Greenville Triumph

2026 US Open Cup Round 1: Asheville City scores late to upset Greenville Triumph

March 20, 2026 by Spencer Johnson

Players from Asheville City SC celebrate after scoring a goal against Greenville Triumph in the First Round of the 2026 US Open Cup. Photo: Asheville City SC

Asheville City SC pulled off a signature “cupset” in its short history, scoring twice late to defeat Greenville Triumph SC and advance in the US Open Cup at UNC Asheville.

After the teams traded first-half goals, Asheville broke through in the final minutes. Ashton Bilow gave the hosts the lead in the 82nd minute off a setup from Ben Assane Fall, and Fall added a stoppage-time goal to seal the result and send the home crowd into celebration.

The win marked Asheville City’s first victory over a professional opponent and its first in three appearances in the Cup. A year earlier, Asheville pushed Greenville to a penalty shootout before falling 4-3.

Greenville, a USL League One side, entered the match looking to rebound after an opening league loss under first-year coach Dave Dixon. Asheville, competing in USL League Two, leaned on continuity, with eight of the 11 in its lineup built from players familiar with one another at the collegiate level under third-year coach Scott Wells.

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The match opened cautiously before Asheville struck in the 13th minute. Tresor Mbuyu advanced down the wing and squared a pass to captain Evan Southern, who finished calmly for the opening goal.

Greenville responded quickly. In the 18th minute, Devin Boyce converted a free kick from just outside the box, driving the ball over the wall and past the goalkeeper to level the match.

The physical tone increased as the match wore on, with both teams battling for control in midfield. Greenville struggled to generate consistent attacking chances in the second half, often opting for lateral movement rather than pushing forward.

Asheville capitalized late. In the 82nd minute, Fall caught Greenville off guard on a counterattack and delivered a ball to the back post, where Bilow finished to give Asheville the lead.

With the home crowd behind them through eight minutes of stoppage time, Asheville held firm. In the final moments, Fall, after briefly going to ground to stretch his hamstring, popped up and returned to the play very quickly and finished his chance to put the result beyond doubt.

2022 US Open Cup Round 2: Greenville Triumph defense shines in shutout of well-traveled Oakland Roots

April 8, 2022 by Chris Ashley

Greenville Triumph Oakland Roots 2022 US Open Cup — Greenville Triumph players celebrate after scoring a goal against Oakland Roots in the Second Round of the 2022 US Open Cup. Photo: Chandler Jarrell @chandlerjarrell

If you look at the statistics, it makes zero sense that the Greenville Triumph defeated the Oakland Roots in yet another USL League One over USL Championship “cupset” on Thursday night. But the Triumph, now in their fourth season, always seem to find a way to win matches like this, especially at home.

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Greenville defeated a pro team in their opening round game at home for the second tournament in a row, defeating Oakland, 2-0.

It was a tough draw for the Roots’ first US Open Cup game. The team traveled over 2,600 miles, cross-country, to face the three-time League One finalists and put up quite the test for John Harkes’s boys. Oakland dominated possession, managing to have the ball for 71% of the match. They outnumbered the Triumph with 602 total passes to Greenville’s 248. They took 17 total shots, nine of those on target. But unfortunately for the team from The Town, none of those shots found the back of the net.

The key for Greenville was the thing that has been the bedrock for this team from day one of their existence: defense. With 12 interceptions, two blocks, 27 clearances, and an incredible nine saves, the back line did their job in limiting the quality of shots from Oakland. And when the Roots were able to get a good shot off, Triumph goalkeeper Paul Christensen, who put in a man of the match performance, was able to make some incredible saves to keep the clean sheet.

The first goal for Greenville came in the 29th minute when midfielder Lucas Coutinho was able to chip a ball over the back line onto the foot of striker Jake Keegan. Oakland’s keeper, Taylor Bailey, came out to meet Keegan, but Jake’s quick thinking led to a cheeky chip over the top of Bailey.

The insurance goal would not come until the dying seconds, with most of the Roots team pushed up field. Forward Don Smart was able to get in position thanks to a two to one advantage to set up the final strike.

After Friday’s draw, Greenville learned that they will host a Major League Soccer team for the first time. MLS expansion side Charlotte FC will travel to Greenville for Round 3. The date, time and venue are still to be determined.

2019 US Open Cup Round 2: Svantesson’s brace leads Charleston Battery to comeback win at Greenville Triumph

May 16, 2019 by Matt Clark

Players from the Charleston Battery and the Greenville Triumph battle for the ball in their Second Round match in the 2019 US Open Cup. Photo: Greenville Triumph

It’s a sports tale as old as time.

What you can have in the first half, can be lost in the second.

The Greenville Triumph seemed to dominate the first half, but the Charleston Battery found its rhythm in the second, scoring twice to lead the Battery to a 2-1 road win in Round 2 of the 2019 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

Coming off an injury, Ian Svantesson scored a pair of goals 11 minutes apart to lead the Battery comeback.

“It was either that or play another 30 minutes of overtime,” Svantesson said. “There were really just two options.”

For Greenville, the loss ended its inaugural Open Cup run. Head coach Jon Harkes said it was still a special day for the club as it was the first time Greenville squared off with a potential in-state rival like Charleston.

“Quite frankly, some of our guys died in the second half and we were chasing the game,” Harkes said. “It all comes down to decision-making. These are great experiences for the development of the players.”

This marked just the second time in the Modern Era (1995-present) that a pair of South Carolina clubs have met in the US Open Cup. The last time it happened was a very similar situation as the Charleston Battery traveled to Greenville to take on a Division 3 pro team. That day at Sirrine Stadium, the Battery, led by a goal and an assist by Raul Diaz Arce, defeated the Greenville Lions (D-3 Pro League), 3-0.

Charleston came into Wednesday’s match with two starters out with injury — defender Leland Archer and midfielder Nico Rittmeyer.

It somewhat showed as it took until the second half for the Battery to find its feet.

Before that, the Triumph seemed to have solid control of the match.

With a goal in stoppage time @Chas_Battery takes the 2-1 victory over @GVLTriumph and will move on to face @Tormenta_FC or @NashvilleSC!⚽

2-1 CHS | Final | #USOC2019
? Highlights ⤵ pic.twitter.com/qmGKAqRCoX

— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 16, 2019

Greenville struck first after 30 minutes of back-and-forth. The Triumph earned the first corner of the match, and Aaron Walker stepped up and played it into the head of Max Hemmings who put the ball past the outstretched Philip Breno — who made his first start of the season for the Battery.

It was Hemmings’ first goal of the season for the Triumph.

In the 40th minute, Charleston nearly equalized after Zeiko Lewis got free and pushed a pass to Tah Brian Anunga. Anunga drilled a low pass near goal to Kotaro Higashi, but Higashi couldn’t put a solid foot on the ball, and it sailed across the goal face and out of play.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Charleston had another golden opportunity to level the match when Nicque Daily tried to find Higashi streaking up the middle, but the ball was played wide and out of play.

Greenville started to mount pressure in the second half.

In the 48th minute, Jake Keegan nearly doubled the Triumph’s lead with a glancing header that went just left of goal.

Greenville Triumph head coach John Harkes gives a thumbs up before his club's Second Round match in the 2019 US Open Cup against the Charleston Battery. Photo: Greenville Triumph — Greenville Triumph head coach John Harkes gives a thumbs up before his club’s Second Round match in the 2019 US Open Cup against the Charleston Battery. Photo: Greenville Triumph

A minute later, Greenville had another opportunity, but the ball pinballed between four Greenville attackers and three Charleston defenders before finally going out of bounds.
The pressure continued for Charleston’s defense in the 50th minute when Evan Lee attempted another header, but like Keegan, his sailed wide.

Charleston had its first shot at goal in the second half when AJ Patterson nearly headed home an equalizer off a corner kick from Lewis, but his attempt was off the mark.
That is when Charleston took over the match.

In the 65th minute, Authur Bosua had Charleston’s second attempt at an equalizer when his right-footed shot went to the left and out of play.

In the 71st minute, Greenville finally went back on the attack when substitute Edmundo Robinson took a throw-in just inside the penalty area. With a wide open look at the goal, Robinson sailed his shot over the crossbar and out of play.

The Battery had a series in the 73rd minute, but two corners and three attempts yielded nothing. However, two minutes later, Romario Piggott drilled a shot that stung the gloves of Greenville goalkeeper Dallas Jaye. It marked the first solid attempt of the match for Charleston.

“I thought we started the second half extremely slow,” Harkes said. “Again, you can’t drop the ball like that.”

The Battery finally got the equalizer it looked for in the 79th minute when Svantesson took advantage of a ball bounce-around in front of the Greenville goal and put home the tying goal for Charleston.

Patterson took another hard shot toward Jaye, but the goalkeeper was able to save the attempt in the 86th minute.

In the 90th minute, Cole Seiler nearly put the game away for Greenville, but his left-footed attempt was off the mark and out of play.

But, in the 90+1 minute, Svantesson seemed to put the game away when he drilled a shot past Jaye and into the back of the net to complete the comeback.

“I got a ball that was bouncing, and you just have to put it past the defenders. I saw the keeper was a little far off, so shoot hard and hope for the best,” Svantesson said.

Charleston ended the match with 12 shots in the second half, compared to just two in the first.

Charleston will travel to Nashville for Round 3 on May 29.