• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • US Open Cup Central
  • US Open Cup Qualifying
  • US Open Cup History

Complete U.S. Open Cup Coverage

  • 2022 Schedule/Results
  • 2023 Qualifying Schedule
  • 2022 Stats
  • Support TheCup.us
  • TheCup.us Store
  • Awards
  • Contact Us

2015 US Open Cup Round 2: Saint Louis FC wins tournament debut in overtime, 2-1 over Des Moines Menace

May 21, 2015 by Matthew De Witt

st-louis-fc-logoThe US Open Cup has come back to Saint Louis.

Needing extra time, USL side Saint Louis FC finished off the defending Premier Development League regular-season champion Des Moines Menace, 2-1, to set up a Third Round date with North American Soccer League power, Minnesota United FC.

Saint Louis capitalized on a man advantage in the first half of extra time, when Jermie Lynch cleaned up a mishandled collection from Paul Blanchette. A cross from Parker Maher caromed off the crossbar and back into play. Before Blanchette could collect, Lynch nodded home the loose ball. Chaos ensued on the celebration, with the Saint Louis squad being mobbed by the home support group, the St. Louigans.

Des Moines, despite being down a man and a goal, equalized through a Chris Hellmann penalty kick in the 87th minute. Goalkeeper Mark Pais guessed incorrectly, diving to the shooter’s right. Vincent Cicciarelli drew the penalty kick after working the touch line and being tackled in front of the net.

The home side got on the board midway through the second half. Brian Gaul poked home a breakaway ball from Maher in the 68th minute. His chip over Blanchette bounced once and rolled the rest of the way home.

Immediately after the opening goal, Saint Louis had nearly doubled the lead with another breakaway attempt. Gaul received a long ball behind the back line, only to be bucked back by Blanchette’s left hand.

“I think we just need to take this for what it is,” Gaul said. “It was a tough game, but we got the win.”

This was the first Open Cup game played by a St. Louis team since 2010. The First Round game, as it was, featured the Menace and AC St. Louis of the short-lived USSF Division 2. One of tonight’s subs, Mike Ambersley, was the lone goalscorer in the 2010 game. The team folded after the 2010 season.

Des Moines was running out of the gates, spurring eight shots and forcing Menace alum Mark Pais into two saves. The halftime break allowed Saint Louis to get a foothold, and the pro side came out swinging.

“I wasn’t surprised with how well they came out,” Gaul said. “They’re a PDL side, a bunch of college kids. There’s some future pros in there.”

A year ago, Des Moines bowed out in the Third Round to Minnesota United FC. A late goal from Cristian Ramirez propelled the North American Soccer League team. The Loons, 3-3-0 in the Open Cup, were ousted in the Fourth Round to Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City.

Filed Under: 2015 US Open Cup, US Open Cup Tagged With: 2015 US Open Cup, Des Moines Menace, PDL, Saint Louis FC, Second Round, USL

Primary Sidebar

Featured Video

Follow Us on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

U.S. Open Cup History

Clint Dempsey of the Seattle Sounders FC is shown a red card during a 2015 US Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers.

A history of violence against referees in US Open Cup

Unfortunately, in the long history of the US Open Cup, this was not the first time that there have been more then a few incidents where games were halted due to referee abuse.

  • How St. Petersburg Kickers became Florida’s first US Open Cup champion
  • San Francisco Bay Seals, the ‘amateur’ pro team that reached 1997 US Open Cup Semifinals
  • Vasco De Gama’s journey from Connecticut to 1978 US Open Cup Final as Pele’s opening act at Giants Stadium
  • 1938-1939 National Challenge Cup: The first time the US Open Cup was invite-only
  • American soccer’s greatest modern underdog story: Rochester Raging Rhinos win 1999 US Open Cup

Analytics powered by

Copyright © 2023 • Built by Jacob Martella Web Development