DC United struck early in both halves, then held on to defeat the Harrisburg City Islanders for the second year in a row in the US Open Cup Quarterfinals, this time by a 2-0 tally. Branko Boskovic struck in the first minute, and Thabiso Khumalo doubled the lead at 47′.
- Branko Boskovic of DC United scored in the first minute in United’s 2-0 quarterfinal win over the Harrisburg City Islanders. Photo: Tony Quinn | DC United
Boskovic, playing in his second game since being signed from Rapid Vienna, struck 40 seconds into the game, taking the feed from Santino Quaranta and bouncing it past City Islanders keeper Danny Cepero into the net. DC kept control throughout the rest of the half, outshooting Harrisburg 8-3 and never giving the visitors any room.
The second half began in much the same fashion, as Bill Hamid slotted the ball in for Khumalo, who put the ball past Cepero for a 2-0 lead two minutes in. Harrisburg struggled to mount an effective counterattack, and their hopes of getting back into the game were dashed at 75′. Tyler Ruthven committed a hard foul on DC United’s Khumalo, earning a straight red card and leaving the City Islanders a man down. DC easily controlled the rest of their match, earning a third straight trip to the Semifinals.
DC United will host fellow MLS club Columbus Crew in the Semifinals at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, September 1. This will be the team’s 17th straight home US Open Cup game (including MLS qualifiers), with their only loss in that stretch coming during last year’s final to Seattle Sounders FC. Harrisburg earns a $10,000 prize for being the USL-2 club advancing the farthest. Though both the City Islanders and Charleston Battery were eliminated in the Quarterfinals, Harrisburg earns the money based on winning their Third Round game against the New York Red Bulls outright, while Charleston drew the Chicago Fire before defeating them in Penalty Kicks.
Scoring:
DC — Branko Boskovic (Santino Quaranta) 1
DC — Thabiso Khumalo (Bill Hamid) 47
Misconduct Summary:
HAR – Jason Pelletier (caution; reckless foul) 23
HAR – JT Noone (caution; reckless foul) 33
DC – Barry Rice (caution; tactical foul)62
HAR – Tyler Ruthven (ejection; dangerous foul) 75
Lineups:
DCU: Bill Hamid, Stephen King, Devon McTavish, Carey Talley, Barry Rice, Branko Boskovic (Clyde Simms 67), Thabiso Khumalo, Kurt Morsink, Santino Quaranta (Jordan Graye 89), Danny Allsopp, Pablo Hernandez (Jaime Moreno 67)
HAR: Danny Cepero, Dustin Bixler, Anthony Calvano, Tyler Ruthven, Jerritt Thayer, Geoffrey Bloes, Jason Hotchkin, Kai Kasiguran (Mpho Moloi 70), Jason Pelletier (Vince Petrasso 79), JT Noone (Dominic Oppong 83), Sheanon Williams
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Referee’s Assistants: Jason Cullum, Adam Wienckowski
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Weather: Clear, 88 degrees
Attendance: 2,089