said. “I think it was really just another reason to fight.”
Santangelo played many sports, but the soccer pitch was where his toughness and work ethic really paid off.
“I always had older brothers and we were all about doing the work and all that, you know, working hard on the field, being a dog,” he remembered. “We maybe were not the most talented, but we certainly had heart.”
Elizabethtown College men’s head coach Skip Roderick still remembers the first time he watched Santangelo play on a recruiting trip. “What I remember about him then is that it was like 95 degrees, and everybody was walking,” Roderick said. “And there was that energizer bunny [Santangelo] all over the field.”
