U.S. Open Cup: First-year Northern Colorado Hailstorm and San Antonio FC pull upsets

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Apr 21, 2022

Two more MLS teams fell in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday.

The big upset was the first-year Northern Colorado Hailstorm's 1-0 win before 19,301 fans at Real Salt Lake.

The Hallstorm's win gave USL League One teams a split in their first four meetings ever with MLS clubs. The defending champion Union Omaha beat the Chicago Fire in a shootout on Tuesday. Charlotte FC needed overtime to beat the Greenville Triumph, 2-1, while two second-half goals were the difference for Minnesota United at Forward Madison.

Northern Colorado, which has played only two League One games and two Open Cup matches and won't open at home until June 8, won on a goal by Rob Cornwall in the 70th minute. In the second round, the Hailstorm beat the USL Championship's Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 1-0.

“This one is even sweeter,” said head coach Eamon Zayed. “So, so proud of our players tonight. They brought everything, every ounce of effort, every ounce of fight. They were solid, we talked about it, we had a game plan. We wanted to remain compact and hard to break down.”

In the last two rounds, USL League One teams have gone 6-3 against USL Championship teams and 2-2 against MLS teams.

In 2019, USL League One's first season, two teams lost in the first round of the Open Cup, three fell in the second round and the sixth entrant exited in the third round, one round before MLS teams even entered the tournament.

The other MLS team to lose on Wednesday was Austin FC, which fell in its first Open Cup appearance, dropping a 2-1 overtime decision at San Antonio FC, whose only previous meetings with MLS teams in the Open Cup ended in defeats (4-0 to the Houston Dynamo in 2016 and 1-0 to FC Dallas in 2018).

A pair of former MLS players, Elliot Collier and Carter Manley, scored for SAFC, which came back to win in overtime after trailing with eight minutes to play in regulation.

Austin FC had its chances to equalize, but Felipe Martins’ diving header in the 110th minute hit the crossbar, and keeper Jordan Farr preserved the win with a pair of brilliant saves in the 125th minute.

Next up: The fourth-round draw will take place on Thursday. U.S. Soccer will conduct the draw at noon ET, pairing teams from eight geographical pots of four teams. The draw will air on the federation's Twitter and YouTube channels.

Wednesday, April 20
Rochester New York FC 2 FC Motown 2. (Goals: Dolabella 22, Inalien 38; Duka 40, Fala 90+2.)
(Rochester New York FC wins 4-3 on penalties.)
Hartford Athletic 1 NY Red Bulls 2. (Goals: McGlynn 52; Morgan 18, Long 25.)
Richmond Kickers 1 NC Fusion U23 0. (Goal: Terzaghi 118.)
Greenville Triumph 1 Charlotte FC 2. (Goals: Keegan 59; Ortiz 39, Afful 105+1.)
Atlanta United 6 Chattanooga FC 0. (Goals: Hernandez 21, Dwyer 25, 35, Moreno 53 pen. Araujo 67, Lennon 84.)
Orlando City 2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1. (Goals: Alexandre Pato 52 pen., Urso 63; Mkosana 65.)
Forward Madison 0 Minnesota United 2. (Goals: Hunou 51, Kallman 83.)
Louisville City 0 St. Louis CITY 2 0.
(St. Louis CITY 2 wins 9-8 on penalties.)
San Antonio FC 2 Austin FC 1. (Goals; Collier 82, Manley 96; Fagundez 47.)
Real Salt Lake 0 Northern Colorado Hailstorm 1. (Goal: Cornwall 70.)
Phoenix Rising 2 New Mexico United 1. (Goals: Own goal 6, Hurst 81; Brett 65.)
Sac Republic FC 2 Central Valley Fuego 1. (Goal: Casey 44, Lopez 95 pen.; Bustamante 76.)
LAFC 5 Orange County SC 1. (Goals: Musovski 13, 71, Arango 34, 45, Jennings 68; Torres 73.)

Tuesday, April 19
Flower City Union 0 D.C. United 3. (Goals: O.Kamara 73, 86, Robertha 81.)
Birmingham Legion 0 South Georgia Tormenta FC 2. (Goals: Thorn 33, Dengler 45.)
Miami FC 0 Inter Miami 1. (Goal: Campana 83.)
FC Cincinnati 2 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0. (Goals: Barreal 95 pen., 99.)
Detroit City FC 2 Columbus Crew 1. (Goals: Rodriguez 64, 86 pen.; Zardes 7 pen.)
Chicago Fire 2 Union Omaha 2. (Goals: Czichos 53 pen., 115 pen.; Meza 68, Touche 120+2.)
(Union Omaha wins 5-4 on penalties.)
FC Dallas 2 FC Tulsa 1. (Goals: Jara 32 pen., Obrian 56; Bourgeois 22.)
Houston Dynamo 2 Rio Grande Valley FC Toros 1. (Goals: own goal 9, Junqua 90+3; own goal 48.)
FC Tucson 1 Cal United Strikers 2. (Goals: Calixtro 17; Nuno 71, Kawashima 90+2.)
LA Galaxy 1 San Diego Loyal 0. (Goal: Cabral 28.)
San Jose Earthquakes 5 Bay Cities FC 0. (Goals: Skahan 25, Marie 37, Cowell 59 pen., Tsakiris 82, Bouda 88.)