“The pressure was if we lose, we weren’t supposed to lose,” said the Sounders’ Chance Fry after the game. “We had to treat the game just like we were playing (defending FIFA World Cup champion) Brazil.”
Chico Rooks
Notable upsets in the First Round of the US Open Cup
The Professional Era’s greatest First Round upset came in 2008 when Hollywood United, the USASA Region IV qualifier from California, traveled to PGE Park in Portland Ore. and knocked out the Portland Timbers 3-2. Hollywood United trailed twice during the match, but each time they trailed, Matt Taylor would convert a penalty kick to tie the game back up. With the score level at 2-2, Earl Alexander scored a 90th minute goal to send United to the Second Round and left Portland fans stunned. It was only the second time in the Professional Era that a USASA team has defeated a USL First Division team, and the first time that a USASA team had upset a USL-1 team on the road.