Every year, when the Open Cup proper finally kicks off, all us lower league fans breathlessly watch the results, hoping for the big round one upsets. They are rare, because typically the gaps in talent, funding, support, etc. is large between the levels. So you wish and hope and pray, but generally you get close but no cigar type results. But when they do happen, they are pure magic. There’s even a word for them: cupsets.

This year’s round one kicked off last night and, for the most part, it was pure chalk. The one exception was FORO SC, the Dallas area-based club was also a round one winner last year and is known to bring the heat in this competition. FORO knocked off League One expansion side Texoma FC in extra time, riding the back of two goals from Brayan Padilla. Padilla scored the opener in the first half and the game-winner in the 100th minute, while also drawing a foul call that resulted in a Texoma red card. He had a monster game and put his team through for the only upset of the evening.

Two other matches almost gave us the cupsets we crave. After going down a man, Chattanooga Red Wolves of USL League One had to go to penalties (4-2) to advance past amateur New Jersey Alliance, when extra time ended at 2-2. The other close call was between a couple of USL clubs (USL League One and USL League Two). Greenville Triumph squeaked past Asheville City in penalties, 4-3. While fans of both the winners can breathe a sigh of relief, the rest of us will wonder about what could have been.

The rest of the matches ended as one might have expected with all the higher ranked clubs advancing, but hope springs eternal this evening with another slate of round one matchups. The big one to watch is the Des Moines Menace super team taking on Sporting Kansas City II. Menace packed their lineup with former MLS superstars and it will be interesting to see how much remains in their tanks, facing the MLSNP side.

The rest of round one kicks off this evening with all the matches streaming on the US Soccer YouTube channel.

- Dan Vaughn