The Fourth Round of the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup kicked off with nine games on Tuesday. This stage of the United States' longest-running soccer competition will see all 17 US-based MLS teams enter the fray over the course of the next two days. Check out all the results from Tuesday's action below:
San Jose Earthquakes 2 (6)
Sacramento Republic FC 2 (5)
SJ: Wondolowski '74, '79
SAC: Lopez '6, Klimenta '54
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Shaun Francis drilled an eighth-round penalty kick to nudge the San Jose Earthquakes past USL side Sacramento Republic FC 2-2 (6-5) in fourth-round US Open Cup play Tuesday.
Sacramento defender James Kiffe had a chance to extend the PK battle but missed his shot high as the Quakes eliminated their Northern California neighbors from USOC play for the second straight year.
Chris Wondolowski, Victor Bernardez, Tommy Thompson, JJ Koval and Leandro Barrera also struck in the shootout for San Jose. Rodrigo Lopez, Nemanja Vukovic, Gilberto, David Estrada and Adnan Gabeljic converted for Sacramento.
Wondolowski scored a pair of second-half goals to force extra time, and neither side could break through in the additional 30 minutes.
Lopez converted an early penalty to put Sacramento on top, and freed up Emrah Klimenta to double that advantage just after intermission. But Sacramento lost for the fourth time in as many tries – including two friendlies – to the Quakes.
-- GEOFF LEPPER
Seattle Sounders 1
Portland Timbers 3
POR: Valeri '48, Wallace '100, Urruti '116
SEA: Martins '79
TUKWILA, Wash. – For the first time in franchise history, the Seattle Sounders were defeated at Starfire Sports Complex, falling 3-1 to the Portland Timbers in extra time Saturday night in a wild fourth-round match of the US Open Cup.
Diego Valeri, Rodney Wallace and Maximiliano Urruti scored for the Timbers, while Obafemi Martins had the lone tally for the Sounders.
Portland struck first in the 48th minute on a tally from Valeri. Then, to make matters worse for Seattle, Brad Evans was sent off minutes later after picking up his second yellow for a tackle on Portland’s Jorge Villafana. But the Rave Green found a way to tie it up on a dramatic 79th-minute equalizer from Martins.
Seattle took another hit when Martins went down with an injury and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher, leaving the Sounders with nine men in extra time. Wallace managed to beat Troy Perkins to the far post in the first frame of extra time for the game-winner, with Urruti notching the insurance in the second.
The contest deteriorated late, with Micheal Azira and Clint Dempsey each being shown red by referee Daniel Radford, forcing the Sounders to finish the game with seven players.
Real Salt Lake 2
Seattle Sounders 2 1
RSL: Plata '63, Morales '71
S2: Garza '45+4
SANDY, Utah – Seattle Sounders 2 gave Real Salt Lake a scare, but brilliant performances from Joao Plata and Javier Morales gave them a 2-1 victory Tuesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium and saw them through to the fifth round of the US Open Cup.
Sounders 2 midfielder Sam Garza made things interesting right before the half, scoring a surprising goal when a long throw in found his feet inside the box.
RSL looked like a completely different team in the second half, however.
Forward Olmes Garcia found a streaking Plata for RSL’s opener. And Sounders 2 goalkeeper Saif Kerawala made a fatal error just eight minutes later when he picked up a ball played to him from his teammate.
An indirect free kick was called, and Morales slipped the ball into the net from only six yards out for the game-winning goal.
-- TYLER GRAY
Colorado Rapids 4
Colorado Springs Switchbacks 1
COL: Badji '26; Greenspan '32; Serna '65, '90
COS: Burt '90
First-half goals from Dominique Badji and Joseph Greenspan and a second-half brace from Dillon Serna led the Colorado Rapids to a comprehensive 4-1 victory in a fourth-round match of the US Open Cup on Tuesday night over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
Jordan Burt struck in the 90th minute for USL side Colorado Springs’ only goal of the night.
It was the first meeting between the two Colorado clubs.
-- MLSsoccer staff | More on coloradorapids.com
Chicago Fire 1
Louisville City FC 0
CHI: Amarikwa '115
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – An extra-time deflected goal from Quincy Amarikwa saved the Chicago Fire’s blushes in a 1-0 triumph over USL side Louisville City FC at Toyota Park.
A dour game that did little to excite the 3,544 fans who braved the chilly June evening was just four minutes away from going to penalties when Amarikwa redirected Guly do Prado’s shot past Scott Goodwin to ensure the Fire’s passage through to the fifth round.
The visitors can count themselves unlucky having taken the game to their more illustrious hosts, with Chicago’s Sean Johnson certainly the busier of the two goalkeepers.
FC Dallas 4
Oklahoma City Energy FC 1
FCD: Texeira '21, '51; Barrios '34, '36
OKC: Konig '81
FORT WORTH, Texas – FC Dallas entered their first Open Cup match of 2015 on a mission to reverse a lackluster trend with their attack.
They did just that on Tuesday, blowing out USL club Oklahoma City Energy 4-1 in the fourth-round at Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium.
Fabian Castillo and Michael Barrios dominated on the wings, with Castillo assisting on a David Texeira goal in the 21st minute, and Barrios scoring in the 34th and 36th before assisting on Texeira’s second in the 51st. Goalkeeper Chris Seitz even joined the offensive mix, assisting on Barrios' second goal.
OKC scored a late consolation goal, getting on the board in the 81st minute when Danni Konig fired home to make it 4-1.
-- SCOTT SIDWAY
Sporting Kansas City 1
Saint Louis FC 0
SKC: Zusi '70
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Graham Zusi's 70th-minute header gave Sporting Kansas City a hard-fought 1-0 victory over scrappy Saint Louis FC in front of a record crowd at Sporting Park in US Open Cup fourth-round action on Tuesday.
Even with a bye week's rest and an XI made up almost entirely of regular starters, Sporting took a while to assert themselves against the first-year USL side. But after putting only one shot on goal in the first hour – Zusi's header in first-half stoppage time, cleared off the line by forward Mike Ambersley – they got the winner when Zusi snapped Benny Feilhaber's cross past Mark Pais 20 minutes from time.
Tim Melia did not have to make a save in recording his fifth clean sheet in seven starts across all competitions for Sporting, who also saw Chance Myers return and play 55 minutes in his first competitive action since rupturing his left Achilles last May.
The crowd of 19,298 was the largest for a fourth-round match in the modern era of the Open Cup – even bigger than the 18,863 on hand at Sporting Park when Kansas City outlasted Seattle on penalties in the 2012 final.
Philadelphia Union 0 (3)
Rochester Rhinos 0 (1)
CHESTER, Pa. – John McCarthy thwarted a serious upset bid from his former team, stopping three out of four penalty kicks in a shootout to lift the Philadelphia Union past the Rochester Rhinos in fourth-round US Open Cup action Tuesday night at PPL Park.
After 120 minutes of scoreless soccer in a feisty game that featured five yellow cards, Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana all scored on their PK attempts with C.J. Sapong the only Philly player to miss.
The Union, who played in four extra-time Open Cup games last year, nearly broke the scoreless deadlock in the 72nd minute but Rochester goalie Brandon Miller made a save on a Nogueira rip from distance and then smothered a golden rebound opportunity for Edu.
The stingy Rhinos, who have given up just four goals in 12 USL games this year, also cleared a Maidana shot off the line in the 13th minute.
McCarthy, who was the USL Goalkeeper of the Year with the Rhinos last season, made big saves in the 34th and 83rd minutes to keep his former team off the board, and fullback Ray Gaddis booted the ball away before it trickled over the goal line in stoppage time of regulation.
New York Red Bulls 3
Atlanta Silverbacks 0
NY: Sam '7, Zubar '15, Davis '70
HARRISON, N.J. – The New York Red Bulls vowed to take the US Open Cup seriously, and they backed it up in a big way on Tuesday night.
Riding first-half goals from Lloyd Sam and Ronald Zubar and a second-half insurance tally from Sean Davis, New York took down NASL side Atlanta Silverbacks 3-0 at Red Bull Arena to advance to the tournament’s Round of 16.
Head coach Jesse Marsch played a near first-choice starting lineup that included Zubar, who was returning from a three-month absence due to various injuries. The night, however, was not wholly positive as Sam suffered injuries to his groin and ankle early on, forcing the winger out of the match in the 23rd minute.
-- ERIC GIACOMETTI | More on NewYorkRedBulls.com
