D.C. United had to work a bit harder than expected on Tuesday night, but they advanced past North Carolina FC in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on penalties. Ian Harkes scored in the 25th minute for the Black-and-Red, but a fantastic finish from Marios Lomis in the 83rd minute sent the game into extra time. Neither team threatened much in the extra 30 minutes, which led the game to be decided by a penalty shootout. Kyle Bekker had his shot saved by David Ousted and Peabo Doue hit the bar for NCFC, while Harkes missed his kick with a chance to end the game. Bruno Miranda stepped up for United’s fifth kick, and converted to send United into the next round. Ben Olsen named a starting lineup that include six of the starters from the team’s previous game, a 1-1 draw against Los Angeles FC. Ousted got the nod in goal, and was joined by Steve Birnbaum, Oniel Fisher, Chris Durkin, Paul Arriola, and Yamil Asad. The five new faces were Harkes, Miranda, Jalen Robinson, Joseph Mora, and Dane Kelly. North Carolina FC were more than willing to sit back and absorb United’s pressure in the first half, which led to little action. Arriola had the first look at goal in the 11th minute, but his laced shot was parried away by keeper Alex Tambakis, with his defense clearing away the danger. Harkes had a crack in the 24th minute, taking a feed from Miranda and lining up a shoot from outside the box. Tambakis was at full stretch, but Harkes’ stinging shot hit the side netting, as the keeper seemed to have his goal covered. But a minute later, Harkes was presented with an even better opportunity, and capitalized to score his first goal of the campaign. A cross in from Mora on the left bamboozled Tambakis and his back line, with the ball settling just in front of goal. Asad was the quickest to react, but hit the post from close range. The ball then popped back out in front, and Harkes was on the spot to prod home for the 1-0 lead. NCFC’s only shot in the first half came in the 32nd minute, after Tiyi Shipalane was taken down outside the box by Durkin. Dre Fortune took the honors with the free kick, but his shot smashed off of the Black-and-Red’s wall. Miranda could have made it two just before the end of the half, after Asad created a turnover in the North Carolina half. Asad quickly fed Arriola, who got into the box, and centered the ball on the ground, but Miranda whiffed on the shot near the penalty spot. Kelly, who was making his first start with the club, nearly added to United’s lead just three minutes into the second half. Mora was able to get all the way up the left wing, and crossed the ball towards the near post from the end line. Kelly beat his marker to the ball, but his glancing header was expertly saved by Tambakis. North Carolina did finally begin to grow into the game, as United seemed to take their foot off the gas. Bekker took aim with a speculative effort in the 53rd minute, ending with a shot that sailed over the goal. But 15 minutes later, Bekker played Shipalane down the right hand flank. Shipalane’s cross into the box was nearly connected with, but a timely intervention from Fisher put the ball out for a corner. Substitute Marcel Kandziora put a header wide for North Carolina in the 70th minute, as United continued to hang on to their one-goal advantage. That lead evaporated in the 83rd minute though, as United could only half-clear a corner from Bekker. The ball fell to Lomis in the box, and the striker hit an acrobatic shot towards goal. With a mass of players in front of him, Ousted saw the shot late, and couldn’t react in time to prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net. It was the first shot on goal for the visitors on the night. Luciano Acosta, who had come on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, kept a corner in two minutes later, but had his well-hit shot saved by Tambakis. Still, it was North Carolina that came closest to winning late on, when former United player Austin da Luz headed the ball towards goal, only for Ousted to make the save on the line. North Carolina also had the best chance of the first half of extra time, as substitute Daniel Rios found space outside the box for a shot in the 97th minute. His effort was on target, but Ousted made a diving save. Darren Mattocks, who had entered the game in the immediate aftermath of Lomis’ goal, nearly connected on a Mora cross in the 119th minute of the game. However, a timely intervention prevented Mattocks from netting a late winner, as NCFC cleared the ball out for a corner, which they successfully defended. North Carolina went first in the shootout, and Rios converted, with Asad matching his effort. Bekker had the second attempt saved by Ousted, while Mattocks gave United the advantage. Lomis and Acosta traded conversions, but then Doue hit the crossbar with NCFC’s fourth attempt. Harkes had a chance to win it, but fired wide. Connor Tobin scored to force Miranda to convert, which the Bolivian did to win it for United. United’s next Open Cup match is not yet determined. The draw for the Round of 16 will take place on Thursday, with US Soccer listing June 16-17 and June 20 as potential dates for the game. In the meantime, D.C. heads to the west coast for a game this coming Saturday at the Seattle Sounders.<doc-sep>Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) An all-California affair, an all-USL matchup and a battle between New York and Philadelphia headlined the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 draw on Thursday. The blind draw, conducted at Soccer House in Chicago, paired expansion side Los Angeles FC with USL club Sacramento Republic, and the other two USL teams remaining, Louisville City FC and Nashville SC, were drawn together as well, renewing their regional rivalry. [MORE: Full Schedule for the 2018 World Cup] Geography reigned supreme, for the most part, as the 16 remaining clubs were separated into four pots of four teams based on their geographic location – East, Mideast, Midwest and West. Here’s how the draw panned out. East Region Orlando City SC (MLS) AT D.C. United (MLS) New York Red Bulls (MLS) AT Philadelphia Union (MLS) Mideast Region Chicago Fire (MLS) AT Atlanta United (MLS) Nashville SC (USL) AT Louisville City FC (USL) Midwest Region Minnesota United (MLS) AT Houston Dynamo (MLS) FC Dallas (MLS) AT Sporting Kansas City (MLS) West Region Sacramento Republic (USL) AT Los Angeles FC (MLS) Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) AT Portland Timbers (MLS) Region pairings for the @opencup are as followed: East Region Winner v Mideast Region Winner, Midwest Region Winner v West Region. #USOC2018 — Ryan Allen (@ILM_Ryan) June 7, 2018 Round of 16 matches are set to take place on June 20, though teams can opt to move the games to June 16-17 if they choose. MLS clubs are off from June 13-23 as part of the league’s World Cup break.<doc-sep>Today’s Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy<doc-sep>Atlanta United have been drawn to play the Chicago Fire at *home in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup. The winner will play the winner of Louisville City v. Nashville City. Atlanta United eased past the Charleston Battery 3-0 to advance to this stage of the tournament, lead by goals from youngsters Andrew Carleton, Ezequiel Barco and Romario Williams. Tata Martino told media prior to the match that he would rely on his youth and reserve players to handle these early USOC games so that the team can remain consistent in the league. Martino only started three players Tuesday against the Battery who are likely to feature Saturday against New York City FC. “If taking [the U.S. Open Cup] seriously implies not playing [Brandon] Vazquez, Romario [Williams], [Andrew] Carleton — if taking it seriously implies that those kids don’t play, then we’ll continue to not take it seriously,” Martino told the media after Atlanta United’s 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. “Since these kids are going to play we’ll attempt to take it seriously the way we take every competition seriously. But we aren’t going to play with the same players we play week after week.” *Atlanta United’s home venue for the next round in the U.S. Open Cup is yet to be determined.<doc-sep>
After last night’s 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake on the road, Sporting Kansas City didn’t have to wait long to find out their fifth round opponent. Early this morning they were drawn into a new geographical region, instead of getting to play the other winner from their “group” Nashville SC (USL) who upset (?) the Colorado Rapids. Their new grouping was with three other MLS teams (only three USL teams advanced to the round of 16). Those teams are FC Dallas, the Houston Dynamo and Minnesota United. Sporting KC then drew FC Dallas and won the right to host the game. We will be hosting @FCDallas at home in the @opencup Round of 16. We will find out date and time shortly. #USOC2018 — Sporting KC (@SportingKC) June 7, 2018 That of course means that Minnesota United and the Houston Dynamo will be facing off. Houston will host Minnesota (who are abysmal on the road). The winner of Houston/Minnesota appear to host the Sporting KC/Dallas winner based on the updated bracket put out by the US Open Cup twitter account. This match-up will take place at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday, June 16th at 8:00 PM CT. It’s during the World Cup break and prior to this announcement neither Dallas or KC played between this Saturday (June 9th) and June 23rd. So there won’t be a “break” but it’s better than jamming it into a Wednesday between two MLS games. No Sporting KC players have been called into any World Cup squads so accept a first team lineup. The same is true of FC Dallas. Per SportingKC.com, here is the tentative schedule for the rest of the tournament. Quarterfinals – July 18 Semifinals – Aug. 8 Final – Sept. 26 July 18th is a Wednesday that falls after the New York Red Bulls will have hosted SKC the prior Saturday. Sporting has no game that following Saturday and don’t play again in July until the 28th (ironically against FC Dallas). Dallas on the other hand go on the road on Saturday, July 14th against the Chicago Fire then have to travel to Houston on July 21st. So if they advance over SKC, their schedule gets very congested. This is putting the cart waaaaay ahead of the horse but if Sporting KC were to beat FC Dallas, then beat the winner of the Houston Dynamo and Minnesota United the game on August 8th is also a Wednesday, but it falls between two road games. On August 4th Sporting travel to Houston then on August 11th they travel to face Los Angeles FC (the first ever meeting between those two clubs). And since I’m being crazy here, if Sporting KC make it all the way to the finals, that game is also on a Wednesday sandwiched between a road game at the Philadelphia Union on September 23rd and a home game against Real Salt Lake on the 30th. A Lamar Hunt US Open Cup run will really make a Supporters Shield and MLS Cup run that much more difficult. Maybe that’s why no one has ever won a treble (we aren’t counting Toronto FC and their piddly two games they have to play to win the Canadian Championship). Here is the full bracket for the tournament. Hosting for the semi-final and final will be determined at a later date.