USL Championship Quartet Set off Rare Open Cup Fireworks

The current edition of the U.S. Open Cup is proving historic for four clubs from the USL Championship who’ve previously (or recently) failed to scale the heights in our beloved knockout tournament.

FC Tulsa, Loudoun United and Phoenix Rising have all exceeded their deepest-ever run in the competition this year – while the high-flying Tampa Bay Rowdies have equalled it.

All four of the clubs are in action on May 21st and 22nd in our 2024 Round of 16 – and they’ll be looking to keep the party going with places in the Quarterfinals up for grabs.

For the Tampa Bay Rowdies, it’s a position they’ve been in once before – way back over a decade ago in 2013 when they were still a part of the North American Soccer League (NASL). They pulled off a huge upset by beating MLS side and Open Cup powers the Seattle Sounders 1-0 at Al Lang Stadium thanks to a goal from Bulgarian Georgi Hristov.

The vibe didn’t last, however, as the Rowdies were beaten in that Round of 16 by another side from the Pacific Northwest: the Portland Timbers, this time out on the road (0-2). The Tampa Bay men only managed one more trip to the Round of 32 (in 2016) before this year’s fireworks.

• READ: Tampa Bay & the Magical Madness of the Cup

“You can feel the history of the Rowdies around here in the city,” said Jordan Farr, the current Tampa Bay standout and 2022 USL Championship Goalkeeper of the Year, about the club getting set for its 50th birthday and a date with an MLS opponent in the Open Cup for only a third time. “It’s about measuring yourself against the top teams around and I think FC Dallas is going to be impressed with the kind of game they get from us [in the Round of 16].”

Farr and the Rowdies are coming off a wild game in this year’s Round of 32, when they blew a 4-0 lead in the last 14 minutes at home against USL league mates Birmingham Legion. They eventually went on to win the night 6-4, thanks in large part to a sensational bicycle kick from Manuel Arteaga.

“This is a very good chance to demonstrate our quality against an MLS team when we face FC Dallas,” said Arteaga, whose quality was on display once again over the weekend when, back in league play, he scored two more goals in a 5-0 Rowdies’ win over FC Tulsa.

Rare Rises for Phoenix, Tulsa & Loudoun

That brings us to another side making history in our Open Cup’s 2024 Round of 16. FC Tulsa, out of Oklahoma, are most often on the wrong side of conjurings of Cup Magic – like their loss in the Second Round of last year’s tournament at Hicks Park to cross-town amateurs Tulsa Athletic.

But this year’s different. The Tulsans followed up wins over USL League One (Division III) side Northern Colorado Hailstorm (2-1) and league mates the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (1-0) to wind their way into the Round of 16. It’s the farthest they’ve ever reached in our tournament whether under their current name and identity or as the Tulsa Roughnecks of old.

FC Tulsa have a big fight on their hands if they want to keep this historic run alive. They travel to four-time Champions Sporting KC and their Children’s Mercy Park on May 21st. It’s only their third time up against MLS opposition, having lost to FC Dallas in the Round of 32 in both 2017 and 2022.

Phoenix Rising, despite massive success in the USL Championship that includes three runs to the league’s Final (and once – in 2023 – winning it) have yet to make a major impact in our U.S. Open Cup. The Arizonans reached the Round of 32 for the third time this year (after runs to the same stage in their inaugural year of 2014 and then again in 2022).

This will be the USL Championship’s defending champs’ second time going up against an opponent from MLS – when they travel to take on four-time Open Cup Champions Seattle Sounders in Tukwila, Washington on May 22nd. First time out, way back in 2014, they lost to LA Galaxy 1-2.

This Round of 16 also represents the farthest the Arizona side have ever reached in our Open Cup.

It’s the same case for Loudoun United. The Leesburg, Virginia-based men are playing in only their second Open Cup as a club as they’d previously been barred entry due to their affiliation with MLS’ D.C. United. Last year, in their debut in our tournament, the Loudouners reached the Round of 32 with wins over Flower City Union and North Carolina FC before being bounced out hard by that year’s eventual MLS champions Columbus Crew via a 5-1 mauling.

“This is the farthest we’ve ever gone in the tournament and we’re riding that energy,” said Wesley Leggett, Loudoun’s two-goal hero of the 2024 Round of 32 win over USL league mates Orange County SC out on the road (2-1). “We have the element of surprise going for us in that way.

“It seems like people are always underestimating us,” added Leggett ahead of another long trip to Southern California and a date with MLS’ 2022 champions LAFC (a first time for Loudoun going up against a side from the top division). “I think we have the players and the firepower to shock people.”

That’s the nature of our Open Cup, and these four USL Championship hopefuls are riding the peculiar waves of the tournament in 2024. Just how far they can go will be decided on May 21st and 22nd – so be sure to watch EVERY GAME of the Round of 16 LIVE on watch.usopencup.com (US Soccer), MLSSoccer.com/usopencup-live-streams/ (MLS) orUSLsoccer.com/watch (USL).

Maduro is a senior reporter at large for usopencup.com