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USL Top Five – Opening Cup Upsets

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 05/25/18, 2:12PM EDT

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From Richmond to Cincinnati, here are five memorable opening Open Cup victories


Photo courtesy Charleston Battery

The nine remaining USL clubs learned their Major League Soccer opponents for the Fourth Round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Thursday morning, with five of those set to welcome top-flight opposition to their home venues in search of an upset and a place in the Round of 16.

Ahead of the contests set for June 5th and 6th, we’re going to look back at memorable victories for USL clubs that happened upon the entry of MLS clubs into the tournament in prior years, which between 2011-13 was formally the Third Round and from 2014 on has become the Fourth Round.

That means while you won’t see the Richmond Kickers’ Quarterfinal victory against Sporting Kansas City in 2011, or FC Cincinnati’s Round of 16 victory against the Chicago Fire in 2017, there are plenty of memorable moments from across the league to shine a light on.

Richmond Kickers 2, Columbus Crew SC 1
Third Round | June 28, 2011


Photo courtesy Skyler Schmitt / Columbus Crew SC

The Kickers’ run to the Semifinals of the 2011 tournament is always celebrated for the fact that the side became the first to defeat Sporting Kansas City at its then recently-opened new home that’s now known as Children’s Mercy Park, but the Kickers’ wouldn’t have had that opportunity if not for a dramatic victory on the road against Columbus in the previous round.

Columbus was coming off a second-place finish in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference the previous season, and having reached the Open Cup final, and its lineup against the Kickers while not necessarily full-strength included the likes of Robbie Rogers, Justin Meram and former MLS all-time leading scorer Jeff Cunningham. Despite that the Kickers took the lead in the 22nd minute when Nozomi Hiroyama, who curled home a finish from the top of the penalty area to put the visitors ahead.

Crew SC hit back 13 minutes later when Cole Grossman put home a finish off a cross by Meram to leave the game even at halftime. Richmond almost regained the lead midway through the second half when Matt Delicate hit the post with a header, but shortly following that chance Columbus was reduced to 10 men when Danny O’Rourke was sent off. The Kickers took advantage with five minutes to go when Delicate made no mistake from a ball forward by Edson Elcock and headed home the ninth Open Cup goal of his career to send Richmond on with a dramatic victory.

Harrisburg City Islanders 3 (4), New England Revolution 3 (3)
Third Round | May 29, 2012


Photo courtesy Harrisburg City Islanders

There are comeback victories, and there are comeback victories, as was made evident by the Harrisburg City Islanders – now known as Penn FC – when it welcomed the New England Revolution to the Skyline Sports Complex back in 2012. In one of the more remarkable games of the Open Cup’s modern era, Harrisburg not only rallied from a three-goal deficit to its MLS opponent, but did so in the span of nine minutes in the second half of extra time.

Harrisburg was handed a man advantage nine minutes before halftime when New England’s Diego Fagundez was sent off for a challenge on Tom Brandt, but the game remained quiet as the sides remained scoreless at the end of 90 minutes. Then, things got wild. Kelyn Rowe gave the Revolution the lead in the 95th minute, and Lee Nyugen converted a penalty kick after Benny Feilhaber was brought down in the penalty area five minutes later. Feilhaber then added a third in the 103rd minute, appearing to seal a place in the next round for the 10-man Revolution.

But with their player-advantage the City Islanders began to form a comeback. With nine minutes to go, Brian Ombiji put home a cross by Tom Mellor to give the hosts hope, and that was followed six minutes later by a scrambled finish from Sainey Touray that made it a one-goal game. With nothing the lose, Harrisburg threw caution to the wind, and it blew up an equalizer by J.T. Noone on a shot from 20 yards to send the game to a penalty shootout.

Noone almost went from hero to goat as he missed the City Islanders’ opening penalty of the shootout, but Rowe hit the crossbar for the Revs in the second round to get things back on level terms. Harrisburg then saw the trio of current Charlotte Independence defender Bilal Duckett, Drew Yates and Andrew Marshall find the net, which laid all the pressure on Feilhaber to send the shootout to sudden death in the fifth round. Harrisburg goalkeeper Nick Noble won the duel, and the City Islanders advanced.

Charleston Battery 1, San Jose Earthquakes 0
Third Round | May 28, 2013


Photo courtesy Charleston Battery

As the last lower-division side to reach the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Final in 2008, the Charleston Battery have had a strong record against their Major League Soccer counterparts over the years. In 2013, against a San Jose Earthquakes side that had finished top of the MLS Western Conference the season prior, the Battery’s Open Cup prowess once again came to the fore at MUSC Health Stadium.

At the forefront of the contest was Colin Falvey, now of Ottawa Fury FC, who would go on to be named USL Defender of the Year at the end of the season. The Irish center back made a key play early in the contest as he cleared a chance for San Jose’s Mike Fucito off the line after the Quakes had broached the Battery’s back line, but that proved the best chance for either side in the first half as the game went to the break scoreless.

The Quakes twice threatened early in the second half as Stephen Lenhart forced a good save by Battery goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper, while current Indy Eleven midfielder Brad Ring also smashed a shot wide for the visitors. The Battery also had chances, with Dane Kelly opening up a shot for Nicki Paterson in the 65th minute that was deflected away. Nine minutes later, however, the breakthrough arrived for the hosts as a free kick by current Fresno FC midfielder Jose Cuevas found Falvey for a powerful header that beat Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham and found the net. Moments after the restart, Ring was sent off for his second caution of the game, and the Battery saw out the victory.

Sacramento Republic FC 4, Real Salt Lake 1
Fourth Round | June 14, 2017

Sacramento Republic FC hadn’t had the chance to host an MLS opponent in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in its previous visits to the tournament’s Fourth Round, but when the opportunity arose with Real Salt Lake the visitors last year the side maximized its homefield advantage to take a comprehensive victory and book its first trip to the Round of 16.

Leading the way for Republic FC on the night was current Fresno FC attacking midfielder Danny Barrera, who set up the opening goal in the 29th minute as his knock back across goal allowed Trevin Caesar to fire home into the left corner after James Kiffe had provided the initial cross from the left. Six minutes later Real drew level through Ricardo Velazco, but Barrera picked up his second assist of the night two minutes before halftime as his cross from the left side found Agustin Cazarez for a flicked header at the near post that found the right corner.

Sacramento gained a stranglehold on the game in the first minute of first-half stoppage time as Caesar was hauled down in the penalty area. Republic FC midfielder Jeremy Hall stepped up and calmly shot home into the left corner of the net to give the hosts a two-goal edge at the break. Barrera put a final ribbon on the performance as Kiffe picked out the diminutive midfielder for a rare headed goal with 19 minutes to go, the perfect cap for a tremendous display.

FC Cincinnati 1, Columbus Crew SC 0
Fourth Round | June 14, 2017

FC Cincinnati had been hoping for a chance to face in-state opponent Columbus Crew SC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and when 30,160 fans arrived at Nippert Stadium for what was dubbed the “Hell is Real” Derby, the game lived up to the expectations. Djiby Fall’s goal proved the difference on a night that provided the momentum for FCC’s run to the tournament’s Semifinals.

Given the stakes, Columbus had a strong lineup in place for its trip down Interstate 71, with the likes of Federico Higuain, Justin Meram and Wil Trapp all in the starting lineup. That firepower put pressure on FCC goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt’s goal early, with Meram firing a long-range effort on target inside a minute, but despite holding a 19-5 shot advantage for the game Columbus only put five of its efforts on target.

By contrast, Cincinnati was forced to fight hard for the opportunities it created but made the most of them when they arrived. Danni Konig forced a save from Columbus goalkeeper Brad Stuver in the 10th minute, and Matt Bahner did the same early in the second half. As was already becoming a trend in that year’s edition of the Open Cup, though, it was Fall that provided the crucial moment of the game when he first headed a cross from the right by Justin Hoyte up in the center of the penalty area, and then on his second effort looped a header into the right corner of the net to send the stadium wild. Hildebrandt then made three more saves in the final 25 minutes to preserve the victory and gain FCC bragging rights for Ohio for the year.

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