USL News Release
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
TAMPA, FL -- The Second Round of the 2009 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup proved to be a thriller as two of the eight contests required penalty kicks to decide a winner while two others needed overtime, including one of the two narrow affairs that finished 1-0 - an upset by the Premier Development League’s Ocean City Barons.
The Barons posted their second consecutive victory over a Maryland-based USL Second Division club on a 108th minute overtime penalty kick converted by JT Noone, defeating the Real Maryland Monarchs 1-0 a week after knocking out Crystal Palace Baltimore 3-0. The win leaves Ocean City as the lone amateur club remaining in the tournament.
In a similar result, the Charleston Battery remain unbeaten in all competitions for the year with a Tyler Hemming penalty in the 65th minute of their match in Miami.
In a showdown of USL-2 clubs, the Western Mass Pioneers continued to show their recent form is true, taking the league leading Harrisburg City Islanders all the way to penalties in a scoreless stalemate. Goalkeeper Chase Harrison made back-to-back saves in the second and third rounds to lead Harrisburg onto the next round with a 4-3 decision in the tiebreaker.
The thriller of the night proved to be the North Carolina battle between the USL Second Division’s Wilmington Hammerheads and the USL First Division’s second-place Carolina RailHawks. The lower division Hammerheads got on the board first via former USL-1 striker Chris Bagley in the 22nd minute with Hamed Diallo pulling the hosts level in the 34th.
A scoreless second half forced overtime, where Wilmington went on top again just two minutes in courtesy of another former USL-1 player, defender Tim Karalexis. But Carolina tied it right back up six minutes later via Brian Plotkin and took the lead with two minutes left courtesy of Gavin Glinton. With the victory in their grasp, it slipped away just as quick with Kenny Bundy finding the net in stoppage time to send the game to penalties. A Daryl Sattler save on Daniel Paladini’s opening shot proved to be the RailHawks’ undoing as Wilmington converted their first four and watched Sattler stop Mark Schulte in the fifth round.
In another close affair, the Rochester Rhinos saw their match go to extra time for a second straight round after surviving penalties against USL-2 Pittsburgh in the First Round. After suffering a 3-0 defeat away to Cleveland on the weekend, they survived a scare after a second half penalty from the visiting City Stars Ryan Stewart on the hour mark, rallying to post a 2-1 overtime victory. Ryan Heins provided the equalizer eight minutes from time and defender Kenney Bertz struck in the 113th.
Real Maryland Monarchs 0 :: OT :: 1 Ocean City Barons
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Cleveland City Stars 1 :: OT :: 2 Rochester Rhinos
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Wilmington Hammerheads (4) 3 :: PK :: 3 (3) Carolina RailHawks
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Western Mass Pioneers (3) 0 :: PK :: 0 (4) Harrisburg City Islanders
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Charleston Battery 1 :: 0 Miami FC Blues
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Chicago Fire 0 :: 4 Minnesota Thunder
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El Paso Patriots 0 :: 2 Austin Aztex
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Portland Timbers 3 :: 0 Sonoma County Sol
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Third Round Matches - June 30 - July 1
- Harrisburg at New England Revolution
- Ocean City Barons at DC United
- Chicago Fire (MLS) at Wilmington
- Chivas USA at Charleston
- Columbus Crew at Rochester
- Kansas City Wizards at Minnesota
- Houston Dynamo at Austin
- Seattle Sounders at Portland
