After a first day of matches in the 2024 US Open Cup, things had to settle a little. There was just too much drama, too much action, absolute ridiculousness of the highest order. The day after you’ve partied that hard, you have to slow a little, we can only handle too much fun. But that doesn’t mean day two was boring by any stretch of the imagination.

The one upset of the evening came at the hands of the stacked USL League Two Des Moines Menace, who went on the road and knocked off freshly-minted Capo FC of Division Three NISA. A delayed start due to a high school lacrosse game left some joking about the “magic of the cup.” After a scoreless first half, Des Moines would strike first in the 53rd minute, only to see Capo return the favor in the 66th. Regular time would finish with both sides knotted, but the teams would trade scores in extra time and penalties would decide who would advance. Each team converted every take until the 5th round, when Capo would miss and former USMNT and MLS legend Sacha Kljestan would convert to send Menace through to round two.

But even with the professional sides clearing the rest of the evening’s matches, there was plenty to cheer for. The most anticipated matchup of the evening, USL League Two champion Ballard FC against USL League One expansion Spokane Velocity, went scoreless for 96 minutes minutes before Spokane’s Andre Lewis would score at the death to win. MLS Next Pro clubs got redemption from a disappointing first day by crushing their opponents in day two by a combined score of 14-1. Fellow third division league NISA extended an impressive 2024 USOC record to 5-2 (with one of those losses being GA Lions forfeit). USL League One has outshined the rest with a now 8-1 record, with just a single upset at the hands of Vermont Green.

Tonight has the final 10 matches in the opening round. Will we get more chalk or are there cupsets yet to come? Regardless of the result, this year’s tournament is off to a stellar start!

- Dan Vaughn