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El Farolito’s Dembor Benson was named the tournament’s lower division player by TheCup.us

El Farolito’s Dembor Benson was named the tournament’s lower division player by TheCup.us

Graphics by Phil Naegely

Two game-winning goals, an equalizer and the start away against bitter rivals. Dembor Benson has balanced quantity and quality in a red-hot Open Cup season. Benson scored four goals in three games, becoming the tournament’s top scorer despite only making it to the third round.

With a three-way tie for the Golden Boot, several players were in the running for the award. However, given the circumstances and the magnitude of Benson’s accomplishments, he was chosen as the clear winner of TheCup.us 2024 Lower Division Player of the Tournament award.

Benson is the first player from an NPSL team to win it since TheCup.us added a lower league version of the Player of the Tournament award in 2012.

“I was a little surprised because there are so many teams, there are so many good players and well, I understand it’s a little difficult (to win this award), but honestly I’m very happy,” Benson said , after finding out that he won the prize.

Benson came out on top, with NYCFC II’s Jonathan Jimenez finishing second. Jimenez led the tournament with four goals and two assists, helping NYCFC II (MLS NEXT Pro) advance to the round of 16 (and the $25,000 Division 3 prize money). Indy Eleven goalkeeper Hunter Sulte, who kept three clean sheets and helped his team advance to the semifinals, finished third.

At the start of the tournament, El Farolito seemed unstoppable. They subsequently caused surprises against professional teams, with Dembor Benson scoring four of the team’s five goals. The first goal came in the 68th minute in a 2-1 away win against Timbers2 (MLS NEXT Pro). This performance made him only the second Honduran native to be named TheCup.us Player of the Round, joining Romell Quioto, who won the award as a member of the Houston Dynamo (MLS) in the 2018 quarterfinals.

The next two goals came in the form of a brace against Central Valley Fuego (USL League One), where he equalized just before halftime and scored the winner in the 88th minute to secure his team’s place in the third round.

He scored his fourth and final goal of the tournament in the first half of an away game against local rivals Oakland Roots (USL Championship). El Farolito couldn’t hold on to the early lead as the Roots won 2-1 in extra time.

When asked about his thoughts on the early exit from the tournament despite his success in front of goal, he replied: “Well, the personal aspect was good to be honest, but we also knew that on paper they were the favorites We were good too, but we kept believing. We were like a family and knew that the other team would be stronger than us. Unfortunately, the expulsion broke us and what happened, happened. To be honest, if we hadn’t thrown that player out things would have been different because we felt very comfortable in that game and we won at the beginning. We felt really good in that game, but playing with one less man is difficult… we felt we could have done more.”

After an impressive few years at El Farolito, Benson’s performance earned him a spot with one of his opponents in the US Open Cup: USL League One team Central Valley Fuego, where he scored three goals in his first ten games.

When asked what inspires him to stay consistent, he said: “To be honest, the main thing that inspires me is my family,” Benson said of his . My family always looks after me. We will always watch football, that is our passion. My son, my wife and my mother, it’s a passion of theirs…they always support me and every time I take the pitch I say, ‘This is for my family.’ ‘I’m going to do it for my son, mine Wife and my family always educate and support me and I think that is the main motivation that drives me in every game.”