Arturo Alvarez’s strike in the 95th minute broke a 1-1 tie and helped FC Dallas advance to the Semifinals of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Charleston Battery. It was the second year in a row that Charleston has lost to Dallas in the Open Cup after being tied following regulation (Dallas won on penalty kicks in the Fourth Round last year).
FC Dallas came out with a close-to-full-strength first 11, but Stephen Armstrong would open the scoring in the 17th minute from outside the penalty area. Clarence Goodson’s header in the 22nd minute leveled the score and the remainder of the half would be tightly-fought. The second half saw little in the way of eventful action and the game was destined to head to extra time.
The 1997 US Open Cup champions are making their sixth appearance in the Semifinals. Their last trip to the final four was in 2005 when they defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0, on their way to losing in the championship game to the Los Angeles Galaxy by the same scoreline.
FC Dallas will move on to play the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field on September 4.