USL Open Cup Second Round & CONCACAF Champions Cup Quarterfinals round-up, April 3

After two lower-tier sides made it through to the third round in Tuesday night's games, Miami United got Wednesday's action off to a great start at home to NISA's Club de Lyon. The UPSL side - who played last year in the USSL Florida league - knocked out MLS Next Pro newbies Chattanooga FC in the first round and picked up where they left off by taking a first-half lead through Colombian veteran Jhon Pajoy, who was playing in that country's top tier last season with Once Caldas. United shaded a fairly even game and a second goal in the 56th minute, from Argentine youngster Alejo Melo Fernandez, was just rewards for their efforts. There was still time for Miami to have Frank Fraggetti sent off for two yellow cards and the visitors to go close with two late efforts but the fifth-tier side held on.

The all third-tier clash between USL League One South Georgia Tormenta and NISA's Savannah Clovers was a much more one-sided affair, understandable given Clovers' recent financial worries. Almost 2,000 fans saw Niall Watson give Tormenta the lead after just 74 seconds and things got worse for the visitors when US Virgin Islands international Joshua Ramos made it two on 35 minutes. Savannah had their chances but fell further behind twelve minutes into the second-half when Sebastian Vivas added a third, and the 4-0 demolition was completed by an Austin Wehner strike as the clock reached 90 minutes. 

Two of Tormenta's USL-1 rivals faced off in Tennessee when four wins out of four One Knoxville welcomed the unbeaten Greenville Triumph to the Regal Soccer Stadium. The visitors took the early advantage after nine minutes when Swiss-born striker Lyam MacKinnon fired home from close range, but Knoxville came right back three minutes later when Brandon Fricke handballed in the Triumph box, giving German forward Kempes Tekiela the chance to equalise from the spot. MacKinnon scored a similar goal to his first to restore the Greenville lead on 33 minutes and that's how it stayed until 17 minutes into the second-half, when Tekiela grabbed his second, this time from open play. Four minutes from time, Knoxville's Yesin van der Pluijm was penalised for a foul in his own box and, with MacKinnon off the field, Brandon Fricke stepped up but saw his effort saved by Johan Garibay. With no further goals before the final whistle, the game went to extra-time where the deadlock was finally broken by Chapa Herrera's well-taken goal just after half-time in extra-time. That proved to be the winner and it's Triumph that will go through to round three.

There was another big crowd at Virtue Field in Burlington to see Vermont Green of USL League Two take on professional opposition in the form of MLS Next Pro expansion club Carolina Core. Snow fell before (and during) the match, and it looked like the visitors might struggle to acclimatise when the overly-physical Ibrahim Covi fouled Yaniv Bazini in the box, and the Israeli striker from the University of Vermont picked himself to fire the penalty kick home. Both sides had slim chances to score before the half-time whistle and the game came alive fifteen minutes into the second-half when Green defender Zach Barrett brought down Joshua Rodriguez and the referee awarded a penalty. Former Houston Dynamo 2 striker Papa Ndoye converted the kick and Rodriguez himself got on the scoresheet ten minutes later when he scored after a corner. Core held strong and restricted Green's chances after that, and a red card for Jacob Labovitz for reacting to an unseen kick from Covi just put the cap on a disappointing evening. Vermont Green, though, look every bit a USL-1 side and that's what they should be working towards.

Apotheos FC, who play in the NPSL and are based in the Atlanta suburbs, were given a bye in round one when their NISA opponents Georgia Lions (now Georgia FC) were unable to complete the fixture. Round two saw them facing USL-1 opposition in the form of Chattanooga Red Wolves at Silverbacks Park (ironically, where Georgia FC will play) and it was a game of few chances, taking 37 minutes for a shot on goal to be recorded. Red Wolves did have some good chances to take a lead before they actually did, Serbian striker Stefan Lukic finding the bottom corner from inside the box, and that's how it stayed, despite Apotheos coming close twice near the end. 

MLS reserve side Chicago Fire II dispatched USL-2 Chicago City in the last round and had local(ish) opposition in round two as well, this time in the shape of USL-1's Forward Madison. Madison won 3-0 away at the weekend and must have been confident ahead of the tie, which would have made falling behind in the eleventh minute a big blow, Polish striker Dawid Poreba finishing from close range. Fire controlled the game from that point, Madison not even recording a shot on target, and Jason Shokalook's 90th minute second for the home side merely confirmed a result which had been obvious for some time.

One of the stars of the last round were Des Moines Menace, the USL-2 side that talked former US international Sasha Kljestan out of retirement to mastermind their victory away at NISA's Capo FC. Their reward for their efforts was a trip to Union Omaha of USL-1, and they further bolstered their line-up with the addition of three more former MLS stars in Tesho Akindele, AJ DeLaGarza, and Roger Espinoza. A cagey first-half resulted in just one goal, with Omaha taking the lead into the break after a 34th minute shot from Pedro Dolabella, and the home side doubled their lead three minutes into the second-half when Marco Milanese tapped in following a corner. Menace went close though Kljestan, Euan Holden, and Cyrus Harmon, finally pulling one back with three minutes left on the clock, former Sporting Kansas City academy player Leroy Enzugusi finding the net. Efforts to grab an equalsier were in vain, however, and Lagos Kunga ended the Menace fairytale when he shot home in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

MLS reserve side Colorado Rapids II defeated city rivals Azteca FC last time out and faced another Colorado side in USL-1 outfit Northern Colorado Hailstorm at Dick's Sporting Goods Park last night. After a goalless first-half, Rapids took the lead two minutes into the second through Wayne Frederick, but Hailstorm pulled themselves back into the game eleven minutes later, midfielder Mark Hernandez netting at the second attempt after having his first shot saved by Rapids' 'keeper Adam Beaudry. Hailstorm were much the better side after that and went ahead when Hernandez set up Ethan Hoard in the 80th minute, but the home side took advantage of time added on to equalise through Canadian youngster Kimani Stewart-Baynes and send the game to extra-time. Both sides had chances to grab a winner but it was Hailstorm who did - in the 121st minute - when David Garcia fired home, taking the USL-1 side through to the next round.

USL-1 expansion side Spokane Velocity played the first US Open Cup game in western Washington last night when they welcomed Los Angeles Force of the NISA league to One Spokane Stadium. Both sides overcame USL-2 opposition in round one and, with Force recruiting well over the winter, this was destined to be a close-fought affair. So it proved, with just five shots on target all night, four of them for the home side. That dominance proved the difference, but it took 85 minutes for Velocity to score, Luis Gil firing home to take Spokane through to round three.

The night's final game took place in Carson, California, where Ventura County FC (formerly Los Angeles Galaxy II) of MLS Next Pro hosted NISA newcomers Irvine Zeta. County had beaten Zeta's amateur side in the first round but found the professionals much tougher going, especially after Nicolas Barrio Schelotto - son of former Argentinian international (and ex-Galaxy coach) Gustavo - was red-carded for a foul in the 16th minute. Zeta pressed their advantage from that point on but it took until the stroke of half-time for them to go ahead when former UC Irvine standout Rafael Espinoza scored. George Almeida doubled the visitors' lead sixteen minutes into the second-half and the job was completed by Mexican winger Marcel Salceda two minutes from time, County restricted to just one shot on target all night.

The draw for the third round - which will introduce fourteen clubs from the second-tier USL Championship, takes place at 1pm EDT today (Thursday).

After Columbus Crew drew and New England Revolution were hammered in the home legs of their CONCACAF Quarterfinal ties against Mexican opposition, Inter Miami were hoping for better luck when they faced Monterrey in Fort Lauderdale last night. Still without Lionel Messi, they nevertheless fielded Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquet, and bitey racist Luis Suarez, and withstood early pressure from their Liga MX visitors to go ahead through centre-back Tomas Aviles on sixteen minutes. Monterrey pressed for an equaliser but the Miami defence held resolute through half-time and into the second-half, when the battle plan came unstuck and Herons midfielder David Ruiz was given his second yellow card. Monterrey soon took advantage of the extra man, equalising from a VAR-confirmed strike by Maximiliano Meza, and their search for a winner paid off when Jorge Rodríguez fired home with a minute left on the clock. In the night's other quarterfinal match-up, Costa Rica's Herediano were well-beaten at home by Pachuca of Liga-MX, a 5-0 win making it odds on for an all-Mexican semi-final line-up after next week's second legs, all of which will take place in Mexico.