The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 served up another night of dramatic cupsets and wild rivalries as the race for U.S. Soccer’s National Championship continues to heat up. Two lower division sides will join six Division I clubs in the Quarterfinals on June 21, 22 and 29.

Union Omaha of Third Division USL League One earned the result of the night with a 2-1 road cupset over Division I (MLS) Minnesota United FC. The Owls, who have now gone on the road to beat a pair of teams from the country’s top flight, were joined in the Cupsetter ranks by Sacramento Republic FC of Div. II (USL League Championship). The club from California’s capital ousted NorCal neighbors San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) 2-0 and improved to 3-5 all time vs. Division I sides in Open Cup play. Additionally, Sacramento won the $25,000 prize awarded to the top finisher from Division II in the competition.

The Round of 16 was bookended by a pair of wildly entertaining local rivalries. The evening opened with a tense win on PKs by Orlando City SC against fellow Floridians Inter Miami CF. The home side went behind 1-0 in the first overtime period but equalized soon after and went on to claim the 4-2 victory from the spot. LA Galaxy closed out proceedings with a resounding 3-1 win against cross-town rivals LAFC before a raucous home crowd of 24,174 that also saw several players from Maccabee LA – five-time winners of the U.S. Open Cup during the 1970s and 80s – honored at halftime.

The only lower division side to not advance were Louisville City FC (Div. II) who fell 2-1 on a late goal from Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar despite taking an early lead in the game. In an all-MLS affair, Houston Dynamo were eliminated in similar fashion. Having taken the lead, the Texas club couldn’t keep Sporting Kansas City at bay as the home side rallied in the second half for a 2-1 victory.

Lastly, the Metro New York area saw a pair of Open Cup matches where the home sides prevailed. MLS Cup holders New York City FC saw off MLS Supporters’ Shield winners New England Revolution 1-0 after extra time, while New York Red Bulls bounced new kids on the MLS block Charlotte Football Club 3-1 to set up a Hudson River Derby in the uarterfinals.

QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

Date

Time

Game (home team listed first)

Venue

June 21

7:30 p.m. PT

Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) vs. Sacramento Republic FC (USLC)

Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, Calif.

June 22

8 p.m. ET

New York Red Bulls (MLS) vs. New York City FC (MLS)

Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J.

June 22

7:30 p.m. CT

Sporting Kansas City (MLS) vs. Union Omaha (USLL1)

Children’s Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kan.

June 29

7 p.m. ET

Orlando City SC (MLS) vs. Nashville SC (MLS)

Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Fla.

 

ROUND OF 16 RECAPS

 

Orlando City SC (MLS) 0, Inter Miami CF (MLS) 0, 1-1 AET (4-2 PKs)  

Goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar saved one penalty in the shootout and captain Mauricio Pereyra converted the game-winning kick as Orlando City won the tie-breaker at their Exploria Stadium. Stajduhar, starting his second Cup game in a row, dove to his left to deny Bryce Duke on Inter Miami’s second attempt. U.S. international defender DeAndre Yedlin slammed his try over the bar for the visitors’ other miss. Orlando dominated huge stretches of the opening half, keeping possession and pressure on the backline and goal. The hosts, however, had nothing to show for their efforts, in part because of the outstanding goalkeeping of Drake Callender. After a goalless regular time, Miami finally found the net four minutes into the first extra-time period. Trinidad & Tobago international Joevin Jones tried to go 1-v-2 against a pair of defenders on the left side and lost the ball. An alert Jean Mota picked it up and drilled a left-footed shot from the top of the box to give the visitors from Miami the lead. Three minutes later, Orlando answered as Facundo Torres scored from the right side of the box to make it 1-1. Orlando will host Nashville SC on June 29 in the Quarterfinals.

 

Louisville City FC (USLC) 1, Nashville SC (MLS) 2

Second-half substitute Hany Mukhtar connected for the game-winner for Nashville SC to complete a comeback win against Louisville City at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky. Mukhtar, who replaced Ake Arnaud Loba in the 77th minute, fired home a Handwalla Bwana feed from six yards out on the right side to the far left post past goalkeeper Kyle Morton. First-half scoring was condensed into a two-minute period. The hosts grabbed the lead in the 37th minute as Brian Ownby, off an Amadou Dia cross, placed a glancing 11-yard header from the left side into the far end of the net past goalkeeper Elliot Panicco. Only two minutes later, Nashville countered on a pretty play. Jack Maher launched a long ball down the right side that Luke Haakenson ran onto. Haankenson crossed the ball to Loba on the left side and Loba’s shot hit the underside of the crossbar to knot things up. Nashville SC will play at Orlando in the Quarterfinals on June 29.

 

New York City FC (MLS) 0, New England Revolution (MLS) 0, 1-0 AET  

Major League Soccer’s champions brought on their stars late in the match and boy did they put on a show. Taty Castellanos assisted Santi Rodriguez in the box for the game-winning goal in the first five minutes of extra-time, and New York City FC danced New England Revolution off the tournament stage at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University in Jamaica, Queens. Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic made a tantalizing double-save in the first half to keep NYCFC off the scoreboard, and Esmir Bajraktarevic’s header through traffic nearly caught the champions just before halftime. In overtime, Castellanos received the ball and tip-toed through the defense before dishing to Rodriguez for a right-footed finish. The Revolution, the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champions, thought they had gone level just minutes later but would-be goalscorer Justin Rennicks was ruled offside. NYCFC will meet neighbors New York Red Bulls in the Quarterfinals on June 22 at Red Bull Arena.

 

New York Red Bulls (MLS) 3, Charlotte Football Club (MLS) 1 

Dylan Nealis could not have picked a better time to score his first professional goal. The 23-year-old defender snapped a 1-1 tie in the 63rd minute to lift the Red Bulls over the first-year side in a physical encounter at MSU Soccer Park in Montclair, N.J. After Patryk Klimala fought off defender Guzman Corujo on the left flank, he slotted a pass to an onrushing Nealis, who tapped the ball home on the right side. Tom Barlow added an insurance tally two minutes into stoppage time as the Red Bulls reached the Quarterfinals for the tenth time. They also won on a home pitch for the first time this season. The Red Bulls are 0-2-4 at Red Bull Arena and 7-1-1 on the road — across all competitions. It didn’t take long for New York to strike. Two minutes after kickoff, Tom Edwards sent a corner kick into the box that Charlotte couldn’t clear. Klimala picked up a loose ball and knocked it past goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina from close range. The visitors equalized soon thereafter as Daniel Rios beat keeper Carlos Coronel to the left side to force a 1-1 deadlock in the eighth minute. The Red Bulls will host New York City FC in a Hudson River Derby in the Quarterfinals on June 22.

 

Minnesota United FC (MLS) 1 vs. Union Omaha (USL1) 2

Adrien Hunou had an early goal for the home side but visiting goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu came up with save after save. Hugo Kametani scored just before halftime, and Joe Brito grabbed the match-winner in the early minutes of the second half as Union Omaha added a second victory in the tournament over an MLS side. In only their third year of existence, Union Omaha owns wins over Chicago Fire and Minnesota in this tournament and now face a matchup against 2017 champions Sporting Kansas City in the next round. Minnesota held 73 percent of the possession and had six shots on goal, but Nuhu and the Union Omaha defense were impenetrable after Hunou’s sixth-minute goal. D.J. Taylor was the lone attacking threat in an otherwise lifeless second half for the hosts, nearly equalizing but his long-range, left-footed effort clanged off the crossbar in the 78th minute.

 

Sporting Kansas City (MLS) 2, Houston Dynamo FC (MLS) 1 

Captain Johnny Russell recorded a second-half brace to boost Sporting Kansas City to a comeback win at home in Children’s Mercy Park. Trailing 1-0 in the 52nd minute, Russell leveled the match on a spectacular individual effort. He possessed the ball on the right side, got knocked down, got up and beat two defenders as he drilled a 24-yard equalizer past the goalkeeper. After Houston’s Daniel Steres fouled Daniel Salloi in the penalty area, Russell played hero again. This time he converted a penalty kick in the 73rd minute, driving his shot into the right side of the net. Corey Baird had given Houston the lead in the 41st minute with a fine effort past John Pulskamp. SKC will host Union Omaha (USL League One) in the Quarterfinals on June 22.

 

Sacramento Republic FC (USL) 2, San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) 0

In a long-awaited matchup, it was a former Earthquakes academy player who really shook things up. Luis Felipe Fernandes Rodrigues sent tremors across Northern California with a goal in the 28th minute, and Rodrigo ‘RoRo’ Lopez’s late blast sealed the deal as Sacramento Republic FC shut out San Jose Earthquakes at Heart Health Park in Sacramento, Calif. Rodrigues, who made 21 appearances for San Jose from 2018-2020, got his head to a corner kick and put it over the line for a 1-0 lead for Sacramento midway through the first half. With a capacity crowd of more than 11,500 fans on hand, Lopez nearly grabbed a two-goal lead for Republic in the 65th minute, and wouldn’t be denied as his powerful, right-footed rocket rounded out the scoring in the 85th. It’s the first loss to Sacramento in four U.S. Open Cup matches for San Jose. The Republic travel to take on LA Galaxy in the Quarterfinals on June 21.

 

LA Galaxy (MLS) 3, Los Angeles FC (MLS) 1

El Trafico was a one-way street in the Round of 16. Kevin Cabral scored his second goal of the tournament, and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez tacked on the eventual game winner as LA Galaxy turned away Los Angeles FC again at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Cabral opened the scoring in the 51st minute, and Chicharito tucked in a cross from Samuel Grandsir in the 57th as the Galaxy quickly built a lead in the second half. Dejan Joveljic added a third to his tournament goal tally as the hosts grabbed a 3-0 lead in the 81st minute off an assist from Raheem Edwards, who became the first player to appear in a USOC match for both the cross-town rivals. Ryan Hollingshead scored his first goal of the tournament for LAFC, who have yet to defeat the Galaxy in Carson in any competition. The Galaxy will play Sacramento Republic in the Quarterfinal round on June 21.
ROUND OF 16 RESULTS 

Wednesday, May 25

Result

Game (home team listed first)

Venue

0-0, 1-1, 4-2 PKs

Orlando City SC (MLS) vs. Inter Miami CF (MLS)

Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Fla.

1-2

Louisville City FC (USLC) vs. Nashville SC (MLS)

Lynn Family Stadium; Louisville, Ky.

0-0, 1-0 AET

New York City FC (MLS) vs. New England Revolution (MLS)

Belson Stadium (St. John’s Univ.); Jamaica, N.Y.

3-1

New York Red Bulls (MLS) vs. Charlotte Football Club (MLS)

Montclair State University Soccer Park; Montclair, N.J.

1-2

Minnesota United FC (MLS) vs. Union Omaha (USLL1)

Allianz Field; St. Paul, Minn.

2-1

Sporting Kansas City (MLS) vs. Houston Dynamo FC (MLS)

Children’s Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kan.

2-0

Sacramento Republic FC (USLC) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Heart Health Park; Sacramento, Calif.

3-1

LA Galaxy (MLS) vs. Los Angeles Football Club (MLS)

Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, Calif.

 

 

 

 

 

FrontRowSoccer.com editor Michael Lewis has written a new book, ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. You can learn more about it or purchase it here:

www.Rochesterlancersbook.com

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.