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US Open Cup 2017, second round: New York Cosmos out; Rochester Rhinos down FC Motown; Ocean Nor'easters nudged aside by Harrisburg City Islanders

Reading United staged a Cupset for the ages with a win over NY Cosmos; FC Motown and Ocean City Nor'easters bowed out in the second round of USOC 2017.

by Austin Fido@canetop
Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images

History will record that New York Cosmos and FC Motown were eliminated from the 2017 US Open Cup at the same stage.

Since flirting with extinction (well, hibernation - they never really go away, just go to sleep) in the off-season, the Cosmos have been good but not dominant in NASL so far this year, and have made the peculiar decision to schedule a friendly (against Al-Hilal) in Saudi Arabia in the middle of their competitive season.

Still, even with a flight to Riyadh to think about and a starting lineup featuring six changes from the team that beat Puerto Rico FC 4-3 in NASL on May 14, it seemed reasonable to think the Cosmos would be too strong for Reading United.

And the Cosmos started the game as expected, opening the scoring in the 11th minute through Kalif Alhassan.

But Reading staged a late first-half mugging, scoring three times in six minutes to head into the half-time break with a 3-1 lead.

If there was any suspicion the Cosmos were guilty of taking the game lightly, head coach Giovanni Savarese tried to set that straight with a couple of at-the-half substitutions that saw veterans Dejan Jakovic and Ayoze enter the game.

And Salvadoran international Andres Flores joined the match when the first 15 minutes of the second half failed to bring a goal for the Cosmos.

The changes did the trick: Danny Szetela brought the defending NASL champs back in to the game in the 63rd minute.

And the Cosmos would enjoy much the better of the remainder of the match, but Reading defended deep and stoutly - surviving even the loss of Mohammed Adams to a red card in stoppage time.

While Reading celebrated a victory over one of US soccer's most famous names, the other underdogs in RBNY-relevant matches in USOC did not fare so well.

In Rochester, FC Motown fell behind quickly to two goals from the Rhinos inside the opening 10 minutes.

Motown head coach Sacir Hot had promised his side would play its preferred passing game, and his players did just that, refusing to engage in any damage limitation despite the Rhinos demonstrated ability to pierce the back line consistently and effectively.

Motown's positive approach made for an entertaining game and one could not say the New Jersey amateurs were overawed by their professional opponents. In possession, the defense pushed up confidently while the ball was worked smartly forward with crisp and attack-minded passes. But Motown never found the net, while the Rhinos added a third toward the end.

It was ultimately a comfortable victory for Rochester, which will host Boston-based amateurs GPS Omens in the third round.

FC Motown's run is over, but the team's continuing domination of the Garden State Soccer League suggests this won't be its last US Open Cup campaign. But it won't be a surprise package next time around: the ambitious amateurs from Morristown have at least made themselves more widely known with their brief foray on to the national stage.

Meanwhile, the New York and New Jersey amateur soccer scene's Cupset specialists, Ocean City Nor'easters, came achingly close to another win over professional opposition.

The Nor'easters and Harrisburg City Islanders played 120 minutes of scoreless soccer at Ocean City's "Beach House" (aka, Carey Stadium).

The home team took an early lead in the shootout.

But HCI caught up.

The shootout went to sudden death. Ocean City blinked first and HCI bagged the winner.

Harrisburg City Islanders will be on the road again in the third round, against Cosmos-conquering Reading United.

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