For the second straight year the Charleston Battery eliminated the defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo in the Third Round of the US Open Cup, this time holding on with nine men in overtime tied 1-1 to advance in penalties 4-3. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace Baltimore became the third USL-2 team to down MLS opposition in two years, blanking the New York Red Bulls 2-0. Seattle capped the night by defeating Chivas USA for the second straight year in the Third Round.

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Charleston and Seattle advance to the Quarterfinals for the fourth time in each team’s history, matching the Rochester Rhinos among USL clubs for the most appearances in the final eight.

The Upsets

Battery down Dynamo again
For the second consecutive year, the Houston Dynamo came to Charleston for the Third Round as the defending MLS Cup champion and left eliminated from the US Open Cup. Last year, Charleston won 1-0 on a penalty in overtime from Stephen Armstrong. This year, it was a wild affair as Charleston got on the board in the 31st minute courtesy of defender Marco Reda and although losing midfielder Chris Corcoran to red card in the second half, appeared headed to another 1-0 win. Instead, the Dynamo found a miracle in the 89th minute on a Chris Wondolowski blast to force overtime. The Battery held on for the 1-1 draw despite dropping to nine players with 20 minutes left due to Reda being sent off. All four Battery players scored in the tiebreaker shootout with Houston’s Geoff Cameron missing high and Franco Caraccio having his shot saved by Dusty Hudock on the fifth round kick for the 4-3 decision.
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Palace clip Red Bulls wings 2-0
Crystal Palace Baltimore became the third USL Second Division team in two years to advance to the Quarterfinals of the US Open Cup with a victory over MLS opposition. Last year Harrisburg downed DC United and Richmond knocked off the LA Galaxy by identical 1-0 scores. Andrew Marshall gave the hosts the lead 18 minutes, but a red card to Ibrahim Kante in the 34th left them with 10 men to protect the lead. Despite playing a man down, Palace managed to find net once more via Gary Brooks in the 75th and held on for the victory.
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Sounders stop Chivas USA again
For the second consecutive year the Sounders defeated the visiting Chivas USA by two goals to advance to the Quarterfinals. After posting a 3-1 win in 2007, the Sounders added a shutout by Chris Eylander to the equation this time out with the 2-0 result. Defender Taylor Graham headed in the go-ahead goal two minutes before the break and Sebastien Le Toux beat US national team goalkeeper Brad Guzan for the insurance goal 10 minutes from time.
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Tragic Turnarounds

Kansas City rallies past Carolina
The RailHawks built a two-goal lead only to see it evaporate late and find themselves in overtime and ultimately out of the tournament. Santiago Fusilier put Carolina ahead a minute before the intermission and Matt Watson doubled the advantage in the 58th, but it would all begin to unravel 10 minutes later. Ivan Trujillo cut the lead in half with the Wizards opener and Claudio Lopez would tie it up with eight minutes remaining on a penalty to force extra time. Lopez would set up Trujillo four minutes into overtime. Carolina would try to fight back despite losing Ryan Solle to a red card in the 108th only to see Ryan Pore secure the victory with another penalty a minute before the final whistle.
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Dallies rallies to defeat Miami
Brazilian scoring star Alex Afonso gave Miami FC the initial lead on the road seven minutes into the match. The Blues defense that has allowed just one goal in their last seven league games would do well holding off the Dallas attack, but saw stoppage time and Abe Thompson prove to be their downfall. Thompson provided the equalizer three minutes into first half and the game-winner, again, three minutes into second half stoppage time to avoid overtime.
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Rough Road Results

DC downs Rochester 2-0
Red hot in league play, DC United did not let up against the Rhinos as regular reserve Marc Burch tallied twice seven minutes apart in the second half on free kicks.
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Cleveland falls 4-1 to Fire
The four-time champions of the tournament would not find themselves on the upset list, building a quick 3-0 lead 26 minutes in on goals from Mike Banner, Calen Carr and Chad Barrett. Adam Ruud found Kiel McClung in the 61st to cut into the lead, but it would only prove to spoil the shutout as Banner went on to score a second in the 73rd to cap the scoring.
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Revolution roll past Richmond 3-0
After knocking off the LA Galaxy last year 1-0, the Kickers were unable to repeat the feat on the road against the defending tournament champions. Delayed two hours due to lightning, the Kickers held the Revolution scoreless in the first half, but the game turned on them a minute into the second half when Sam Brill broke the deadlock. Back-to-back goals from Joe Germanese and Taylor Twellman in the 63rd and 67th minutes secured the New England win.
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QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

Date
 Matchups
 Venue
 Time
 
July 8
 Crystal Palace @ New England
 Veterans Stadium (CT)
 7:00
 
July 8
 Kansas City @ Seattle
 Qwest Field
 7:00
 
July 8
 Chicago @ DC
 Maryland SoccerPlex
 7:30
 
July 8
 Charleston @ Dallas
 Pizza Hut Park
 7:30
 

COMPLETE SCOREBOARD

New York Red Bulls 0 :: 2 Crystal Palace Baltimore
CPB: Andrew Marshall (Bryan Harkin) 18
CPB: Gary Brooks (Paul Robson) 75
Cautions
NY: Mike Magee 26, 90
CPB: Lary Mark 21, Bryan Harkin 26, Gary Brooks 30, Ibrahim Kante 30, 34, Matthew Mbuta 44
Ejections
NY: Mike Magee 90
CPB: Ibrahim Kante 34

Rochester Rhinos 0 :: 2 DC United
DC: Marc Burch 78
DC: Marc Burch 85
Cautions
ROC: Tenyway Bonseu 79, Tiger Fitzpatrick 84, Mauricio Salles 90

Kansas City Wizards 4 :: OT :: 2 Carolina RailHawks
CAR: Santiago Fusilier (Ryan Solle) 44
CAR: Matt Watson (Dan Antoniuk) 58
KC: Ivan Trujillo (Michael Harrington) 68
KC: Claudio Lopez (penalty) 82
KC: Ivan Trujillo (Claudio Lopez) 94
KC: Ryan Pore (penalty) 119
Cautions
KC: Kurt Morsink 104, Claudio Lopez 111, Ryan Pore 117
CAR: Ryan Solle 89
Ejections
CAR: Ryan Solle 108, Chad Dombrowski 120

Houston Dynamo (3) 1 :: OT :: 1 (4) Charleston Battery
CHA: Marco Reda (Ian Fuller) 31
HOU: Chris Wondolowski 89

Cleveland City Stars 1 :: 4 Chicago Fire
CHI: Mike Banner 13
CHI: Calen Carr (Stephen King) 23
CHI: Chad Barrett (penalty) 26
CLE: Kiel McClung (Adam Ruud) 61
CHI: Mike Banner (Peter Lowry) 73
Cautions
CLE: Ryan Stewart 78
CHI: Lider Marmol 57

Miami FC Blues 1 :: 2 FC Dallas
MIA: Alex Afonso 7
DAL: Abe Thompson (Dominic Oduro) 45
DAL: Abe Thompson (Drew Moor) 90

Richmond Kickers 0 :: 3 New England Revolution
NE: Sam Brill (Chris Tierney) 46
NE: Joe Germanese (Chase Hilgenbrinck) 63
NE: Taylor Twellman (Chris Tierney) 67

Chivas USA 0 :: 2 Seattle Sounders
SEA: Taylor Graham (Josh Gardner) 43
SEA: Sebastien Le Toux 80
Cautions
CHI: Sascha Kljestian 69
SEA: Andre Schmid 64, Leighton O’Brien 81

Match Reports courtesy of www.USLsoccer.com