2026 US Open Cup Quarterfinals: Marcel Hartel of St. Louis CITY SC voted TheCup.us Player of Round

After a performance where he went a full 120 minutes, scored a brace that accounted for all his team’s goals, and converted his shootout attempt, Marcel Hartel of St. Louis CITY SC has been awarded TheCup.us Player of the Round for the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Quarterfinals. He was a key factor in the Mound City club finishing with a 2-2 draw against the Houston Dynamo and advancing 4-2 in the PK shootout.

Hartel is the first-ever player from St. Louis CITY SC to receive the award, beating out teammate Ben Lundt and Brian Ojeda of Orlando City SC for the honor.

Lundt was the breakout hero of the match, coming off the bench in the 26^th minute for injured starting goalkeeper Roman Bürki, he secured the first ever shootout win in club history. However, Lundt would not have been able to take a staring role with his heroics without the yeoman’s work put in by Hartel. That work secured Hartel the votes to win.

TheCup.us Player of the Round is voted on by TheCup.us staff, a select panel from the North American Soccer Reporters and select backers (those that pledge $10 or more) from TheCup.us’ Patreon team.

Hartel’s first goal would come in the first half as the result of some chaos in the box. A long cross was played in by CITY’s Chris Durkin. The ball bounced off three different players before it fell to Hartel, who swiftly deposited the ball into the back of the net and put St. Louis up 1-0.

The remainder of the first half would see St. Louis lose its starting goalkeeper/captain in Bürki, then lose the lead and fall behind 2-1. Hartel was handed the captain’s armband at the half and tasked with leading his team in a come-from-behind victory.

“I appreciate that I got the captain band I’m very proud,” Hartel said after the game. “First, I am very sad for Roman that he had to go out with an injury. But then I was very proud to be captain.”

Hartel would soon get his chance. In the 49^th minute, CITY’s Sergio Cordova was pulled down in the box by Houston’s Agustin Resch.

With the game in the balance, Hartel was called upon to take the penalty kick and tie the game. Hartel stepped up and scored with a determined single-mindedness.

“Try to help the team,” said Hartel. “Just one thing in my head score the goal, take the 2-2, and go for the next one.”

Hartel’s goal would tie the match at 2-2 and that scoreline would hold through the rest of regulation and the 30 minutes of added extra time.

The game proceeded to shootouts, where Hartel would be called upon to make a second attempt against a goalkeeper who had already faced him from the spot earlier. Hartel was not concerned about the possibility that Houston’s Jonathan Bond was prepared for revenge.

“I guess that the other goalkeeper looks at how we are shooting if penalties are coming up. Probably he saw me before as well, but I saw him too,” said Hartel.

It was of no concern, as Hartel beat Bond for the second time on the night and St. Louis beat Houston in the shootout 4-2.

This competition has gone better for Hartel than his previous experience in the DFB-Pokal his home country Germany’s version of the Open Cup.

“We went also to the quarterfinals, and I missed two pens in a row in the penalty shootout” he said.

Hartel is just the second German-born player to win the award, joining Phoenix Rising goalkeeper Peter Rakovsky who won the award last year in the Third Round.

With a Player of the Round Award in hand and a better Quarterfinals experience than his previous one, Marcel Hartel will look to repeat his performance in the Semifinals against the Colorado Rapids on Sept. 16 in Commerce City, CO.