June 12, 2025 | USASA Amateur Cup | Bob Pates Stadium, Burnsville, MN
Vlora Starting XI: Austin Gunkel, Oscar Alvarez, Rodolfo Batisti, Deq Jama, Jeronimo Zelaya Diaz, Luis Mencia, Ignacio Gonzalez, Miguel Leon, Benjamin Peña, Ciro Ottado, Easton Hoch
Vlora hosted the Milwaukee Torrent on Thursday, June 12, in an Amateur Cup rematch following the Torrent’s 1-0 win in Burnsville in 2024. The rematch resulted in a wild 5-3 win for the Torrent, ending Vlora’s cup campaign in the Region II quarterfinals.
The night got off to a troubled start with two early Torrent goals, the first coming in the 20th minute after a back and forth start and the second bundled in after a scrappy run for the visitors, to make it 2-0. Facing a Torrent team that is unbeaten in NPSL play this spring, Vlora had work to do. That work began with a goal for Nacho González, who stayed aware while the Torrent moved the ball along their defensive third, before poaching a pass and tapping the ball into the back of the net. Easton Hoch made a daring run down the left wing and cut a pass into Ciro Ottado for the equalizer at 2-2.
Vlora came out of halftime ready for more and took their first lead of the night in the 48th minute after a scrappy run from Miguel Leon found the player with space to slot home a shot and make it 3-2 for Vlora. The Torrent responded with a penalty 10 minutes later and a goal from open play minutes after to retake the lead at 4-3.
A red card for Batisti in the 71st minute, given based on denial of a goalscoring opportunity and given shortly after Vlora had claims for a penalty kick denied, made the hill to climb ever-taller. Vlora powered on regardless, before suffering a fifth goal in the 74th minute. Vlora pressed for a goal through the remaining 15 minutes and managed to threaten the Torrent repeatedly with hard-work from substitutes like Joseph Giron and Sohail Ebrahimi, but the fourth goal did not come.
The 5-3 loss ends Vlora’s Amateur Cup run, which featured wins over the MN Blizzard and United Serbians, for the year.
