2026 US Open Cup Round of 16: Houston Dynamo equalize late, oust Louisville City in OT

Houston Dynamo FC erased a late deficit and surged through extra time to defeat Louisville City FC 2-1 on Wednesday night, rallying behind a dramatic equalizer from Erik Sviatchenko and a go-ahead strike by Ezequiel Ponce to advance to the US Open Cup Quarterfinals.

The best team in the USL Championship, Louisville City FC, made a weekday trip to face yet another Texas foe. After taking down the current Lamar Hunt US Open Cup runners-up, Austin FC, in the Round of 32, Louisville flew to Houston to take on the 2023 champions.

The first half started slow but the first shot of the night came from the visitors in purple. Tola Showunmi, who also scored against Austin FC to ultimately give Louisville City FC the victory in the previous round, had an attempt in the second minute as he was stepping into the box but the shot was not carrying a lot of strength but Houston goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer controlled the shot without any major issues. 

The biggest chance of the first half for Houston came in the eighth minute when Amadou Dia fouled Duane Holmes inside of the box and referee Marcos de Oliveira pointed to the penalty spot without any hesitation. Jack McGlynn stepped up for the Dynamo but his shot went to the right of the Louisville City goalkeeper, Daniel Faundez. He got his hands on the ball to push it to the post where it rebounded out, keeping the game scoreless.

Manny Perez, the right back for Louisville, sent a ball across that didn’t find a recipient on the back post, but it left Maurer and Showunmi on the floor. This would have some repercussions for the home team, as Jonathan Bond would end up replacing Maurer at halftime due to concussion protocol. 

The first opportunity of the second half came for the Dynamo in the 56th, when Lawrence Ennalil, who replaced McGlynn at halftime, took a ball down to the byline and put a cross into the heart of the box. Aliyu Ibrahim beat his defender to get to the ball first but was not able to get his shot on target. Not that long after, Louisville responded with a series of crosses into the box, but none of them found a man in purple. The visitors were getting close to the Dynamo box but were not able to find that last touch to get the ball in the back of the net. 

A double substitution was made by Louisville City head coach Simon Bird in the 66th minute, bringing in Jay Serrano and Chris Donovan. In the 68th, on Donovan’s first touch of the night, he put a beautiful ball across to the back post of Bond. The ball found Serrano all alone, who scored the first goal on just his second touch of the night, and raised the flags of another “cupset” alert in the state of Texas. 

Houston brought on some fire power to help get an equalizer and push the game to extra time as Hector Herrera, Felipe Andrade and Ponce all entered the match late on.

In the 85th minute, after Ennali lost the ball inside the box of Louisville, it led to a huge breakaway for Donovan. Unfortunately for Louisville, Donovan wasn’t able to overtake Houston midfielder Artur and had to settle for a corner kick which could have been the second goal for the visitors and put the last nail in the coffin.

Experience came through for the Dynamo with Herrera playing the orchestrator. The Mexican international put a beautiful cross to the back post right to the head of Sviatchenko, who was playing as a center forward. The Danish defender gave the Dynamo a new hope in the 89th minute of play with a header to the bottom right corner to make the score 1-1. 

“I was dangerous throughout the game, had a lot of close calls on the corner kicks and love to be part of potential goals, and when Juan — our assistant coach — told me that we didn’t have any more subs … I went as a striker and I knew it was my time to help the team,” Sviatchenko said.

🗣️ Agustín Resch says late-game defending comes down to adrenaline, communication, and growing trust. Q: Cristian Putallaz pic.twitter.com/c1Kv6XucNU

— Bayou City Soccer (@BayouCitySoccer) April 30, 2026

Aliyu had a beautiful opportunity in the first minutes of extra time but his shot to the back post was blocked by Amadou Dia and deflected out for a corner kick. The Dynamo really seemed to make their home advantage felt by pushing all of Louisville into their box as they searched for the winning goal. Faundez was put to work again and again, first from a big shot from outside the box by Artur, which was headed into the upper 90, but the goalkeeper denied it.

Seconds later, Ponce once again tried Faundez from outside the box, but the Louisville City goalkeeper denied Houston once more. 

“He was amazing today,” Ennali said of Faundez. “I should have scored today but … good keeper there.”

The 1-1 scoreline didn’t last for much longer. Herrera found Ponce right outside the box, and after controlling the ball and turning around to face goal, the Argentinian let out a left footer that went past Kyle Adams’ legs and Faundez’s arms to put the Dynamo on top, 2-1. 

Faundez continued to keep Louisville alive in the second half of extra time, stopping a one v one against Ennali late on. Louisville’s biggest chance to equalize the match and take it to penalties was denied by Agustin Resch, who came in for extra time, with a goal line saving header to deny the visitors.  “It’s a goal for us,” Agustin Resch said when asked about what goes through the head of a defender when they have a goal line save at the dying moments of the game.