The upsets continued as Orlando City SC and the Carolina Railhawks ousted MLS opponents and the Charleston Battery put a scare in Real Salt Lake before falling in overtime.
The US Open Cup will have a new champion in 2013.
Sporting Kansas City had a sweetheart matchup at home against their USL affiliate, but couldn’t seal the deal and Orlando City SC was one of two lower division clubs to continue their fairy tale story in the centennial edition of the US Open Cup.
Orlando City and the Carolina Railhawks both ousted MLS opponents to reach the Open Cup quarterfinals while the Charleston Battery held a 2-0 lead into the second half, but couldn’t hold on and were eliminated.
Orlando City got a first-minute goal from former Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Long Tan in the first minute then held off Kansas City to down the defending champions. Orlando has four players on their roster on loan from Sporting KC, but none were allowed by the MLS club to play in the match, taking away Orlando City’s leading scorer, Dom Dwyer, who has 15 goals in 13 matches in the USL Pro season. They will meet the Chicago Fire, who topped the Columbus Crew 2-1 on Thursday after the match was delayed by weather on Wednesday.
The Railhawks hosted Chivas USA and also took an early 1-0 lead. Chivas bounced back with a second-half equalizer, forcing overtime. There, Carolina got two goals in the first eight minutes, then held on for a 3-1 win. Carolina will now face Real Salt Lake in the quarterfinals after they had a scare of their own. Playing at home at Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL fell behind 2-0 to the Charleston Battery, but goals from Devon Sandoval and Joao Plata to send the match to overtime. There, Sandoval added another and Salt Lake put the match away with two more goals from Khari Stephenson and Javier Morales to survive and reach the quarterfinals.
DC United may be struggling in league play, but they are back to the Open Cup quarterfinals after a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union behind a hattrick by Dwayne De Rosario. They will host the New England Revolution in the quarterfinals after the Revs smashed the New York Red Bulls 4-2, getting two goals from Federal Way native Kelyn Rowe in the win.
In the fourth quarterfinal matchup the Portland Timbers will travel to Texas to face FC Dallas. The Timbers ended the storybook run of the Tampa Bay Rowdies with a 2-0 win at JELD-WEN Field while FC Dallas got by the Houston Dynamo 3-0 in a matchup of Major League Soccer’s two Texas clubs.
The quarterfinal round will be played on June 26.
