Great action last night in the US Open Cup (like the FA Cup in England without the fanfare and prestige). It reminded me of NCAA basketball's March Madness with 2nd, 3rd and even 4th level semi-pro and amateur sides competing with and defeating MLS squads. Round 4 is next Tuesday, it is worth paying attention too.
Courtesy of Carolina RailHawks
It was a grim night for many MLS sides in US Open Cup play, as seven of the 14 sides in action were knocked out by lower-league opposition at the first time of asking. New England, LA, Chicago, Columbus, FC Dallas, Houston and Real Salt Lake will all watch the rest of the competition unfold from the sidelines, while D.C. and San Jose also endured close calls, but emerged with victories.
However, a few teams, notably Philadelphia and New York, enjoyed comfortable wins, and will look forward to fourth-round action in a week's time.
Richmond Kickers 1, D.C. United 2 (AET) — Marcelo Saragosa fired home in the 107th minute at Richmond City Stadium to give United a 2-1 win over their geographically nearest rivals. Hamdi Salihi got the scoring under way in the 24th minute before the Kickers earned a penalty after Saragosa tripped former RSL and Union man Chris Agorsor in the box. Stanley Nyazamba finished from the spot for Richmond. More…
Harrisburg City Islanders 3, New England Revolution 3 (Harrisburg win 4-3 on PKs) — A scoreless 90 minutes gave way to a furious two periods of extra time. A pair of goals from Lee Nguyen and a third from Benny Feilhaber – all in the first period of extra time – looked to have given the Revs a comfortable win. However, Brian Ombiji, J.T. Noone and Sainey Touray scored in the final nine minutes of extra time to force penalties. Harrisburg prevailed 4-3 in the shootout, with Kelyn Rowe and Feilhaber missing their spot kicks. More...
Carolina RailHawks 2, LA Galaxy 1 — Pat Noonan gave the visiting MLS Cup holders a first-half lead before they conceded two goals in the final 15 minutes at WakeMed Soccer Park. Ty Shipilane hit the equalizer for the RailHawks then set up Brian Shriver for the late winner. To add to the Galaxy’s misery, LA saw Chad Barrett, Hector Jimenez and Bryan Gaul fall to injuries; however, long-injured center back Leonardo made his first appearance in nearly a year. More...
Michigan Bucks 3, Chicago Fire 2 — A goal from Nermin Crkic in the third minute of added extra time handed the four-time USOC winners Chicago a stunning defeat. The Fire lineup included only two regular starters, and fell behind early to a goal from Tommy Catalano. Corben Bone then equalized in the 28th minute, and the Fire took the lead in the 53rd minute through Federico Puppo. But a 79th-minute cross from Crkic was finished by Nathaniel Boyden, setting the stage for Crkic’s overtime winner. More…
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1, Colorado Rapids 3 — It might not have been as crisp as the scoreboard indicated, but first half goals from Edu and Andre Akpan and a late tally from Kamani Hill led the Rapids into the next round for the first time since 2007. More…
Columbus Crew 1, Dayton Dutch Lions 2 — Substitute Daniel Holowaty inspired the Dutch Lions, assisting on two goals in the final 12 minutes to help the visitors overturn a one-goal deficit and advance to the next round. Olman Vargas scored for the Crew from the penalty spot in the 64th minute before Holowaty set up Jan Gerrit Bartels for the equalizer in the 79th minute and Gibson Bardsley for the winner in the 81st. More…
Charleston Battery 0, New York Red Bulls 3 — Kenny Cooper kept up his hot start to the season by opening the scoring in the 14th minute. Heath Pearce doubled the score moments before halftime, lashing home a shot. Connor Lade capped the performance with a fine goal in the 70th minute. More…
Philadelphia Union 3, Rochester Rhinos 0 — The Union held off Rochester and a lightning delay thanks to goals from Josué Martínez and Freddy Adu. Martínez opened the scoring in the fifth minute, while Adu headed home a second in the 29th minute, not long after the game resumed. The 22-year-old then drilled home a penalty kick to seal the result in the 73rd minute. More…
FC Dallas 0, Charlotte Eagles 2 — The home side lost two starting defenders in the first half and conceded a goal shortly thereafter in a stunning loss at FC Dallas Stadium. The goal came in the 43rd minute, when Darryl Roberts headed past a diving Chris Seitz. Nate Thornton then seal the victory in stoppage time. FCD lost Zach Loyd in the 24th minute after a collision, and George John went down six minutes later after challenging for a header with Charlotte forward Joseph Kabwe. Jackson was shown a straight red for a rough his challenge in the 78th minute.More…
San Antonio Scorpions 1, Houston Dynamo 0 — A 51st-minute Hans Denissen penalty kick was enough for the first-year Scorpions to topple the Dynamo. The chance came when former Real Salt Lake forward Pablo Campos drew a foul on Warren Creavalle in the box, and Denissen crushed his shot in off the underside of the crossbar. Laden with MLS veterans, the Scorpions next face the Charlotte Eagles — who toppled FC Dallas — on June 5.More…
Sporting Kansas City 3, Orlando City 2 — Paulo Nagamura opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, though Sporting were pegged back by Kevin Molino early in the second period. However, Soony Saad struck in the 65th and 69th minutes before Orlando's Anthony Pulis saw red in the 70th. The visitors pulled one back through Dennis Chin in the 84th minute, but their comeback stopped there. More…
Real Salt Lake 1, Minnesota Stars FC 3 — RSL never got a chance to lead as Minnesota jumped out to an early lead through Kevin Venegas. Luis Gil equalized through a 25-yard blast, but the Stars regained the lead on the stroke of halftime through Neil Hlavaty's spot kick after Jámison Olave's handball. Minnesota grabbed some insurance in the 58th minute through substitute Simone Bracalello and defended well to preserve the upset.More…
Ventura County Fusion 0, Chivas USA 1 — A first-half goal from Cesar Romero was enough to secure advancement for Chivas USA in their short trip up the coast to face PDL outfit Ventura County Fusion. More...
San Jose Earthquakes 2, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 1 — Mark Anderson sparked fears of an upset when he spotted David Bingham off his line from just inside the Quakes' half and lofted the ball home. However, Sam Garza finished from the top of the penalty area in the 63rd minute and added another seven minutes later with a fierce drive from the top of the box. Bingham needed to be aware, making a handful of late saves to preserve the Quakes' win.More...
Two MLS teams will play their third-round fixtures on Wednesday evening: the Seattle Sounders will host the Atlanta Silverbacks at 10 pm ET at the Starfire Sports Complex, while the Portland Timbers and Cal FC kick off at 10:30 pm ET at JELD-WEN Field.
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