Skip to content
Union
Link copied to clipboard

Harrisburg City Islanders stun New England Revolution in U.S. Open Cup penalty kick shootout

A truly extraordinary night in the U.S. Open Cup third round was highlighted by the Harrisburg City Islanders' wild 4-3 win over the New England Revolution on penalty kicks at the Skyline Sports Complex.

Kerith Gabriel was at the Union's 3-0 win over the Rochester Rhinos at PPL Park. You can read his game story here.

A truly extraordinary night in the U.S. Open Cup third round was highlighted by the Harrisburg City Islanders' wild 4-3 win over the New England Revolution on penalty kicks at the Skyline Sports Complex.

But the fact that a USL Pro team knocked a MLS team out of the Cup doesn't even start to tell the story.

The game was scoreless after 90 minutes. New England played the last 55 of them down a man after top prospect Diego Fagundez was sent off for a tackle from behind on Penn product Tom Brandt.

In extra time, the Revolution went up 3-0 in the first 13 minutes. But Harrisburg scored in the 111th and 117th minutes, then shockingly tied the game in the 120th and final minute. The equalizer came from former Union player J.T. Noone, a Harrisburg native and Temple University product.

So it was off to penalty kicks. Harrisburg goalkeeper Nick Noble proved to be the ultimate hero, saving an attempt from former U.S. national team regular Benny Feilhaber to seal the win.

Here is the scoring summary. There are video highlights from Harrisburg's CBS affiliate at at the bottom of the post.

Goals

94' New England 1-0: Lee Nyguen goal, Kelyn Rowe assist
99' New England 2-0: Lee Nyguen goal (penalty kick)
103' New England 3-0: Benny Feilhaber goal, Blake Brettschneider assist

111' Harrisburg 3-1: Brian Ombiji goal, Tom Mellor assist
117' Harrisburg 3-2: Sainey Touray goal, unassisted
120: Harrisburg 3-3: J.T. Noone goal, no assist recorded

Penalty kicks

Harrisburg 1: J.T. Noone saved, 0-0
New England 1: Lee Nyguen scores, 0-1

Harrisburg 2: Stephen Basso scores, 1-1
New England 2: Kelyn Rowe misses, 1-1

Harrisburg 3: Bilal Duckett scores, 2-1
New England 3: Michael Roach scores, 2-2

Harrisburg 4: Drew Yates scores, 3-2
New England 4: Blake Brettschneider scores, 3-3

Harrisburg 5: Andrew Marshall scores, 4-3
New England 5: Benny Feilhaber saved, 4-3

An interesting side note: Noone has now scored in four consecutive Open Cups, according to tournament historian Josh Hakala. That ties a record for the era since MLS teams began competing in the event. Among the five other players who have scored in four straight Open Cups in that time are Chris Albright, Jason Kreis and Dante Washington. So Noone is in some pretty select company.

Harrisburg will host the New York Red Bulls in the fourth round next Tuesday, June 5. As of now the game is scheduled to be played at Hershey Park Stadium, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.

The City Islanders' upset of New England was not the only stunning result from the third round. A total of seven MLS teams were knocked out of the competition.

Among the most notable casualties were the reigning MLS Cup champions. The Los Angeles Galaxy fell to the NASL's Carolina RailHawks, 2-1, after making a cross-country flight to Cary, N.C. David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane didn't play for L.A, but the game still drew a sellout crowd.

The biggest upset by seed came in an indoor facility (yes, really) in Pontiac, Mich., where the PDL's Michigan Bucks ousted the Chicago Fire, 3-2. Michigan will host an all-minor league fourth-round game after the USL PRO's Dayton Dutch Lions beat the Columbus Crew, 2-1, at Crew Stadium.

And here's one for the cup competition purists among you. Real Salt Lake lost at home to the NASL's Minnesota Stars, 2-1, having bought the hosting rights to the game after Minnesota was originally drawn as the home team.

Here are all of Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup third round results. Upsets are in italics:

Chicago Fire (MLS) 2 at Michigan Bucks (PDL) 3
D.C. United (MLS) 2 at Richmond Kickers (USL PRO) 1
Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) 2 at Columbus Crew (MLS) 1
Houston Dynamo (MLS) 0 at San Antonio Scorpions (NASL) 1

New England Revolution (MLS) 3 at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL Pro) 4
New York Red Bulls (MLS) 3 at Charleston Battery (USL PRO) 0
Orlando City (NASL) 2 at Sporting Kansas City (MLS) 3
Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO) 0 at Philadelphia Union (MLS) 3

Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO) 2 at FC Dallas 0
Chivas USA (MLS) 1 at Ventura County Fusion (PDL) 0
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) 1 at San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) 2
Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) 1 at Carolina RailHawks (NASL) 2

Minnesota Stars FC (NASL) 3 at Real Salt Lake (MLS) 1
Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) 1 at Colorado Rapids (MLS) 3

There will be two games on Wednedsay. Both take place in the Pacific Northwest, and both will be getting a lot of attention from soccer fans across the country.

At 10:00 p.m., the Seattle Sounders will host the NASL's Atlanta Silverbacks at the Sounders' training complex in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila, Wash. The Silverbacks were originally drawn as the home team, but the Sounders - who are the three-time defending U.S. Open Cup champions - bought the hosting rights.

Half an hour later, the Portland Timbers will host amateur team Cal FC of the United States Adult Soccer Association. Cal FC is coached by former U.S. national team star Eric Wynalda, who has a history of clashing with Timbers owner Merritt Paulson on Twitter.

If Seattle and Portland win, they will get a chance to renew their longstanding rivalry in the fourth round of the Cup at JELD-WEN Field. It will be a big enough game just because of that, but here's something to raise the stakes even more.

Seattle has not lost a U.S. Open Cup game since the 2008 semifinals, when they were playing in the second tier the American Soccer pyramid (which at the time was called the USL First Division). The last time the Sounders lost an Open Cup game in regulation was all the way back in 2005, when the Timbers beat them in the third round.

That game was played at Portland's JELD-WEN Field, which at the time was called PGE Park. Even more randomly, one of the goals in the Timbers' 2-0 victory was scored by a Philadelphia native, Dan Antoniuk. He currently plays for the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies, having bounced around no fewer than 14 indoor and outdoor teams in his nine-year career.

Now there's a real chance that the two Cascadia rivals will duke it out in the Open Cup for the fifth time. Portland's win in 2005 was the clubs' first ever meeting in the tournament. Seattle has won all the encounters since, with the last two having come at the corner of 18th and Morrison.

So it would be quite a story if the Timbers, of all teams, bring the curtain down on the Sounders' era of Open Cup dominance.

(A hat tip to Jeremiah Oshan for being first to dig up the Sounders' last defeats in Open Cup play.)

Here are the fourth-round U.S. Open Cup matchups. As of now, all games are scheduled to be played next Tuesday, June 5. I presume that the fifth-round (quarterfinal) draw will take place Thursday.

Since no MLS team can play any of its affiliates until the last round possible, it would not surprise me if they get drawn against a team other than the New York-Harrisburg winner. It will be interesting to see how much travel that fixture will require.

All times listed below are Eastern:

1. New York Red Bulls (MLS) at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL PRO): Hershey Park Stadium/Hershey, Pa. (7:30 p.m.)
2. Philadelphia Union (MLS) at D.C. United (MLS): Maryland SoccerPlex/Boyds, Md. (7:30 p.m.)

3. Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) at Michigan Bucks (PDL): Ultimate Soccer Arena/Pontiac, Mich. (7:30 p.m.)
4. Colorado Rapids (MLS) at Sporting Kansas City (MLS): LIVESTRONG Sporting Park/Kansas City, Kan. (8:30 p.m.)

5. Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO) at San Antonio Scorpions (NASL): Heroes Stadium/San Antonio, Texas (8:30 p.m.)
6. Minnesota Stars FC (NASL) at San Jose Earthquakes (MLS): Stanford University Cagan Stadium/Stanford, Calif. (10:30 p.m.)

7. Chivas USA (MLS) at Carolina RailHawks (NASL): WakeMed Soccer Park/Cary, N.C. (7:07 p.m.)

8a. Seattle Sounders FC (MLS) or Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) at Portland Timbers (MLS): JELD-WEN Field/Portland, Ore. (10:30 p.m.)
8b. Cal FC (USASA) at Seattle Sounders FC (MLS): Starfire Sports Complex/Tukwila, Wash. (10:30 p.m.)
8c. Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) at Cal FC (USASA): Venue and Time TBD