FC Cincinnati Mount Comeback for the Ages and Do So Despite the Circumstances, Not in Spite of Them

August 6, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Cincinnati News Release

If you saw Paul Walters smile just a little bigger than everyone else last Thursday night when FC Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead over Club Querétaro, you can understand why now. Walters, 20, was told prior to that match that if FC Cincinnati won their opening game in Leagues Cup to secure their passage to the knockout stages, he would be in line to make his first team debut in the second match of the group stage.

At Full-Time on Thursday, Roman Celentano (who kept a clean sheet that night) went directly to Walters knowing this is how the situation was going to play out, and told the FCC Academy product “Get Ready for Monday, Big Man.”

Walters was ready for Monday, and FC Cincinnati needed him to be.

Somewhat left behind from the dramatics of Monday night’s come from behind victory over New York City FC, where The Orange and Blue scored four times in the final ten minutes to secure not only a victory but also the first time they have won when trailing by two goals in the club’s history, Walters stood on his head to keep FC Cincinnati in the game and give them a chance to even make the comeback with a career professional best of eight saves to keep New York at bay.

The other eight-save game in Walters’ portfolio was an MLS NEXT Pro match with FC Cincinnati 2. So to make such a statement in his debut first team match certainly shone sun on this young player’s potential. But potential is for the future, FCC needed him now and he delivered. Rolling across the box to make diving staves, leaping to punch shots away from danger, absorbing them when he framed up his saves and caught them.

It wasn’t a perfect night, Walters lamented post game that he “basically gifted them that second goal,” when he was unable to collect a rebound on a shot and the rebound rolled to an NYCFC player who scored the second goal for NYCFC. But when the chips were down, the Cincinnati native who was proud to play for his hometown club answered the call.

For 80 minutes his story seemed to be the only one that would come out of TQL Stadium with any positive effect. Even if, let’s say, FC Cincinnati hadn’t mounted what can only be described as one of the most impressive comebacks in Leagues Cup history and suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat, Walters’ performance still would have been excellent and exciting.

But what transpired in the final 10 minutes of the match is where club lore is born. It made for the kind of game that…