U.S. Open Cup roundup: Defending champ SKC bounced in quarters
Romell Quioto and Mauro Manotas each scored twice, accounting for three second-half goals within 22 minutes, as the host Houston Dynamo overcame an early deficit to storm past Sporting Kansas City 4-2, sending the defending U.S. Open Cup champions home in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
SKC's Johnny Russell got the champs on the board first at BBVA Compass Stadium with a goal in the second minute. The lead held up for more than a half hour, until Quioto evened it up in the 35th minute. Twenty minutes after intermission, the floodgates opened.
Quioto scored his second goal in the 66th minute to give the Dynamo a 2-1 lead. Three minutes later, Manotas made it 3-1. He made it 4-1 with an 88th-minute goal to put the game away. Yohan Croizet scored in the third minute of stoppage time -- with an assist from Russell -- to make it 4-2.
SKC's loss also means the U.S. Open Cup will once again fail to have a repeat winner since Seattle won three in a row from 2009-11.
Philadelphia 1, Orlando City 0
Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya scored in the fourth minute, and the Union kept Orlando out of the net to advance to the semifinals with a win at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa.
After Orlando keeper Earl Edwards Jr. made the save off a Fafa Picault header, Bedoya put the rebound into the net to move the Union to within a win of their third U.S. Open Cup final. They have never won a trophy, having lost in the championship match of this tournament in 2014 and '15.
The win also stretched the Union's streak of U.S. Open Cup matches without an official loss to 13 -- the Union's last three losses in the event have been on penalty kicks, which don't count as official losses. Orlando has never reached the U.S. Open Cup semis.
Chicago 4, Louisville City 0
The Fire had little trouble with their USL foe, scoring early and scoring often at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., to easily advance to the semifinals. They will play Philadelphia on Aug. 7 or 8 for a spot in the championship match.
Four different players scored for the Fire: Nemanja Nikolic, Aleksandar Katai, Diego Campos and Elliot Collier. Chicago is a four-time U.S. Open Cup champion but has not been to the final since losing to Seattle in 2011.
--Field Level Media
