With one place in the US Open Cup semifinals already guaranteed, Major League Soccer clubs took two more slots on Tuesday. Houston finally broke their jinx at Blackbaud and DC United got past Harrisburg.
Wilmington 1 - Rochester 2
A Tai Atieno goal in the 54th minute and an Andrew Gregor penalty in the 67th had Rochester up two goals before Wilmington got on the board through Jamie Watson in the 72nd. Wilmington was without its regular keeper, with Kyle Polak filling in for the injured Daryl Sattler.
Harrisburg 1 - DC 2
DC United took advantage early with Thabiso Khumalo scoring in the 8th minute and Andrew Jacobsen making it 2-0 ten minutes later. Harrisburg was down a man in the 50th when Mo Odour was sent off, but finally started putting together some offense. Micki Paterson scored in the 65th and the Islanders looked like they had a shot at an unlikely equalizer. Instead, it's DC advancing to host Rochester in the semifinals. "I think we thought we had the game won and we forgot what it takes to do that, the work and the movement off the ball," DC United coach Tom Soehn said. "We got very complacent."
Houston 4 - Charleston 0
Blame it on the rain, but all of a sudden Blackbaud Stadium didn't look as intimidating for the Houston Dynamo. Two in a row losers in this tournament to Charleston in '07 and '08, Houston took a 16th minute goal from Geoff Cameron into the half and never looked back. Bobby Boswell scored in the 47th, Dominic Oduro had it 3-0 in the 52nd, and Cameron got the fourth goal in the 73rd minute. "There's no doubt I had a better time this year than I did last year," Cameron said. "We got the result we were looking for and I was able to contribute a little offensively, so all-in-all a pretty memorable night."
Kansas City 0 - Seattle 1
Seattle left it late, with Sebastien Le Toux converting an 89th minute penalty to give them a home date with Houston in the semifinals. With both teams close to their regular elevens and starting their number one keepers, this was a lot closer to an MLS game than what we've come to expect from the Open Cup. “I was happy that we hung in there,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “I was happy that we played tough defensively, didn’t break down or give anything away. That allowed us to be in position, when we were awarded the penalty, to take advantage and get the win.” Kansas City's Santiago Hirsig was sent off in the 90th minute. Kasey Keller picks up the shutout.
