Inter Miami CF II hosted Columbus Crew 2 on Sunday, Sept. 11 at DRV PNK Stadium and earned a 1-1 draw in regulation, but the visitors claimed an extra point in the penalty shootout.
Darren Powell’s men lined up with CJ dos Santos in goal; Harvey Neville, Modesto Mendez, captain Abel Caputo, Noah Allen manning the back line; Lawson Sunderland, David Ruiz, and Benjamin Cremaschi in the midfield; and Shanyder Borgelin taking point for the offense alongside Shaan Hundal and Dairon Reyes.
Inter Miami started the game energetically, immediately applying pressure to the Columbus backline, and getting stuck into tackles early.
In the ninth minute, Neville whipped in a great curling cross that was met with a Cremaschi header, ensuring that Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte was kept on his toes. A minute later, dos Santos safely gathered an attempt on goal from Columbus.
The Inter Miami offense would continue to mount pressure, with Neville and Cremaschi linking up time and again on the right wing to threaten the visitors’ back line. The duo would combine in the 24th minute, as Cremaschi deftly maneuvered through the midfield, and provided a pass to Neville on the right flank to whip a dangerous cross for Hundal.
In the 30th minute, following a clean shot on goal from Borgelin, Marco Micaletto latched on to a pass just outside the Inter Miami penalty area and fired past dos Santos to score against the run of play.
The teams saw out the half with the Herons making several forays into the opposition third, with Allen and Borgelin forcing several nervous moments from Schulte in the Columbus goal.
The half ended with Columbus leading by a single goal. The second half started with Columbus attempting to apply pressure, earning an early corner in the 47th minute. Their focus on offense would be costly, as Cremaschi broke free on the right wing in the 50th minute, playing a low, squared cross onto the feet of Borgelin, who coolly slotted it past Schulte to make it 1-1. The goal was Borgelin’s team-leading 13th of the campaign.
In the 62nd minute, Braxton Najib and Logan Batiste entered the game, relieving Sunderland and Neville for the evening. They were joined by George Acosta and Kobi Thomas seven minutes later as Cremaschi and Hundal ended their shifts on the pitch.
Najib was shown a red card in the 75th minute; the Inter Miami defense remained stoic for the rest of the half, receiving reinforcement from Tyler Hall in the 89th minute who entered the game for Reyes. Dos Santos produced two incredible saves in the 85th minute and stoppage time to preserve the 1-1 scoreline, and sent the teams to a penalty shootout for an extra point.
Inter Miami CF II went first in the penalty shootout, with goals scored by Acosta, Thomas, Ruiz, Borgelin and Caputo. Dos Santos kept the team in the shootout with an incredible save to deny Columbus the go-ahead goal, but the visitors narrowly escaped the shootout with an extra point, finishing with a score of 5-6.
Inter Miami CF II faces Toronto FC II in its next match, at York Lions Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed on mlsnextpro.com.
