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.
Ocean City Barons/South Jersey Barons
2009 Third Round recap: Portland, Seattle renew rivalry, Houston face Battery (again)
The underdogs of the USL ruled on day one of the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, but the Seattle Sounders and the Houston Dynamo each earned wins on Wednesday to level the tournament with four MLS teams and four USL teams in the Quarterfinals. For the second year in a row, the USL will have at least one team in the Semifinals.
The Houston Dynamo defeated the Austin Aztex 2-0 on Wednesday to set up a date with the Charleston Battery next Tuesday at Blackbaud Stadium. This will be the third year in a row that the Battery and the Dynamo square off in the Open Cup with Charleston eliminating Houston in both years.
2009 Third Round: DC United gets a scare, but gets past PDL’s Ocean City Barons
Defending US Open Cup Champion DC United needed to put in a bit more work than they may have liked, but they eventually stopped the upset bid of the PDL’s Ocean City Barons with a 2-0 win at Boyds, Maryland.
Several key United injuries limited manager Tom Soehn’s lineup options, but he still chose to rest a few of the remaining regulars. However, DC were forced to use three of them as substitutes as the score continued to sit at 0-0 in the second half.
2009 Second Round recap: Thriller in Carolina, Barons are last amateur survivor
The Ocean City Barons and the Wilmington Hammerheads pulled off the lone upset of the US Open Cup Second Round. The Barons get a penalty kick in the 108th minute and JT Noone breaks a scoreless tie and Ocean City earns a date with DC United at the Maryland Soccerplex in Round 3. The Barons, based on the rest of the results, won the $10,000 prize money as the amateur team that has advanced the farthest in the tournament.
2009 Second Round: Ocean City Barons last amateur team left after 1-0 extra time upset over Real Maryland
The Ocean City Barons are the lone amateur club remaining in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup after a 1-0 overtime win over Real Maryland of the USL Second Division. The difference in the match was a JT Noone penalty kick in the 108th minute after a Monarchs player was called for a handball off an Ocean City corner kick.
2009 First Round: Ocean City Barons’ Byron Carmichael named best of Round 1
Ocean City Barons forward Byron Carmichael has been named the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round for the First Round of the tournament. Carmichael, in his sixth season with the Premier Development League side, scored a pair of goals in a 3-0 upset win against Crystal Palace Baltimore to earn the award. He edged Sonoma County Sol’s Shawn Percell, who also scored two goals in their First Round win over the PDL’s Orange County Blue Star.
2009 First Round recap: Favorites survive first day, Barons pull off upset, Hawks just upset on day 2
If seeing the underdogs prevail is your thing, then you went to sleep disappointed last night.
Of the fourteen matches first round U.S. Open Cup matches last night, only one was won by a team from the lower division, and even that wasn’t much of an upset.
2009 First Round: Ocean City Barons fly by Crystal Palace Baltimore again; first PDL upset of 2009
The Ocean City Barons became the first PDL team to beat a USL professional squad in the 2009 tournament, winning a 3-0 decision over Crystal Palace Baltimore of the USL Second Division. Baltimore was attempting to avenge a 1-0 upset in the First Round of the 2007 tournament at the hands of the Barons. That game two years ago was also played at “The Beach House” in Ocean City and for the Barons, it was their third upset of a pro team in franchise history.
2007 Second Round: City Islanders survive wild night at The Beach House, edge PDL Barons 2-1
When the final whistle blew, nearly all of the 1,019 fans in attendance were on their feet, paying tribute to one of the most entertaining games in club history. In the end, the Ocean City Barons fell short, 2-1 to the USL Second Division’s Harrisburg City Islanders in an exciting US Open Cup match featuring end-to-end play and exceptional goalkeeping. David Schofield scored the game-winning goal just after halftime and the City Islander defense survived a frantic second half to secure a home game against DC United of Major League Soccer in the Third Round.
2007 US Open Cup Round 1: Barons defense fuels upset of 10-man Crystal Palace Baltimore
The Ocean City Barons advanced to the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 1-0 upset of the USL Second Division’s Crystal Palace Baltimore.