Complete U.S. Open Cup Coverage
The Minnesota Thunder survived the challenge of Nebraska’s 402 with a 3-2 victory to advance to the Second Round.
402, named after Eastern Nebraska’s telephone area code, struck first when former Thunder player Johnny Torres assisted on Andrei Gotsmanov’s 12th minute goal. Minnesota nearly tied the score twice shortly after, but attempts from Brian Cvilikas and Rod Dyachenko could not cross the goal line.
Floyd Franks is a bit different than most professional players in the United States. A former Major League Soccer forward, he currently plays for the Cleveland City Stars of USL Second Division. His two extra time tallies against the Minnesota Thunder of USL First Division led Cleveland to a 2-0 victory and a date with the Chicago Fire of MLS in the Third Round on July 1 at Toyota Park.
The Cleveland City Stars booked a date next Tuesday with the Chicago Fire, thanks to a 2-0 extra-time victory over the Minnesota Thunder.
After the teams played the first 90 minutes to a scoreless draw, Cleveland finally opened the scoring near the end of the first 15-minute extra time period.
In the lone upset in this year’s opening round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, Hollywood United became only the second USASA club to defeat a USL First Division team in the tournament, knocking off the Portland Timbers with a dramatic, stoppage-time goal from Earl Alexander.
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.
In a match that sometimes resembled a wrestling battle royal, the California Victory defeated the Minnesota Thunder 1-0, just two days after Minnesota prevailed over the Victory by the same score in a USL-1 league match.
The Thunder wasted no time jumping on attack, forcing Victory goalkeeper Eric Reed to thwart two breakaway attempts in the first twenty minutes. The Thunder also struck the crossbar during this time, off a shot from Brian Farber.
The Minnesota Thunder survived a tough encounter with the NPSL’s El Paso Indios USA, managing a 3-2 win over the USASA side to advance to the Second Round.
El Paso got on the board almost immediately after the opening whistle, when Marco Vidal was left undefended inside the 18-yard box, and beat Thunder goalkeeper Nic Platter in the 5th minute. Indios kept the pros off the board for most of the first half, until Minnesota scored twice in four minutes.
