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U.S. Open Cup: Three amateur sides survive, NASL teams roll in second round

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The U.S. Open Cup often brings about surprise results, and Tuesday's second-round of the new-look tournament was no different.

Three amateur sides are alive after pulling second-round upsets of USL Pro clubs. USASA club Cal FC, coached by Eric Wynalda, got two more goals from former UCSB and U.S. youth product Danny Barrera to surprise the Wilmington Hammerheads 4-0. Stew Givens' stoppage-time penalty kick lifted PDL side Michigan Bucks over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1-0, and Frankie Lopez scored twice to help PDL's Ventura County Fusion knock off the Los Angeles Blues 3-1 in extra time.

NASL teams were a perfect 6-for-6 and posted some of the tournament's more lopsided results. Orlando City SC pounded KC Athletics 7-0, with John Rooney scoring twice. The Carolina RailHawks got four goals from Brian Shriver to top PSA Elite 6-0, and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers got a hat trick from Aly Hassan to beat Fresno Fuego 6-2.

The winners from Tuesday's games advance to next week's third-round meetings against MLS clubs, with the pairings being determined last week. The host sites for three of those games have changed, though, with the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake all now having home games instead of going on the road, which was initially the plan. Pairings for the fourth-round games are expected to released later in the day. 

Here are all of the results from Tuesday's second-round games and the third-round matchups:

U.S. OPEN CUP SECOND ROUND SCOREBOARD

Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0, Michigan Bucks 1

Harrisburg City Islanders 2, Long Island Rough Riders 0

Wilmington Hammerheads 0, Cal FC 4

Carolina RailHawks 6, PSA Elite 0

Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7, Fresno Fuego 2

Orlando City SC 7, KC Athletics 0

Charleston Battery 2, Reading United AC 1

Rochester Rhinos 3, Brooklyn Italians 0

Jacksonville United 0, Tampa Bay Rowdies 3

Dulles Sportsplex Aegan Hawks FC 0, Richmond Kickers 4

Georgia Revolution 0, Atlanta Silverbacks 1

San Antonio Scorpions 2, Laredo Heat 0

Chicago Fire PDL 1, Dayton Dutch Lions 2

Des Moines Menace 0, Minnesota Stars FC 2

El Paso Patriots 0, Charlotte Eagles 1

Los Angeles Blues 1, Ventura County Fusion 3 (AET)

THIRD ROUND MATCHUPS

San Antonio Scorpions vs. Houston Dynamo

Michigan Bucks vs. Chicago Fire

Sporting Kansas City vs. Orlando City SC

Richmond Kickers vs. D.C. United

Columbus Crew vs. Dayton Dutch Lions

FC Dallas vs. Charlotte Eagles

San Jose Earthquakes vs. Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Philadelphia Union vs. Rochester Rhinos

Harrisburg City Islanders vs. New England Revolution

Charleston Battery vs. New York Red Bulls

Ventura County Fusion vs. Chivas USA

Carolina RailHawks vs. Los Angeles Galaxy

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Colorado Rapids

Portland Timbers vs. Cal FC

Seattle Sounders vs. Atlanta Silverbacks

Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota Stars FC 

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Were you surprised by any of the second-round results? Think any of the three remaining amateur sides can keep moving on? Which MLS teams do you think could be in for a rough go of it in next week's third-round?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. The reason I ask is because you basically took the author’s idea and content and made it your own…

    That said, Gary Klieban does have a more universally accepted attitude with respect to youth development. Its refreshing and eye-openning. Its also sad when you realize where ownership places its priorities with regards to alligning football idealogies with the rest of the footballing world.

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  2. I do, and while I don’t agree with everything they say and how they say it, I think they are onto something. And I’ve seen the tapes of the youth teams that they coach and I have been very impressed. Their U11 team played a tie against Ajax this year and their current U12 team beat Barcelona’s academy team two years ago and tied them last year. One of their kids is currently on a two year contract with FC Barcelona FC’s academy and two more of their kids are with FC Barcelona’s pre academy program. Now, how many of MLS academy players have being recruited by youth programs of the top clubs in Europe? Zero. Have you asked yourself why?

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  3. On the Silverbacks tip, there are smart and stupid ways to make a profit.

    Smart = provide excellent customer experiences and grow your profits over time through good word of mouth and increased customer loyalty.

    Stupid = go after short term cash grabs, even if it hurts your long term business by pissing off customers and damaging your reputation.

    Hmm…guess they’re stupid.

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  4. the Open Cup is a joke under USSF management. Selling rights, having all of the games one week after the other so you can actually promote the games… what a joke.
    I can understand MN selling the rights since they’re still NASL owned, but Atlanta is a crime. That’s not how you build a fan-base.

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  5. DCUPedro, you are absolutely right. Yes, I am making a broader point that relates to youth development and brining the talent up the ranks in this country. I am not an MLS hater and I do go to DCU games. However, it is a legitimate question to ask why a PDL team operated by an MLS club is humiliated by an amature team that in turn was blown out by another amature team that was put together about a month ago. Can you imagine Barcelona’s Juvenil (or let’s say Juvenil from a midtable team like, Espanol, since Barcelona is so unique) getting abused by an amature side? I presume that Timbers’ U23 team attracts the best and brightest talent in their area. The U23 coaches can get their pick of the cream of the crop in the local youth talent and develop these guys in a way they see fit. Shouldn’t they dominate an amature team like PSA Elite? Are the Timbers serious about the youth development? How competent are the people who run their youth system and select players? Do they select the best players or just the best athletes? Who are the players they picked? Are the guys like Andy Najar, who never played travel or college soccer, slipping through the cracks? And just to be clear, I am not trying to single out the Timbers, but serious questions need to be asked. And by the way, if Timbers senior side beats Cal FC 5-0 or more, I am happy to congratulate the Timbers on these boards. That’s what is supposed to happen, right? But if the Timbers senior team does not obliterate Cal FC, an amature team that was formed about a month ago and had just a few practices together, are you willing to dig deeper and try to figure out why it happened? I don’t know the future and may be wrong, but I think that Cal FC may surprise.

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  6. Pretty scathing comments on their fb page. If I were fan, I’d say “f*ck ’em” too. They put a price on fan loyalty. The return on investment will surely fall short.

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  7. We’re gonna kick some Chicago tail!

    But it would be easier if Scotty Caldwell plays. And I’m not sure who should play up top with Kenny. Coach Parsons has some things to work on. And with a short turnaround time we may not see them on Saturday against Hamilton.

    Go Bucks!

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  8. Which means they probably didn’t pay anything, right? I can’t imagine any way in which Wilmington still gets paid. Make all the jokes you want about Hank and Merritt Paulson, but you don’t come to an agreement like that before the 2nd round match is played unless there is a contingency on Wilmington winning.
    The only loss is that Timbers fans don’t get to lambaste Seattle or RSL for buying a game since their FO did the same thing…but I’m sure that won’t stop some of them from doing it anyway, heh.

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  9. Though somewhat ironically, Wilmington lost, and CalFC was always going to play against the Timbers in Portland (no way they could meet the requirements for holding the game), so, the Timbers paid to host a game they didn’t need to pay to host, to a team they aren’t playing.

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  10. Portland Timbers U-23 is operated by the Timbers, yes. But its still just a PDL team like any other.I am not sure you can use it as an indictment of MLS youth development and talent selection.

    And by the way, nobody is saying that MLS youth development is great, by the way. Youth team “results” and even youth development itself is a notoriously unreliable and spotty business. The greatest clubs in the world often have huge misses in this realm, which is one of the reasons why I don’t get too excited when Man United or Leverkusen sign some 16 year old kid. Additionally, MLS academies and youth sides are very new at this. I don’t expect them to go out and get results against other PDL/developmental teams just because they have the letters MLS next to their name. The playing field is very even at this level.

    I’m interested in seeing how Cal FC does. But it sure seems that you have an axe to grind and are trying to make a broader point. Plus, if the Timbers senior side paste Cal FC 5-0 with their reserves, its not like you’re going to come back here and do a mea culpa. You’ll just ignore it because it doesn’t fit the narrative you’re pushing.

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  11. How much money?
    Is it possible that the money is what can keep the team around in the long run?
    I agree it sucks for the fans.
    And don’t get me wrong, as a Rowdies season ticket holder, I’d be pissed.
    But, maybe this is a chance to inject some cash into a business venture that is most likely in the red financially.

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  12. I agree. Allowing teams to buy home field just cheapens the tournament. Nobody will ever look at the USOC as a major tradition until it is held with respect to even the lowest of amateur sides.

    This was also a huge opportunity for Atlanta to grow support (and the others that sold their games as well) in a bid for MLS, but they shot themselves in the foot and ticked off their fans instead.

    The biggest problem is they actually promoted the game at earlier NASL matches and then sold the game away. You just don’t do that. You don’t get the fans wanting something just to take it away as soon as it is secured.

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  13. I was at the Wilmington-Cal FC game. The Hammerheads don’t have a great team this year and played poorly, but Cal FC definitely has some talent and a goo system. I would be concerned if I was a Timbers fan.

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  14. Not positive if I understand this correctly. But if I do….

    The Sounders were not going to “buy” a championship with all their money, by getting all home games, because of a new format…..but now they still can ?

    Sounders fan for 31 years now, US soccer needs to figure out what they want out of this tourney.

    Reply
  15. Yeah…not happy with the Silverbacks this morning. Was bothered when they moved the game to Wednesday (same time as USA/Brazil) but then they went and sold it anyway…

    Still have hopes for MLS one day, but none of these jokers should be involved.

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  16. Silverbacks are done. Just lost all support over this. They will end up folding again. You don’t advertise that Seattle is coming with flyers at games and then seel the game off. People in Atlanta were excited. This would have been an opportunity to gain more support and awareness for the Silverbacks. Instead they said screw the fans.

    Check out the Silverbacks page on Facebook. Not a lot of good will over there.

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  17. We are hoping to repeat this again. First PDL team to beat an MLS side. Should be fun as Section 8 is bringing a bus to our humble home.

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  18. Portland Timber’s first team will be playing Cal FC, a team that was put together by Wynalda. Ives you might want to keep your eye on this one. A professional MLS team will be playing against an amature team that was put together by Wynalda about a month ago, but still beat a professional team from the second tier of US soccer 4-0. Given that Timbers will go against an amature team that was recently put together, it should be a blowout, right? And if it does not turn to be a blowout, perhaps you could try to figure why.

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  19. Hey, a 2012 win for the RailHawks!!! Finally, we’re off the schneid. Now, we’ll … cough, cough … “welcome” the reining MLS Champions LA Galaxy to our little abode in eastern Cary.

    A match-up of the reining regular season champions of both MLS and NASL.

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  20. I am not surprised a bit. Wynalda’s team is a nice possession oriented team that includes many talented and technically sound players overlooked by professional teams. Wynalda’s team is well coached and it dominated PSA Elite team that recently knocked out Portland Timbers from the Cup with a 3-1 scoreline. People need to start asking questions about MLS youth development and talent selection, if an amature team that couldn’t string together more than one five-pass sequence against Wynalda’s team and was blown out by Railhawks 6-0, beats an MLS run U23 team 3-1.

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  21. Feels like Silverbacks and other clubs got jobbed with not hosting the next round. Fair play? Or trophy grabbing?

    Reply

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