USOC Round of 16: Matches Which Matter Most

Louisville City supporters will be up for making music against the Nashville MLS franchise

LOUISVILLE CITY FC (USLC) vs NASHVILLE SC (MLS)

Wednesday, 05/25/22 - Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville, KY 7:00 pm (EST)
The best part of watching the US Open Cup is getting cross league matchups where the underdog gets to test their mettle against the big boys in leagues above - maybe we’ll see that when Los Morados of Louisville host MLSers Nashville SC in the Round of 16 this week. In their league, USL Championship, the Boys in Purple are currently second in the Eastern Conference, averaging 2 points a match and about a third of the way through the season, look like a solid playoff pick.

Louisville City FC are 4-1-1 at home in the league, and 2-0 in the Cup while playing at Lynn Family Stadium. They entered the Cup in the 2nd Round beating USL League One side Chattanooga Red Wolves 1-0. They then advanced through the 3rd Round on penalties against MLSNP pop-up shop St Louis II and advanced away to USL Championship foe Detroit City FC in penalties as well. Head Coach Danny Cruz (who has played for the likes of Des Moines Menace, San Francisco Deltas, and Real Monarchs) likes to line them up in a 4-2-3-1 which has resulted in danger man Wilson Harris’ 6 league goals and 3 assists - he’s also been crucial in LouCity’s successes so far.

Visiting them will be MLS franchise Nashville SC, who entered the Open Cup in the previous round, defeating former Cup Champion, Atlanta United 3-2, in the process. They gave up goals early in that match but climbed back to win it on efforts by their own very dangerous men Hany Mukhtar, CJ Sapong, and Ethan Zubak. Their form in Major League Soccer over the last five matches has been erratic, with a draw/win/loss/win/draw - not showing any consistency but led by none other than Mukhtar and Sapong up top. Coach Gary Smith has been putting them on the pitch in variations of a 3-5-2 and I would not be surprised if that’s what we got when these two meet on Wednesday.

It’s a bird battle in Minnesota… Owls vs Loons

MINNESOTA UNITED FC (MLS) vs UNION OMAHA (USL1)

Tuesday, 05/25/22 - Allianz Field, Saint Paul, MN 7:00 pm (EST)
Kicking off at the same time, will be the MLS Franchise in St Paul, Minnesota hosting Union Omaha of USL League One. Minnesota United FC, who are all over the place in terms of form, are W/D/L/W/L in their last five league matches and sit outside the playoff picture in their Western Conference. They are wildly inconsistent and dependent on goals from Finnish International Robin Lod to get them across the line. Head Coach Adrian Heath likes to set up in a 4-2-3-1 with Will Trap and Kervin Arriaga sitting on top of the back four.

On the other hand, Heath set them up in 3-4-3 in their last US Open Cup win against Colorado Rapids and barely won, getting an 87’ winner from Emanuel Reynoso. MUFC entered the Cup in the 3rd Round and defeated lower league kitnerd darling Forward Madison handily, dominating possession with 67% and employing an 82% pass accuracy - despite owning the ball, they weren’t resting on it and were called offside 4 times and generated 7 corner kicks. Again, showing that its hard to predict which Minnesota United you’ll get in this game.

2021’s USL League One Champions Union Omaha made their entrance into the US Open Cup in the 2nd Round, defeating USL League Two Champions, Des Moines Menace, 2-1. There they bossed possession and pass accuracy as well, and were aided in the win by a late Menace own goal. They then shocked us all by going to former USOC and MLS winners Chicago Fire and taking them through extra time and advancing through penalties! Most recently, they defeated USL League One rival Northern Colorado Hailstorm, 2-0, despite only having 39% possession and being significantly out-passed.

In the league, the champs are sitting in 9th (out of 11) and only have 6 points in the table; however, they have three games in hand on the league leader and have the same +2 goal difference - so it’s not dire. Perhaps Head Coach Jay Mims is focusing on the Cup right now, especially given its such a rare opportunity for a club in the third division of US Soccer to make it this far. Let’s hope for more goals from John Scearce and Noe Meza, along with fellow league stat leader, Hugo Kametani. Perhaps if Union pack it in real tight in an old school 4-4-2 and don’t give Lod any channels to run, they might be able to steal a goal on a counter attack and walk away a winner… perhaps.

Sacramento is out to prove they’re *Hella* better than that South Bay team

SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC FC (USLC) vs SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (MLS)

Wednesday, 05/25/22 - Heart Health Park, Sacramento, CA 10:30 pm (EST)
In the late game, Sacramento Republic of the USL Championship host San Jose Earthquakes, an MLS franchise from the South Bay, in what some have dubbed the “Hella Derby.” To get here, Sac Republic dismantled USL League Two club Timbers U23s 6-0 in the 2nd Round; got a 90+5’ winner from the legendary RoRo to get past USL League One side Central Valley Fuego in the 3rd Round; shutout fellow USL Championship club Phoenix Rising, 2-0 in the Round of 32 and now host the Quakes. They have hosted at Heart Health Park the whole way through so far, and have 10 goals from 8 different goal-scorers in the Cup.

In the USL Championship Western Conference, Sacramento are outside the playoff picture, and are in erratic form, earning the L/W/D/D/L from their last five league matches. They do, however, have a few matches in hand over some of their conference rivals, but there are also teams who have played less, who are above them in the table. A third of the way into the season and they are lead by Douglas Martinez and Rodrigo Lopez, with a paltry 2 goals each - with seven more players with only 1 goal tallied. Coach Mark Briggs sets up in a 4-2-3-1 sometimes, but has also utilized the 3-5-2, probably to gain some width and keep the ball out of the middle.

Despite Sacramento’s form, San Jose Earthquakes aren’t necessarily the scariest team they could have drawn for the Round of 16. Quakes are well outside the playoffs in their respective MLS Western Conference, with only three wins all season and those coming against teams who are also below the playoff bench mark. San Jose are L/W/D/D/L in their last five league matches and give up goals like it’s cool, boasting a -6 goal difference in Major League Soccer. However, the narrative is slightly more positive for San Jose in the Cup - they have a +5 goal difference after blasting an unprepared NISA side Bay Cities and drew 2-2 with Seattle before advancing on penalties.

Interim Head Coach Alex Covelo may be looking to make changes ahead of an important league match on Saturday with first place side LAFC, where I suspect he’ll want his strongest players. At this point in the season, a Cup match may just be a distraction and the trip up to Sacramento from San Jose, while only 2 hours up I-80, might be just long enough for Covelo to leave Jackson Yueill or Jeremy Ebobisse napping on the team bus - fingers crossed. It would not surprise me at all to see San Jose start slow and Sacramento really go for it early, get a couple of goals and fight off the bad guys for the rest of the match.

by Joshua Duder