US Open Cup & Canadian Championship round-ups, May 21-22

After looking like it might provide a fair few upsets, the fifth round of the US Open Cup ended with just one act of giantkilling, and even that was one of the more predictable results of the night. Sacramento Republic, unbeaten in 2024 so far and Open Cup finalists in 2022, piled further misery onto San Jose Earthquakes coach Luchi Gonzalez with an extra-time win at a very loud Heart Health Park on Tuesday night, although they had to come from behind twice to do it. Quakes made eleven changes from the side that lost at home to Orlando City at the weekend but went ahead in the eleventh minute through Preston Judd, a lead they held for just six minutes before Kieran Phillips levelled with a header. Phillips added a second to give Republic the advantage seven minutes before the break and the USL side locked up after that, with neither side having a shot on target through to ten minutes from time when a free-kick from substitute Cristian Espinoza took the tie into extra-time. It was the visitors who scored first in that added period, new Argentinian DP Hernan Lopez pouncing on a rebound after Danny Vitiello had saved from Judd ten minutes in, but Republic did not give up the chase, levelling again just after the turnaround when Luis Rodrigues found space in the box. And then, while San Jose were still reeling, another Republic attack caught them unawares, Juan Sebastian Herrera slotting home what proved to be the winner just a minute later.

Republic's reward is a home tie against Seattle Sounders, who had to come from behind against Phoenix Rising at Starfire Sports in Tukwila, Washington, last night. Sounders made nine changes from the weekend and it looked to be a gambit that was going to pay off at first, with the home side having by far the better chances in the first-half, Rising 'keeper Patrick Rakovsky forced into making three saves as the game headed towards half-time. However, in first-half stoppage time, Danny Leyva brought down Panos Armenakas in the Sounders box and Remi Cabral stepped up to score from the spot and give the USL men a half-time lead. It was all Seattle when the game resumed but Phoenix were doing a solid job at keeping them at bay, at least until John Stenberg was adjudged to have handballed in the Phoenix area, Alex Roldan doing the honours to level the scores with 22 minutes still to play. The MLS side again pressed, this time in search of a winner, and they got their reward two minutes from time when Kalani Kossa-Rienzi finished a knock-down from Danny Musovski to score his first for the Sounders and end Rising's cup dreams.

USL Eastern Conference pacesetters Charleston Battery were expected to give MLS strugglers Atlanta United a hell of a test at Patriots Point on Tuesday night, and it turned out to be nailbiter. United made ten changes from the side that drew 1-1 at Nashville on Saturday, with none of their DPs even making the bench, and they were under pressure in the first-half, MD Myers and Nick Markanich bringing saves out of Five Stripes 'keeper Josh Cohen. United had their first shot on target midway through the second-half but the game eked into extra-time still scoreless. When the extra thirty minutes still failed to provide a winner, penalties were called upon and the hopes of the home crowd soared when Brooks Lennon missed Atlanta's first kick. After three rounds it was 3-2 to Battery but they missed their last two, handing the win to United, who were perfect after Lennon's miss.

Atlanta will now host Indy Eleven in the quarterfinals after Sean McAuley's side swept fellow USL challengers Detroit City aside in Indianapolis last night. The game got off to a bad start for Le Rouge when Stephen Carroll put through his own net a quarter of an hour in, although that seemed to spark City in to life, Ben Morris and Adoluaye Diop going close to getting City  back into the game afterwards. Just past the half-hour, Indy had a run of corners that ended when Augustine Williams doubled their lead, and another corner three minutes later led to the home side's third from Ben Ofeimu. Their job done, Indy sat back in the second-half, not even registering a shot on target, but Detroit just couldn't find a breakthrough and the game finished 3-0.

MLS Next Pro's New York City FC II were the sole third-tier club left in the competition and had knocked out two USL Championship sides on their way to the Fifth Round. New Mexico United, though, proved to be a different prospect at Belson Stadium in Queens on Tuesday night. The first-half was goalless, United's Alexandros Tambakis the only goalkeeper with anything to do when he saved from Taylor Calheira just before the half-hour, but the USL side drew a save out of baby Pigeons' 'keeper Tomas Romero almost as soon as the game resumed. They went one better five minutes in, Avionne Flanagan firing the visitors in front just after Jovan Mijatovic had gone close at the other end. NYCFCII's chances of getting back into the game were dealt a blow give minutes later, Samuel Owusu red-carded following a contretemps with Marco Micaletto, and Talen Maples headed in from a corner on the hour to put one nail in the hosts' Open Cup coffin. Anthony Herbert completed the job with four minutes to go but the Next Pro lads will have learned a lot in their cup exploits this season.

New Mexico now travel to Los Angeles FC, also 3-0 winners on Tuesday night at home against Loudoun United. Unlike their MLS rivals, LAFC took no chances with their line-up, fielding six of the side that won 2-0 in St Louis last week, with Denis Bouanga and Cristian Oliveira leading the line either side of Tomas Angel, son of former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo. Loudoun surprisingly beat Orange County in the last round to set up this tie and had absolutely nothing to lose here, so they won't have been too down-hearted to concede eight minutes in, Timothy Tillman netting from an Oliveira pass. They held their own through to half-time, Zach Ryan forcing a save out of LA 'keeper Abraham Romero, and had their fair share of chances in a furious start to the second-half, although it was again the Black & Gold who scored when Oliveira found into the top corner from a fast break seven minutes in. Angel then scored his first goal for the club since his move from Atletico Nacional in the winter, firing in from a difficult angle after good work by Bouanga just past the hour, and 3-0 was how it ended, by no means a disastrous result for Loudoun's youngsters who were given a lesson in clinical finishing.

There may have been a few heavy bets placed on a home loss if Sporting Kansas City were playing a USL Championship in better form than FC Tulsa, but there was still some chatter than the Oklahomans might still have enough to get past the misfiring MLS side on Tuesday night. Sporting changed seven of the side that lost in Austin at the weekend but still fielded a forward line led by William Agada, and they dominated the game early on, with Tulsa having to wait until past the half-hour to even register a shot on target. The visitors then found themselves behind seven minutes before half-time when Felipe Hernandez scored from a free-kick to the left of the area, and Tulsa 'keeper Michael Creek had to make two good saves before Kansas City doubled their lead, Stephen Afrifa finding the net from close range after a corner. Still, half-time is a good time to regroup, right? Well, it is if you don't have a man sent off one minute into the second-half, Patrick Seagrist dismissed for a second yellow card, and that was pretty much it for Tulsa. Hernandez and Marinos Tzionis added two more for Sporting midway through the second-half and 4-0 was probably a fair result at the end of a night the home side will have enjoyed as a respite from their league woes.

They will also be at home in the quarterfinals, to FC Dallas after the Texans won 2-1 at Tampa Bay Rowdies last night. The MLS club signalled their intentions from the off, eight of the side that drew 1-1 with Houston at the weekend lining up against the USL Championship side, and one of those eight - Patrickson Delgado - opened the scoring a quarter of an hour in from Jesus Ferreira's corner after it had been all Rowdies in the opening spell. Logan Farrington doubled the visitors' lead with a 26th minute strike but Tampa Bay never let their heads drop, enjoying some good chances before the break. They kept up that tempo in the second-half, Cal Jennings and Pacifique Niyaongabire forcing saves of out Dallas 'keeper Maarten Paes, and Paes then tipped a Joshua Perez shot round the post for a corner seven minutes from time. In the ensuing melee, Niyongabire was fouled by Carl Sainte and the referee pointed to the spot, Perez cutting the deficit to one with a well-placed spot-kick. Game on, then, and Paes again had to concede a corner, this time from Aaron Guillen, five minutes into stoppage time. Rowdies' keeper Jordan Farr came up for the corner and, although he got his head to the ball, his effort sailed over, the final chance of the game as Dallas secured the 2-1 win.

As expected, the semi-professionals of CS Saint-Laurent were well beaten at Toronto FC in the first of the second-leg matches in the Canadian Championship quarterfinals on Tuesday night, but that still didn't stop the Ligue 1 Quebec side looking good in defeat. In fact, the 8-1 scoreline hides the fact that the visitors had more shots on target than their hosts, and takes no note of a very harsh red-card issued by the starstruck referee just before half-time. A decent crowd of over 9,000 included some vocal travelling fans but they were given little to cheer early on as the Reds raced into a 2-0 lead in the first fourteen minutes, two goals in three minutes from DeAndre Kerr highlighting the difference in the two sides' finishing abilities. Kerr completed his hat-trick two minutes from half-time but Saint-Laurent had been lively in between, Toronto 'keeper Luka Gavran having to be on his toes. A minute later, a high boot from Ossama Boughanmi caught Alonso Coello as he was ducking to head the ball and the referee wasted little time in sending off the immediately repentant midfielder, even as he was checking on the welfare of his opponent. That should have ended the visitors' game but, although they conceded another five goals in the second-half - Kerr again, Cassius Mailula, a Derrick Etienne Jr penalty, a Nathan Goulet own goal, and Prince Owusu adding to Kerr's first-half hat-trick - they never gave up trying to create chances and got their reward a minute from time when Rickson Aristilde scored a consolation. In the end, the two-division gulf resulted in an 11-1 aggregate score but there's plenty for the semi-professionals to be proud of across these two games.

Also on Tuesday, Canadian Premier League outfit Cavalry FC travelled to Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 down from their home leg but still very much in the game. Almost 12,000 fans came out to BC Place for the game, even though Caps' coach Vanni Sartini made nine changes from their MLS game at the weekend, and they got to see an even affair with both goalkeepers called into action throughout the match. It was the Cavs who got on the scoresheet first, an own goal from Ranko Veselinovic levelling the aggregate scores but still giving the home side the advantage on the away goals rule. Cavs knew they had to score again and controlled the second-half, but they were unable to find a way past the Vancouver defence. The game finished 1-0 but that away goals rule took Caps through, despite Cavs repeating their famous 2019 win at BC Place.

Under pressure CF Montreal boss Laurent Courtois won't have had many kind words for his charges after they lost 2-1 at home to Forge FC last night, but then he did change seven of the side that started their last MLS match (even if that was a 5-1 loss to Toronto). The first leg in Hamilton finished 1-1, setting things up nicely at Stade Saputo, and the home side controlled the game from the off, eventually achieving almost 70% possession and having four times the amount of shots on target as the visitors. It's what you do with those chances, however, and Forge were lucky enough to have Christopher Kalongo in fine form in goal (although, while we're at it, FREE TRISTON HENRY!). In fact, the two first-half goals scored by Daniel Parra and Kwasi Poku were the Hammers' only shots on target all night, but all Montreal could offer in reply was Victor Wanyama's goal midway through the second-half, Kalongo and the Forge defence repelling all other attempts to draw level. Courtois can at least get back to MLS business this weekend when his side host Nashville SC, but Forge fans will long remember their victory in Quebec.

The final quarterfinal tie will be settled next week as Pacific FC and Atletico Ottawa meet on Vancouver Island, with the semi-final draw following after that.