The eight Major League Soccer teams in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup learned their third-round opponents following the completion of the second round Tuesday night.
All third-round games are scheduled for July 1 and it starts with the defending champion New England Revolution playing host to the USL Second Division's Richmond Kickers at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Conn.
The Kickers defeated the Western Mass. Pioneers 2-1 at Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, Mass. Kevin Jones broke a scoreless tie in the 59th minute to put Richmond in front, but Western Mass. leading scorer Jeff Deren equalized four minutes later.
Stanley Nyazamba scored the game-winner six minutes from full time for Richmond, which has defeated three MLS teams - Colorado in 2000, D.C. United in 2004 and Los Angeles in 2007 - in the Open Cup.
The Kansas City Wizards will take to the road to meet the Carolina Railhawks (USL First Division) at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The Railhawks edged USL-2 side Real Maryland 1-0 on a late penalty kick Tuesday night.
After former D.C. United midfielder Jamil Walker was pulled down by Real Maryland goalkeeper Emilio Zelaya in the dying moments of the second half, Kupono Low stepped to the penalty spot and scored the winner, sending Carolina into the third round.
Real Maryland plays their home games at Maryland SoccerPlex home, but for at least one night D.C. United will call the Germantown, Md. complex home when United faces the Rochester Raging Rhinos in a third-round tussle.
The Rhinos made short work of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL-2) Tuesday, winning 3-0 at Paetec Park in Rochester, N.Y.
Johnny Menyonger put the hosts in front on 26 minutes. Mauricio Salles doubled the Rhinos' advantage just past the hour mark on an assist from Steve Guppy, who would be sent off nine minutes later. Pittsburgh's hopes of capitalizing on the man advantage, though, were dashed in the 75th minute when Luke Kreamalmeyer scored on an indirect free kick from six yards out.
The Chicago Fire will play host to the Cleveland City Stars at Toyota Park after the USL Second Division team went on the road and defeated the Minnesota Thunder 2-0 in overtime.
Floyd Franks broke the scoreless draw in the 105th minute and the former Chicago Fire forward added a second in the 119th minute, scoring from the penalty spot after Ian Leibbrandt was taken down by Thunder goalkeeper Nicolas Platter.
"There are no hard feelings with me going back there to play," Franks said. "I have a lot of friends on that team and I just can't wait to compete against them. It will be great for our club to play an MLS team in a great stadium like that."
FC Dallas will entertain Miami FC at Pizza Hut Park after Miami defeated the Atlanta Silverbacks 1-0, in the lone meeting of USL First Division teams Tuesday night at Tropical Park Stadium.
Goalkeeper Josh Saunders extended his scoreless streak to 680 minutes and Brazilian Alex Alfonso scored the game's lone goal in the 40th minute for Miami FC, which advance to the third round of the Open Cup for the first time.
Houston Dynamo take to the road and meet the Charleston Battery (USL-1), which defeated USL-2 team Charlotte Eagles 2-1 Tuesday night at Blackbaud Stadium.
Osvaldo Alonso scored the winner for the Battery, converting a 90th-minute penalty kick after former New York Red Bulls midfielder Randi Patterson was pulled down in the box.
Darren Spicer scored his fourth goal of the Open Cup in the 12th minute on a rebound of a saved Aaron King shot. Jorge Herrera headed in Ben Johnson long throw-in to tie the game in the 66th minute.
The New York Red Bulls will take on Crystal Palace USA at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Crystal Palace defeated defending USL2 champion Harrisburg City in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 2-2 draw.
Andongcho Mbuta scored in the closing moments of overtime to force penalty kicks and Matt Nelson haunted his former team by making three saves in the shootout.
The Seattle Sounders (USL-1) made sure there was no Los Angeles derby in the third round, thrashing Hollywood United, the lone amateur side in the competition, 6-0 at Starfire Sports Complex.
Instead, thanks to four consecutive goals by Sebastien LeToux, Seattle will host Chivas USA for a second consecutive year in the third round. Last year, the Sounders defeated the Red-and-White 3-1 at Qwest Field.
"I think I could maybe have scored more, but I'll be happy with four tonight," LeToux said. "We had to be very careful about this team because they won 3-2 against Portland (in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup first round). We knew they had some good players and we were very careful about that."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
