DC United draws Nashville SC in US Open Cup Quarterfinal after Jordan Farr’s penalty shootout heroics
DC United lives on in the US Open Cup after Jordan Farr, in his debut with the Black-and-Red, was the hero in the club’s penalty shootout Wednesday night against Charlotte FC. His four saves in the shootout was the reason the team was able to outlast Charlotte to move on in the tournament. Yes, you read that right…Farr stopped 4 out of 5 shots in his DC United debut in a heroic moment that leaving you wondering how you could ever stop being romantic about the Open Cup.
Because of Farr’s epic performance, DC United moves onto the US Open Cup quarterfinals. The draw took place Thursday morning on CBS Sports Golazo’s Morning Footy, and the Black-and-Red will hit the road to face Nashville SC on July 8th or 9th.
It’s the first time that DC United are in the US Open Cup quarterfinal round since they won it all back in 2013. The 2013 US Open Cup is the last major trophy the team has won, and they’re hoping that this can turn into another run for the ages.
Teams were divided into 2 groups based on geography. Because there were five Eastern Conference teams remaining, they had a draw to determine which of Nashville SC or Chicago Fire would be in the East bracket. Nashville was drawn into the East bracket, while Chicago Fire will be in the West bracket.
Then came the draw for quarterfinal matchups along with the hosting priority for the semifinals and the final. The results of the quarterfinal draw (semifinal hosting priority in parentheses):
East
Philadelphia Union (4) vs. New York Red Bulls (1)
Nashville SC (2) vs. DC United (3)
West
Minnesota United (1) vs. Chicago Fire (4)
San Jose Earthquakes (3) vs. Austin FC (2)
Should DC United defeat Nashville in the quarterfinals, they would either host a semifinal matchup against the Philadelphia Union or travel to take on the New York Red Bulls. The West bracket champion will host the US Open Cup Final on October 1st. Details on the date and time of the quarterfinal matchup against Nashville were not immediately known, but now DC United knows its path to claiming a 4th US Open Cup trophy.
Great stuff! So happy to see some luster added to the USOC. It’s shameful that MLS opted out one year.
They are still basically partially opting out as not all of the American based teams in the league are in the competition like they should be.
Yeah, I’m not sure that I’d agree there was a year that MLS took off. The trophy has been won by an MLS team EVERY year since 1999. Some teams were repped by their MLS Next team last year, and some went with their first team. And then there was DC United.
It’s nice that DC United are in the tourney this year, and doing well. A shame about the rain last night. I was at a political event in Silver Spring last night that went much longer than I had hoped. Made it impossible for me to get there, rain or not. Still, DC United isn’t promoting it, and that surely has had an impact on the paltry crowds. Maybe the front office assumed they’d get bounced and didn’t want to disappoint fans.
If DCU can win in Nashville, I hope the front office takes a different approach in the semifinals. Really promote a home semifinal match against the Union, if that happens — even though Philly are much better than DC; or, maybe arrange an official road trip up to NJ, if on the road there.
I didn’t put all my thoughts there — got sidetracked. Wanted to say that it’s a bummer that so many of the best MLS teams aren’t even in the Open Cup this year. That will devalue the ultimate championship for whichever of the competing MLS teams wins it.
I say this as a longstanding Tottenham fan. It’s cool that they won the Europa League, but this was not a good team, and their path to this title was paved beating other lesser lights in European football. The Europa final was fun — and had some really thrilling moments, including a late-game goal line bicycle clearance. Very memorable, but the thrill of winning is already fading. I’m hoping they’re able to build a better team, to compete in Champions League next year. Getting out of the group stage in next year’s UCL would be much more exciting and satisfying for me than the Europa win was this year.
Same with DC United. I’ll be wildly thrilled if they somehow win USOC. Going thru Nashville, and then having to beat Philly or NYRB just to get to the final will be really challenging. Clearly, they will have to produce 2 big upsets just to get to the final. But, even if they can pull that off, it will not substitute for having a crap team that can’t compete in MLS.
van der Ven…yowzers!
Congrats to Spurs fans everywhere
I’ll fully agree that the team needs to do more to get people there for the Open Cup games, but in watching the Open Cup Whiparound show that the Golazo Network had last night (I couldn’t watch DC directly), the attendance at all of the other games last night was terrible. Austin and Orlando had OK crowds, but the game in Minnesota seemingly had a couple hundred people at it. Philly and NJ weren’t much better. I think the attendance numbers will start to go up the deeper in the tournament we get, but the low attendance for DC last night wasn’t that out of line overall
Wild stuff last night — really wish I’d found a way to do my ‘official’ duties, and still get there. 3 goals from 3 players scoring for the very first ever for DC United (about time, Mr. Jackson Hopkins!!), and then the Jordan Farr thing. He did a tremendous job in going the right way on all but the one PK that Bronico too (when he was suckered into committing first) — but it also seemed that all 4 kicks were pretty terrible — pretty easily saved, given Farr’s going the right way. hard to know how much credit to give Farr, but still it’s now legendary. If the team can keep it going with a win at Nashville…?!?! Really hoping for a USOC semifinal within driving distance, in DC or at Harrison, NJ.
(Schnegg scored against Dallas last year. But still fun!)
Did he? I swear I looked at each of their career stats on the site, and didn’t see anything for any of them?
<Deleted>
[…] DC United draws Nashville SC in US Open Cup Quarterfinal after Jordan Farr’s penalty shootout hero…D.C. United’s Wednesday night Open Cup match had an absolutely insane finish. I’ve included the highlights video below if you didn’t get a chance to watch live. […]