Someone should probably hand a red cape to Ricardo Jerez.
After all, the 39-year-old goalkeeper is certainly performing like soccer’s version of Superman for the Chattanooga Red Wolves as they make a special run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Jerez has made some incredible saves on penalty kicks through the first three rounds of the prestigious annual tournament, which includes 96 teams from all levels of the U.S. soccer league system. This is the 110th edition of the event, and the Red Wolves — who compete in USL League One, the third tier of the American professional system — are the first club to advance three times via penalty kicks.
The trio of shootout wins have come on the road, and the latest one, which made the Red Wolves one of the final 32 teams in the tournament, was sealed when the former keeper for Guatemala’s national team used his left hand to punch away a line-drive PK. Chattanooga beat the host Las Vegas Lights (who compete in the second-tier USL Championship), winning 4-3 on penalties Wednesday after 120 minutes of regulation and overtime ended with the teams tied 2-2.
That followed wins against the UPSL’s New Jersey Alliance (4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 tie on March 18 in Newark) and MLS Next Pro’s Chattanooga Football Club (5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 tie on April 2 at Finley Stadium). Having already beaten one team from a higher tier, the Red Wolves will try to take down another when they visit Major League Soccer’s Nashville SC at 8 p.m. Eastern on May 6 at Geodis Park.
“Making the last save in a PK shootout is what every single goalkeeper dreams about,” said Jerez, whose father was Guatemala’s keeper at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. “You want to win every single one. I am enjoying this Open Cup run like I am a 20-year-old guy making his debut. I am so excited about it. I was telling my family, I feel something right now I have never felt in my career.
“We have won three PK shootouts in the last month, and in all of them, I made some saves. To help our club keep advancing feels so good. It is making me feel younger again, too.”
The Red Wolves are the first Chattanooga team to ever reach the fourth round at an Open Cup, and their success has come with financial rewards for the club. With each victory in the tourney, a team receives $50,000, and the prize money is magnified for the title match as the champion earns $600,000 and the runner-up nets $250,000.
In addition to Jerez making stops, the Red Wolves’ Matthew Bentley and Owen Green have nailed all three of their PKs in the shootout wins, while defenders Eric Kinzner and Declan Watters have played every minute in all three rounds.
“The way we have won shows the resilience of our group. There is incredible work ethic and resolve in those guys,” Red Wolves assistant head coach Luke Winter said Friday. “We were in California last week from Friday to Sunday and then back home for a day before being in Las Vegas from Tuesday to Thursday this week. These guys have shown so much toughness and a lot of grit. They are making history.”
Jerez saved seven shots Wednesday as Las Vegas dominated time of possession, controlling the ball 70.1% of the match. After his PK save on the Lights’ fifth and final attempt of the shootout, he was mobbed by his teammates while teammate Michael Knapp and head coach Scott Mackenzie jumped into his arms in celebration.
“We are enjoying every single minute and building a culture, not just for us, but one that our fans and city can take pride in,” Jerez said. “We are showing every single game the character and grit people want to see on a soccer team. That is why we are so proud of what we are doing. We have to show our culture every single game. It is massive what we are doing right now.”
Keeping it up will require the Red Wolves to generate more of that grit over the long run of a massive tournament — the date of this year’s Open Cup final has not been announced, but the past three were held in September — while continuing to play their regular USL League One schedule.
The potential rewards make it worth the effort.
“The Open Cup is made for teams who want to be giant killers,” Winter said. “It happens all over the world all the time. So we know there is a chance. We are going to be playing quality opposition, but we embrace it and the moment to go and make more history.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.