It was an amazing two nights of action, as we saw in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Some of those teams from the USL Championship, USL League One, NISA, NPSL, and amateur division came to play and battled each other till no one was left standing. We had several matches ending in scoreless draws heading to the penalty kick shootout or a thrilling match, that saw plenty of goals from both sides and lasted to penalties or finishing off in extra time.
The new kids in USL Championship Rhode Island FC headed down to the Queen City to face USL League One's Charlotte Independence, and both sides truly gave it their all. Six goals were scored in regulation, then another two in the extra time session to force a shootout. It went through seven rounds until Anthony Sorenson of the Independence buried the winner, while Gabriel Ales's attempt was stopped for Rhode Island.
There's nothing like a good old knock'em out, drag'em out battle in the city of Detroit where Detroit City FX took on their rivals Michigan Stars at Keyworth Stadium. There was plenty of action and plenty of yellow cards. Both sides went down to ten men but, it was the heroics of Maxi Rodriguez who converted the match winner late.
The battle by the bay saw San Francisco's Taco eatery El Farolito once again take on the Oakland Roots of the USL Championship, and both sides gave it their all. Dembor Benson made a big splash again to put the Yellow shirts ahead in the 12th minute, and Guillermo Diaz equalized in first-half stoppage time. Then silly yellow cards pilled up on Edgard Kreye of El Farolito. as he got sent off in the 51st minute. Into extra time, Treyvone Reid scored the match-winner in the first fifteen minutes.
Hartford Athletic took on NYCFC 2 and just when you thought the Connecticut club was going to get the upper hand, everything fell apart in extra time. Goals from Romario Williams and Desane Beckford were no match for the brace by Taylor Calheira, then the match winner in extra time by Maximo Carrizo to put the blue side second team of NYC into the next round. Both sides lost men on straight red cards inside second-half stoppage time.
It was a big match between the clubs that must pass through Washington DC as 1995 Open Cup Champion Richmond Kickers took on DC United's minor league side Loudoun United. While there were no goals throughout 120 minutes, the action was fantastic. A lot, of gasps from the crowd from both sides as the City Stadium was getting a treat with this contest. It went down to penalties as the visitors wet first. Loudoun converted all their penalty, but the Kickers converted their first four until Arthur Bosua, who was trying to extend the shootout got stopped.
Miami FC took on South Georgia Tormenta, and it felt like, after the first half, they were going to hold the lead at two goals to one until their goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye was shown a straight red card in first-half stoppage time. Then Tormenta equalized in the 69th minute by Conor Doyle, then two late ones cemented the victory by Callum Stretch and Sebastian Vivas to steal a win on the road being up a man.
It was the Stefano Pinho show as he scored all four goals for the Birmingham Legion in their four goals to two victories over the Chattanooga Red Wolves Buried two in regulation and two more in extra time to knock out the USL League One opponent. It was an amazing match.
Another scoreless draw from regulation to extra time as Union Omaha battled the El Paso Locomotive. The Texas side went down to ten men on a straight Red Card on Noah Dollenmayer in second-half stoppage time. But it all went down in the penalty kick shootout. It would be a seventeen-year-old Mark Bronnick converting the winning penalty to send Union Omaha to the next round.
But the final match of the night was in lucky Las Vegas as the Lights hosted Spokane Velocity, and it felt like it was all over when Valentin Noel scored in the 51st minute. Derek Waldeck of Spokane earned his second yellow then red in second-half stoppage time. But all of a sudden, late drama came out of nowhere as Andre Lewis ripped a 40-yard banger to send the match into extra time. But that's how it ended as Ricky Alba scored the match-winner in the 113th minute.
Here are the scores from the Third Round.
LOUISVILLE CITY 3:1 GREENVILLE TRIUMPH
DETROIT CITY 1:0 MICHIGAN STARS
CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE 4(5:4(4 RHODE ISLAND FC
AFTER SEVEN ROUNDS OF THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT
NEW MEXICO UNITED 3:1 LUBBOCK MATADORES
OAKLAND ROOTS 2:1 EL FAROLITO
AFTER EXTRA TIME
HARTFORD ATHLETIC 2:3 NYCFC II
AFTER EXTRA TIME
NORTH CAROLINA FC 1:0 CAROLINA CORE
MEMPHIS 901 FC 2:0 MIAMI UNITED
RICHMOND KICKERS 0(4:0(5 LOUDOUN UNITED
MIAMI FC 2:4 SOUTH GEORGIA TORMENTA
FC TULSA 2:1 NORTHERN COLORADO HAILSTORM
BIRMINGHAM LEGION 4:2 CHATTANOOGA RED WOLVES
AFTER EXTRA TIME
CHICAGO FIRE II 0:1 INDY ELEVEN
UNION OMAHA 0(5:0(3 EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE
MONTEREY BAY FC 2:1 IRVINE ZETA
LAS VEGAS LIGHTS 2:1 SPOKANE VELOCITY
AFTER EXTRA TIME
Here is a recap of the prize money at stake!
https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/1c73ofi/on_the_open_cup_and_the_25000_prizes_as_of_april/
For discussion: is Loudon considered a minor league team for DC United?
I've heard that said that way before, but I've felt like NextPro, and the change in structure at Loudon, have changed this. NP teams are generally true minor league teams - teams in a lower league than the parent organization, with rosters controlled by the parent. I don't think that applies here anymore(?).
While we're here, I acknowledge that I don't care for the term "minor league" for lower soccer. So, part of my question is just "me". It's a tough road on people understanding soccer in this country, and i see that term used as a shortcut because most people understand minor league baseball, as a concept. Dothan, AL is adding a USL2 team this year, and in the announcement I saw the owner describe the club/league as minor league.
Why does it even matter? Here's an anecdote. I went to the Bham Open Cup game last night. It was small venue, and really the fans that were there were pretty dedicated fans (or why would they be there?). It was the kind of environment where the people directly in front of us were parents of an academy player on the roster last night, next to us and directly behind us were two team owners, behind them was a veteran player's wife and mother, etc. At half time, as people had gotten up and circulated, i heard a kid across the aisle ask his dad "Are the teams pro, or semi-pro?". You're watching a USLC vs USL1 match-up. The dad said "Semi-pro". I almost fell down.