• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • US Open Cup Central
  • US Open Cup Qualifying
  • US Open Cup History
  • Amateur Cup

Complete U.S. Open Cup Coverage

  • 2025 USOC Schedule
  • 2025 USOC Stat Leaders
  • 2025 USOC Qualifying Results
  • TheCup.us Awards
  • Join TheCup.us Patreon!
  • Contact Us

Aaron Paye

2008 First Round: Tarley’s brace helps Thunder tame St. Louis Lions, 4-1

June 10, 2008 by

Melvin Tarley opened the scoring and then squelched any hopes of a comeback by the St. Louis Lions, as the Thunder beat the PDL side 4-1 in Blaine, Minn.

With the Thunder up 2-0 after Ricardo Sanchez’s 57th minute goal, Tommy Heinemann got the Lions on the board and sliced the lead to 2-1 in the 79th minute. But a minute later, the lead was back to two thanks to Tarley, who scored his seventh and eighth career Open Cup goals. The Liberian striker scored six goals in the 2005 tournament, tying him for the top total in the competition. Six goals also ties him for the most goals scored in a single tournament during the Professional Era (1995-present).

Dayton O’Brien set up Tarley’s second goal, then set up Aaron Paye for an insurance goal in the 89th minute as Minnesota earns a Second Round game against the Cleveland City Stars of the USL Second Division.

Starting Lineups:
Minnesota: Platter; Kallman, Taylor, Arango, Friedland; Greenfield, Barron (O’Brien, Dan 83), Sanchez (Gibson 74), deRoux (O’Brien, Dayton 78); Gonzalez (Paye 79), Tarley.

St. Louis: Sailor; Gelven, Mueller, Merrick, Gregory (Dyson 70); Angus, Clayes, Patterson, Speiss (Plow 76); Holmes, Heinemann.

Scoring Summary:
MIN: Tarley 45 (deRoux)
MIN: Sanchez 57 (Kallman)
STL: Heinemann 79 (Patterson)
MIN: Tarley 80 (O’Brien, Dayton)
MIN: Paye 89 (O’Brien, Dayton)

Game Statistics:
Minnesota: Shots 15, Fouls 5, Offside 5, Corners 6.
St. Louis: Shots 7, Fouls 3, Offside 2, Corners 7.

Goalkeeper Statistics:
Platter (Minnesota): Shots faced 3, Saves 2, Goals allowed 1.
Sailor (St. Louis): Shots faced 7, Saves 3, Goals allowed 4.

Cautions:
STL: Gelvin 45
STL: Merrick 45
STL: Heinemann 70
MIN: O’Brien, Dan 88

Attendance: 483

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2008 First Round, Aaron Paye, Melvin Tarley, Minnesota Thunder, Nic Platter, Ricardo Sanchez, St. Louis Lions, Tommy Heinemann

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us on Social Media

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

U.S. Open Cup History

1995 us open cup rewind graphic

1995 US Open Cup Rewind series: The Modern Era begins

The 30th anniversary of the 1995 Open Cup is upon us this year, and as we did with the inaugural tournament in 1913-1914, we’re going to take you back in time and relive the 1995 US Open Cup in chronological order, as it happened.

  • Dating back to 1913, Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh soccer rivalry returns to US Open Cup
  • How a US Open Cup classic, locker room vandalism inspired fans to create Coffee Pot Cup
  • Highs and lows of Los Angeles’ 25 all-time US Open Cup Final appearances
  • Before Lionel Messi’s 2023 US Open Cup impact, Pele changed the 1975 Final in a different way
  • A history of violence against referees in US Open Cup

Analytics powered by

Copyright © 2025 • Built by Jacob Martella Web Development