Thomas Viola

2025 US Open Cup Round 3: Chattanooga Red Wolves win historic PK shootout over Las Vegas Lights

April 17, 2025 by Thomas Viola

Players from Chattanooga Red Wolves (left) and Las Vegas Lights battle for the ball in the Third Round of the 2025 US Open Cup. Photo: Las Vegas Lights

The Chattanooga Red Wolves won an instant US Open Cup Classic at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, NV Wednesday night.

The Red Wolves were victorious 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw, following a back and forth game that included two penalty kicks in regulation, eight yellow cards, and 30 minutes of extra time. It was the third straight game that saw the Red Wolves advance by penalty kicks. It marks the first time in the tournament’s Modern Era that a team has not only played in three straight shootouts, but won all three.

The Chattanooga Red Wolves got on the board first thanks to a 19th minute goal from striker Zahir Vazquez, who was able to split the Lights defense after being teed up by Kimball Jackson. It was Jackson who received a long ball in the corner of the field and passed it back up top to an unmarked Vazquez to give the Red Wolves a 1-0 lead.

The Lights answered back right before the halftime whistle after a hard tackle in the box on Lights winger Edison Azcona drew a call for a penalty kick, and Azcona took the shot himself, lobbing it straight down the middle and beating a diving Ricardo Jerez Jr. to tie the game at 1-1.

The teams went into the halftime break tied, but also carried four first half yellow cards into the locker room from what was a chippy, foul-filled affair.

The draw did not last long as just three minutes into the second half Chattanooga earned a penalty kick of their own after a foul on midfielder Pedro Hernandez. Just as Azcona did in the first half, Hernandez took the penalty himself, lasering a shot to the bottom left corner and restoring the Red Wolves’ lead 2-1.

The Lights searched unsuccessfully for an equalizer until bringing on Christian Pinzon in the 58th minute. He wasted no time making an impact on the game, uncorking an arching shot from outside the box that screamed past the goalkeeper and tied the game 2-2.

The game remained locked in a stalemate past the full time whistle, and with the neon signs of Las Vegas shining in the background, the teams battled for another thirty scoreless minutes of extra time before the Red Wolves emerged victorious in a penalty shootout.

After the match, Chattanooga manager Scott Mackenzie said of his team, “We knew once we went into extra time that we were winning the game … They weren’t beating us on penalties. Because that’s about mental toughness, and no one is tougher than this group.”

Mackenzie’s Red Wolves will move on to the Fourth Round (Round of 32) for the first time in club history and will take on a Major League Soccer team for the first time. In league play, they have a quick turnaround before playing Greenville Triumph SC in Chattanooga on Saturday, their third game in eight days.

Meanwhile the Las Vegas Lights look to regroup at home this Saturday against FC Tulsa in their next USL Championship matchup.

2022 US Open Cup Round 1: Las Vegas Legends hold off Park City to earn first win

March 24, 2022 by Thomas Viola

Las Vegas Legends Park City Red Wolves 2022 US Open Cup — Yuval Cohen of the Las Vegas Legends (left) and Park City Red Wolves battle for the ball during a First Round match in the 2022 US Open Cup. Photo: Lesly Rodriguez – LBShots

On a brisk spring night in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Legends earned their first ever US Open Cup victory with a 3-2 win over the Park City Red Wolves at Peter Johann Field.

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Buoyed by two first half goals, the Legends held off a late Red Wolves comeback attempt to secure their place in the next round of the US Open Cup, where they will face New Mexico United of the USL Championship on April 5.

The Legends wasted no time drawing first blood in the match, with a goal from team captain Samuel Aina just under ten minutes into the game. A second goal from Brandon Vargas in the 33rd minute helped cap off a half in which the Legends dominated both on the field and on the scoreboard, and saw them head into the locker room with a 2-0 lead at the break.

“In the beginning of the game, we controlled very well,” said Legends head coach Jose Rivera after the game. “Towards the end of the match, we started to get tired.”

That late game took its toll on the Legends squad, nearly costing them the match.

A 68th minute goal from Roberto Soto, who took advantage of a lapse in the Red Wolves defense to make an impressive solo run, gave the Legends a three goal advantage, and proved to be the goal that would decide the game.

Rivera opted to use four of his five substitutions simultaneously midway through the second half, and an injury to defender Daniel Osuji just minutes later left the team without the ability to replace tired legs, and allowed for the Red Wolves to make a late comeback.

After dominating the first 75 minutes of the match, the Legends began to tire and the Red Wolves attack found life in the form of an 84th goal for Brandon Fuchs, on what was Park City’s first real scoring chance from play (they had threatened on a pair of corner kicks earlier in the game, but struggled to break down the Legends defense from the run of play).

Halfway through stoppage time, substitute Kevin Jara-Collante was able to navigate a shot through a crowded Legends box to cut the deficit to just one goal, and giving the Red Wolves hope of a late comeback.

Las Vegas Legends fans smoke 2022 US Open Cup — Fans set off smoke bombs during the Las Vegas Legends’ match against Park City Red Wolves in the First Round in the 2022 US Open Cup. Photo: Lesly Rodriguez – LBShots

However, it was not to be as the Legends held on to close out the game and go home as 3-2 winners.

“It was great playing at UNLV, in Vegas, and to beat this team here shows that we are a big Vegas team, and I think that we are the strongest team in Vegas – I’m proud to say it,” said 18-year-old midfielder Elad Cohen, who came onto the game as one of the subs in the 61st minute for the Legends.
Cohen’s father, Meir, is the owner of the Legends and was equally thrilled at the team’s victory Wednesday night.

The Park City Red Wolves return to Utah to prepare for the upcoming NPSL season, while the Legends get ready to head to New Mexico to take on New Mexico United.

“I believe we are ready to compete,” said Rivera about next round’s matchup. “We will prepare with a lot of excitement … with a lot of concentration. The boys are ready, you can find a lot of quality in our team, and it is something that we are very proud of … the boys can do it.”

Coach Rivera’s squad will have a little over a month to prepare before their May 4 fixture in the next round in New Mexico.

Eric Wynalda returns to assist Las Vegas Legends in 2022 US Open Cup

February 25, 2022 by Thomas Viola

Eric Wynalda looks on from the sidelines in the Las Vegas Lights’ Third Round match against Orange County SC in the 2019 US Open Cup. Photo: Lucas Peltier – lucaspeltierphoto.com

UPDATE (3/22/22): Eric Wynalda has clarified that he is not the head coach of the Las Vegas Legends, but is working more behind the scenes with the club, assisting head coach Jose Rivera

National Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda announced on his podcast Wynalda for the Win on Friday that he will be making a return to coaching this season to lead the Las Vegas Legends. The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) side is making it’s tournament debut in the 2022 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

The former US men’s national team star’s announcement marks his first foray into coaching since being appointed to lead Las Vegas’s USL Championship team, the Las Vegas Lights, during their 2019 season. In 36 games as head of the Lights, Wynalda posted a 12-16-8 record before being replaced by Frank Yallop midway through the 2020 season.

After the Lights, Wynalda was hired to coach New Amsterdam FC (NISA) in July of 2020, but stepped down due to personal reasons shortly before the beginning of the season.

The father of six will make his return to Las Vegas soccer this time at the amateur level with the Legends, where he will hope to duplicate the US Open Cup success he had as manager of Cal FC. In 2012, with Wynalda in charge, Cal FC reached the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup in a Cinderella run that saw them defeat both USL Pro side Wilmington Hammerheads 4-0, followed by a stunning road upset of MLS’ Portland Timbers, 1-0 in extra time.

US Open Cup Coaching Win % (Modern Era)
(min. 8 games)

1. Dave Sarachan – 0.789
2. Scott Schweitzer – 0.750
3. Tom Soehn – 0.727
4. Tom Fitzgerald – 0.700
5. ERIC WYNALDA – 0.692

“I like to discover these players who haven’t really had the opportunity to play at the club level … and now through a platform like this, like the Lamar Hunt Open Cup, we can assemble a team that in my opinion, can go toe to toe with any MLS side,” Wynalda said during his podcast.

The victory over the Timbers, who played their regular starting lineup in the match, marked just the sixth time that an amateur team eliminated an MLS team. However, it was the first time an Open Division Local amateur side defeated an MLS team in a non-shootout. It remains not only one of the biggest upsets of the US Open Cup’s Modern Era (1995-present), but one of the biggest in the history of the tournament.

As a player, Wynalda played in just five US Open Cup games, two of them in 1998 with the San Jose Clash (now Earthquakes), and three of them in 2001 when he helped the Chicago Fire reach the Semifinals. He has had much more Open Cup success as a head coach for four different clubs (Cal FC, Atlanta Silverbacks, Los Angeles Wolves FC, Las Vegas Lights). Out of all the Modern Era coaches since 1995, Wynalda has the fifth best win percentage (0.692) with a 9-4-0 record. In his four Open Cup runs, he has reached the Third Round every time and his deepest run in the competition came in 2014 when he led the NASL’s Atlanta Silverbacks to the Quarterfinals. Atlanta was one of five North American Soccer League clubs to ever reach the Quarterfinals.

Wynalda will be looking to help the Legends recapture that magic.

“The reason I came to Las Vegas was to see this city grow, and to capitalize on the talent pool that exists here in Las Vegas,” Wynalda added. “Because at times, in my experience, I would say it is just as good if not better than what I have seen in Los Angeles.”

One advantage that the Legends have going for them is the minimal roster restrictions for Open Division National teams (NPSL, USL League Two). As long as the players that are recruited aren’t cup tied (i.e. played for another team in last fall’s US Open Cup qualifying tournament), and are willing and able to sign an amateur reinstatement form, they can recruit whoever they want.

The Legends were founded in 2012 as an indoor soccer team, splitting home games between the Orleans Arena and the Las Vegas Sports Park until the team’s dissolution in 2016. In 2019, team owner and general manager Meir Cohen announced the team’s return, this time as an outdoor member of the NPSL. After its debut season was cut short due to the pandemic in 2020, the team finished first in the league’s Southwest Division last year. Thanks to the league’s playoff format and a number of other western teams taking 2021 off due to COVID, the Legends high place finish allotted them one of the NPSL’s automatic tournament berths.

This will be the team’s first season competing in the US Open Cup, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years, ending the tournament’s run of 106 consecutive years of play.

2019 US Open Cup Round 2: Las Vegas Lights shut out Cal FC in Eric Wynalda “Derby”

May 16, 2019 by Thomas Viola

Tabort Etaka Prestdon of the Las Vegas Lights dribbles the ball against the Cal FC defense in Tuesday's Second Round match in the 2019 US Open Cup. Photo: Las Vegas Lights — Tabort Etaka Prestdon of the Las Vegas Lights dribbles the ball against the Cal FC defense in Tuesday’s Second Round match in the 2019 US Open Cup. Photo: Las Vegas Lights

It was a small but rambunctious crowd on hand to see the hometown Las Vegas Lights FC defeat Cal FC 2-0 in Round 2 of the 2019 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Tuesday night at Cashman Field in the Lights’ fourth home victory of the year.

Lights head coach Eric Wynalda’s former team put up a valiant fight, but an early 15th minute goal by Lights forward Sammy Ochoa, and an even quicker 50th minute goal by Victor Rojas proved too much for a scrappy Cal FC team to overcome.

Wynalda said he was happy with the Lights’ performance, and that he actually regretted having to play his former club so early in the tournament.

Las Vegas Lights Eric Wynalda — Graphic by Dallas Kreil | IG: @dak_design

“It’s a ton of emotion, to be fair I would have rather played further along in the competition. I’m not saying it was unfair to them, we just know these guys really well … the fact that our guys have played against them in so many games, is an advantage for us,” said Wynalda, who also credited his own side’s versatility and the ability of his players to adapt and play out of position.

“We had guys playing for the first time for our club. We had guys playing multiple positions, multiple systems … to come out of it 2-0, our club is very proud of the work that we put into this,” he added. “The preparation, all of it, to get a result like this against a very good side, it is something to be proud of.”

The Lights controlled much of the early possession, creating chances until finally Edwin Rivas’s cross found Ochoa’s head to put the Lights up 1-0. Immediately after the goal, Cal appeared to find its footing in the game, and dominated most of the remainder of the first half.

It appeared as if Cal would equalize multiple times, but each attempt was thwarted by the Lights’ bend-but-don’t-break defense and the sure hands of goalkeeper Angel Alvarez, who earned a clean sheet in his first start of the season.

The teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with the Lights leading 1-0, but with Vegas very much on its back heel. However, halftime adjustments by Wynalda, including two substitutions (former Cal player Pablo Cruz and Junior Sandoval came on for Matt Thomas and Edwin Rivas, respectively) proved to be the boost the Lights needed to regain control of the game.

Rojas’s goal — his first as a member of the Lights — was the knockout punch that took Cal out of the game.

Tempers rose like the Vegas desert heat as the match neared its end, with each team earning a pair of second-half yellow cards. Cruz even nearly came to blows with Cal goalkeeper Kevin Marquez before things finally boiled over during stoppage time. Cal’s Victor Vasquez and Vegas’s Jonathan Levin had to be separated as well, and both were issued red cards just before the full-time whistle blew.

The Lights are now left with just two subs for their Round 3 match. The Lights bench is depleted due to players’ cup ties with previous teams, as well as injuries.