U.S. Open Cup 1st Round Recap
Three straight nights of cup competition produced several games fit for March Madness.
Just as the wider American sporting world turned to its annual favorite knock-out competition that is the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the U.S. Open Cup delivered three straight nights of equally entertaining action.
The first round of the Open Cup sees an assortment of amateur teams from several leagues, a handful of USL League Two teams, some MLS NEXT Pro teams, all of USL League One, and USL Championship teams with low finishes in 2024.
All thirty-two teams advancing from the first round will match up against one another in the second round. No new teams enter the competition in Round Two, which takes place on April 1st and 2nd.
Let’s take a look at some of the more notable results from the first round.
New England Teams in Action
Three teams from the New England area entered in the first round this year. We covered Hartford Athletic’s dominant performance in a 3-0 win over New York Shockers on Tuesday night.
The Portland Hearts of Pine played their first ever competitive game in front of 3,000+ in Lewiston, Maine on Thursday night and sent Massachusetts amateur side, CD Faialense, to an early exit, 4-0.
We covered the historic night in Lewiston, the unique situation for CD Faialense.
Cupsets
If you don’t have a team to root for in the Open Cup’s early rounds, pulling for upsets makes for a fun night. Especially considering U.S. Soccer (in a rare moment of getting something right) put every game on its YouTube channel for free. Free soccer in America in 2025 on a widely available platform, what a time to be alive!
Texoma 1 FORO SC 2
FORO FC of the UPSL took down USL League One’s Texoma in a game that went to extra time and saw both teams have a player sent off in the first half. Brayan Padilla scored the winner in the 100th minute to send FORO into the next round.
Texoma took the early exit from the Cup at home in Sherman, Texas as it prepares for its first season in USL League One. They’ll travel to play Portland Hearts of Pine this fall.
Richmond Kickers 1 Virginia Dream FC 3
The headline writing for this one should have been simple enough as the Dream, an amateur team from the USASA, took down a League One side by two goals. And on the road as well!
Richmond, winners of the 1995 Open Cup, could not fight back once going two goals behind in the 61st minute.
Real Monarchs 1 El Farolito 3
Another game settled in extra time on Wednesday saw amateurs, El Farolito win on the road against Real Monarchs. The Monarchs are a MLS Next Pro team and became the latest professional team to fall to El Farolito. This was their third win in four games against pro opponents since 2024.
Whoever draws them in the next round will have cause for concern. El Farolito competes in the NPSL, a league with a small footprint here in New England (for those of you who believe Connecticut is a member state).
FC Cincinnati 2 0 New York Pancyprian Freedoms 0 (4-5 Pks)
A 120-minute goalless marathon (your New England Revolution, shockingly, not involved) between FC Cincinnati's second team and the three times, yes, three times, U.S. Open Cup winners, New York Pancyprian Freedoms was settled in a shootout. New York won this competition in 1980, 1982 and 1983 in the pre-MLS era. Only in a cup competition that’s as old as the US Open Cup could a three-time winner pull an upset by knocking out another team’s reserve side.
But that’s what took place in Cincinnati on Thursday night, as the USASA amateurs prevailed 5-4 in a penalty kick shootout. Pete Mangione created the most chances in the game but his shooting accuracy wasn’t trusted enough to take a penalty for Cincinnati.
“Cupset”
One of the more talked about storylines in the cup this week was several former MLS players joining the Des Moines Menace as ringers for the amateur side in their victory over Kansas City II. The Menace ran out 2-1 winners and gained their “ninth” upset of a pro team, tying the modern era record for “amateur” teams. Spare a moment’s sympathy for the six Des Moines players who got dropped so Sacha Kljestan and his mates could have a kickabout.
I know that guy!
Revs loanee, Santiago Suarez, and former Rhode Island FC player, Stephen Turnbull got bounced in the first round by Little Rock Rangers, playing for Birmingham Legion. Meanwhile, an old friend from Vermont is moving on to the next round.
Yaniz Bazini, who’s talents were criminally overlooked by all of MLS after winning a National Championship with the University of Vermont, has found his feet down in Georgia. The former Vermont Green standout striker signed for USL League One side, South Georgia Tormenta FC for 2025. He didn’t start in this one but came off the bench for the final 19 minutes of Tormenta’s 3-0 win over Harbor City.
Bazini started, scored two goals in the opening 16 minutes, and picked up the FotMob Player of the Match honors last Saturday in a 2-0 win over AV Alta in USL League One. Bazini will get another chance to score in the U.S. Open Cup in the second round. He found the back of the net in last year’s edition in The Green’s 1-2 loss to Carolina Core.
Second Teams in the Second Round
There is plenty of debate around whether MLS Next Pro teams acting as second teams for their MLS brethren should even be allowed in the Open Cup but some of them are in it again this year and hanging around for round two.
Ventura County FC, the LA Galaxy second team, thumped seven goals past Laguna United from the NPSL. Columbus Crew 2 will join Cincinnati 2 in the second round as well after easily knocking the New York Renegades out of the cup.
Inter Miami II won a Miami derby (technically) by doubling up Miami United FC of the USPL, 4-2. Rounding out Miami area results, Miami FC won its first game since August on Tuesday night. The USL Championship bottom dwellers of 2024 took down Naples United 4-1.
LAFC 2 could be headed for an El Trafico Dos or Dos El Trafico….Next Pro Trafico..ahh, who cares, they beat FC Arizona 7-1.
Lastly, the Seattle Sounders reserve team with the privilege of having its own name, Tacoma Defiance, are second round bound after a 3-1 win over the Washington Athletic Club.
Odds and Ends
FC Motown, who are not from Detroit but Morristown, New Jersey, went out to Westchester SC. FC Tulsa are kings of that respective city after knocking out Tulsa Athletics, 1-0.
Greenville Triumph SC did what its name implies it would do and defeated Asheville City SC in a penalty shootout. FC Naples proved to be the more desirable vacation destination with their 2-1 win over Sarasota Paradise.
Friend of Revolution Recap, James Casella, local club One Knoxville SC overtook Appalachian FC, 3-0. Appalachian are from Boone, North Carolina and their mascot is Sasquatch, who had one of this week’s best performances.
El Paso Locomotive chugged past Harpos, 5-1. Forward Madison FC, a team named after the antithesis of Caleb Porter’s current playing style, scored five goals in a single game (imagine!) to defeat Duluth FC who replied with only a single goal of their own (though they did score it themselves).
Carolina Core held off a late pop of two goals in five minutes from Soda City to advance with a 4-2 win.
And finally, a word from Teddy Roosevelt; “believe you can and you’re halfway there”; sums up the Long Island Rough Riders loss to the Charlotte Independence. The Rough Riders took an early second half lead before conceding in the 79th minute, coming from behind in extra time with a 107th minute goal, only to concede for the final time immediately after play resumed.
You couldn’t ask for much more over three weeknights of soccer in March, the U.S. Open Cup reminds us what soccer should be all about, fun, competition, local communities coming together, easily accessible live streams, upsets, some old pros, some amateurs, young players looking to make their mark, teams starting a journey together and a soccer jersey wearing Sasquatch mascot.