Just eight teams are remaining in the 109th edition of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
After the dust settled on the Round of 16, five Major League Soccer teams advanced to the Quarterfinals, along with three USL Championship clubs
New Mexico United partied like it was 2019 en route to the Quarterfinals, eliminating the last remaining third division team (NYCFC II), while Sacramento Republic upset the San Jose Earthquakes (again) in a dramatic extra time match on Tuesday night.
Atlanta United edged USL Championship side Charleston Battery in a penalty shootout, Elsewhere, four more MLS teams advanced with wins over USL Championship sides. Sporting Kansas City and Los Angeles FC both cruised to shutout wins, but the Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas both held on for one-goal victories to punch their tickets.
Indy Eleven made history with a 3-0 win over Detroit City FC as they became the first Indiana club to reach the final eight in 32 years.
The draw for the Quarterfinals took place on Wednesday night and will see Sporting KC host FC Dallas, Indy Eleven will travel to Atlanta United FC, Sacramento Republic will welcome the Sounders and Los Angeles FC will bring New Mexico United to BMO Stadium. The games will take place the week of July 9-10.
You can find the schedule and results for the Round of 16 and the goalscoring leaders here. You can find a review of every Round 1 game HERE, the Round 2 games HERE, the Round 3 games HERE and the Round 4 games HERE.
Below you will find a brief summary of all eight Round of 16 games with links to the full match report with video highlights.
TUESDAY, MAY 21
Charleston Battery (USL-C)
0:0
Atlanta United FC (MLS)
Atlanta United advances 5-4 on penalty kicks
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Grace Ott
Atlanta United needed every second of the game and then some to prevent an upset in the Round of 16 against the Charleston Battery. The Battery attack had a sizable advantage in shots taken, but the Atlanta defense held strong to preserve a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time.
In penalties, Charleston had Atlanta on the ropes after keeper Daniel Kuzemka saved the first kick from Brooks Lennon, but Diego Gutierrez’s potential game-winner was also saved, extending the shootout. Atlanta keeper Josh Cohen made another easy save on Charleston’s next kick, sending Atlanta to the next round. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
NYCFC II (MLSNP)
0:3
New Mexico United (USL-C)
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Grace Ott
After a scoreless second half, New Mexico United turned up the heat and cruised to a 3-0 victory over MLS NEXT Pro side New York City FC II.
The USL Championship team took the lead five minutes into the second half and NYCFC II was never able to recover after going down to 10 men following a red card in the 55th minute. Despite being evenly matched in shots taken, New Mexico were the more clinical finishers, with six shots on target to NYCFC’s one, with three different goalscorers sending them to the next round. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
Sporting Kansas City (MLS)
4:0
FC Tulsa (USL-C)
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Jordan Beech
Sporting Kansas City enjoyed a 4-0 romp over FC Tulsa on Tuesday evening to secure passage to the Quarterfinals for the 14th time in team history. Felipe Hernandez led the way for SKC with two goals.
Hernandez opened the scoring in the 38th minute off a free kick and the hosts never looked back. Stephen Afrifa, who also had an assist on the evening, doubled the advantage in the third minute of first-half stoppage to make it 2-0 at the break.
One minute into the second half, Patrick Seagrist was sent off for a second yellow-card infraction, allowing SKC to enjoy a man advantage for almost the entire second half. Hernandez used the advantage to score on the break before Marinos Tzionis put the finishing touches on the scoreline to move SKC to 34-16-7 all-time in Open Cup play and on to the next round. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
Sacramento Republic FC (USL-C)
4:3
San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
After Extra Time
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Jordan Beech
Back-to-back goals in the second half of extra time pushed a triumphant Sacramento Republic FC past the San Jose Earthquakes, 4-3, in the night’s lone Cupset. The Republic had to fight off San Jose’s comeback attempt, even briefly trailing in extra time, to secure passage to the club’s second Quarterfinals appearance in three years.
Following Preston Judd’s opening goal for San Jose in the 11th minute of action, Kieran Phillips added his second and third goals of the tournament in the 17th and 38th minutes, respectively. Phillips’ effort would see Sacramento head into the break nursing a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, with a Cupset all but assured in regulation, Cristian Espinoza leveled in the 80th minute to send the match to extra time.
After forcing extra time, Hernan Lopez pushed the visiting Earthquakes in front in the 100th minute. However, the Republic responded with goals in the 106th minute by Luis Fernandes and 107th minute by Juan Herrera were enough for the USL Championship side to claim a sixth MLS scalp in the club’s eighth tournament appearance. It was the fifth all-time meeting between the two Northern California clubs. San Jose got the best of the Republic in the first three games, but Tuesday night’s game was Sacramento’s second win in a row against the MLS side. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
Los Angeles FC (MLS)
3:0
Loudoun United FC (USL-C)
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Jordan Beech
Los Angeles FC dispatched Loudoun United FC, 3-0, on Tuesday evening to maintain an unbeaten mark against Division 2 opponents in Open Cup play. Three different players scored for LAFC.
Timothy Tillman got the hosts started on the front foot early, scoring in just the eighth minute off an assist by Christian Olivera. Olivera added to the scoreline with a tally of his own off the fast break in the 52nd minute — Denis Bouanga provided the assist. A second assist for Bouanga materialized in the 61st minute when he assisted on Tomas Angel’s goal in the 61st minute.
The Angelenos are now 9-3-2 all-time in Open Cup competition and are one win away from matching their best-ever performance — a Semifinal appearance in 2018. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
Indy Eleven (USL-C)
3:0
Detroit City FC (USL-C)
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Jordan Beech
A trio of first-half goals saw Indy Eleven triumph over fellow USL Championship side Detroit City FC. As a result of the win, Indy Eleven becomes just the second Indiana-based club to reach the Quarterfinals, and the first to manage the feat in the Modern Era (1995-present).
The evening started off well for Indy with Detroit gifting an own goal to the hosts before a quarter-of-an-hour had elapsed. Augustine Williams and Ben Ofeimu than left no doubt of the result, tallying strikes in the 33rd and 36th minute, respectively.
With tonight’s win, Indy Eleven moves to 7-7-1 all-time in Open Cup play across nine appearances in the tournament. The Circle City outfit is one of only three USL Championship sides remaining in the 2024 edition of the US Open Cup. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
Tampa Bay Rowdies (USL-C)
1:2
FC Dallas (MLS)
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Jordan Beech
FC Dallas struck quickly and then held firm defensively to escape The Big Guava with a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The Rowdies outshot their MLS counterparts 30-7, forcing goalkeeper Maarten Paes into eight saves on the night.
Patrickson Delgado struck first for Dallas in the 15th minute by latching onto the end of a corner served in by Jesus Ferreira in the 15th minute. Logan Farrington doubled the advantage 11 minutes later, linking up with Herbert Endeley on what would eventually prove to be the matchwinner. The Rowdies pulled one back in the 85th minute via a penalty conversion by Joshua Perez to set the final scoreline.
The two-time Open Cup Champions, FC Dallas is now 38-21-6 all-time in tournament action. This will be the club’s 17th Quarterfinal appearance, and first since 2017. They are now tied with Kutis Soccer Club (St. Louis area) for the most Quarterfinal appearances in tournament history. {FULL MATCH REPORT}
Seattle Sounders FC (MLS)
2:1
Phoenix Rising FC (USL-C)
FULL MATCH VIDEO
BY: Jordan Beech
A pair of second-half goals helped Seattle Sounders FC escape a tricky test against the USL Championship’s Phoenix Rising FC in the final match of the Round of 16. Alex Roldan provided a goal and assisted on the matchwinner for the hosts from MLS.
Phoenix took the lead deep in first-half stoppage following Remi Cabral’s successful penalty conversion. Seattle followed suit with a penalty score of their own in the 68th minute through Roldan. Roldan then factored into the decisive 88th-minute winner for the Sounders, linking up with an assist to Kalani Kossa-Rienzi.
The winners of four Open Cup titles, Seattle moves on to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2016. {FULL MATCH REPORT}