The Detroit City FC shocked the defending Lamar Hunt US Open Cup champion winning on penalty kicks (10-9) on Tuesday night in Houston after a 3-3 draw.
The Round of 32 match was one for the ages as the Houston Dynamo FC blew leads late not once, but twice as Detroit would not go away.
Detroit heads to the Round of 16 for the first time in franchise history, and is the first Michigan club to reach that far since 2012 (Michigan Bucks).
Griffin Dorsey who made name for himself and secured a starting 11 spot because of his play in the 2023 US Open Cup opened the scoring in 2024. Flashing to the near post on a corner kick, Dorsey tapped home for the early lead in the sixth minute of play. Dynamo captain Hector Herrera earned the assist in front of an announced crowd of 7,549 at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium.
Just past the half hour mark, Latif Blessing doubled the Houston advantage and the men in orange appeared to have all the momentum going their way but Detroit had other things in mind.
Le Rouge defender Ryan Williams scored with a banger from distance (30 yards) to cut the deficit in half just before halftime setting up a crazy freewheeling goalscoring second half.
As La Naranja has been prone to do, they surrendered the equalizer to Detroit City FC forward Yazeed Matthews with 15 minutes remaining in the match. DCFC returned the favor giving the lead right back as Houston midfielder Coco Carrasquilla found some space cutting to his left and delivering a scorcher less then two minutes later that gave Houston a 3-2 lead.
The Dynamo though could not accept the gift giving up the equalizer in the 83rd minute to Maxi Rodriguez making regulation and nine minutes of stoppage time not enough to settle this one.
Extra time was not enough either and after 120 minutes of grueling in a match that started with a game time temperature of 85 degrees and humidity in the upper 80s, the game went to a shootout.
DCFC goalkeeper Carlos Saldana who faced a barrage of 28 shots in the first 120 minutes was the hero, stopping a critical shot attempt and scoring a goal of his own. The teams were even after two rounds, but then Houston netminder Andrew Tarbell saved the third Detroit attempt taken by Ben Morris to give Houston the lead. They would carry that lead to the fifth round, where DCFC goalkeeper Carlos Saldaña would make his own save, stopping Ibrahim Aliyu. Michael Bryant would convert his attempt to lead to sudden death, where five more rounds of consecutive makes by both sides led to the keepers facing off. Tarbell’s attempt went sailing over the crossbar, which left open the door for Saldaña to win it for the lower division side. Win it he did, placing it just to Tarbell’s left with pace to send Detroit City FC to the Round of 16 for the first time in their 13-year history. It also marks the second year in a row, and only the fourth time in the Modern Era (1995-present) that the defending champions were one-and-done.
Playing their third road match in a week, the white and rouge weathered a storm of 14 Houston corner kicks on their first ever trip to an MLS Stadium. They lost everywhere on the stat sheet but where it mattered most adding the Houston Dynamo FC as their latest conquest. Houston returns to MLS action Saturday night on the road at Sporting Kansas City.
DCFC awaits the winner of the Indy Eleven/San Antonio match for the Round of 16 in two weeks.