Virginia Dream FC traveled north to play MSI Pro in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday evening. These two UPSL sides both advanced to the Fourth Qualifying Round after convincing wins by five-goal margins in the previous round. MSI Pro defeated USL-2 side Christos FC 5-0 and Virginia Dream FC took down Guerrilla FC (DC Premier League), 6-1 in the previous round.
There would be no five-goal rout this time as both teams would play 90 minutes of scoreless soccer before Virginia would score a pair of goals in extra time to secure a 2-0 win. The victory earned Virginia Dream, a second straight trip to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Last year, they made waves by upsetting the USL League One’s Richmond Kickers in their tournament debut.
MSI Pro was the better side in terms of possession and physicality in the first half. That physicality delivered a blow to MSI when their goalkeeper Yusupha Fofana took a hard hit when stopping a one-on-one opportunity in the 36th minute. He finished out the half, but during the halftime break, he was evaluated by the trainer and was substituted out.
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In the second half, Virginia Dream began creating more opportunities and testing MSI’s backup goalkeeper, Sean Summersgill. Momentum shifted further to Virginia Dream after MSI went down to 10 players in the 68th minute when Alexander Ouldbrahim received his second yellow card. The Dream had several opportunities with well-placed through balls but could not convert. MSI Pro was out of substitutes and the team’s 10 players were physically worn down as the scoreless game approached extra time.
It took 105 minutes before Virginia Dream broke the deadlock when Zoumana Diarra scored a goal off a cross in extra time. Virginia Dream followed up with a second goal by Williams-Merlin Yami on a counter attack in the 113th minute.
Playing a man down, MSI was unable to mount a comeback and Virginia closed out the rest of the game to punch their ticket to the 2026 US Open Cup.
Virginia Dream has won five of the last six season titles in the Virginia Super Soccer League. With a roster composed of a number of former collegiate D1 players and experience in the tournament proper last year, they will be a formidable opponent in the opening round of the Open Cup next spring.