Austin Aztex 0 : 2 Houston Dynamo. Not many got to see this match because of internet issues at Nelson Field in Austin. I thought Austinites were supposed to be handy with technology? The result isn't much of a surprise, the Dynamo are one of the top clubs in the United States and the Aztex are in their first professional season. Houston will face Charleston in their quarterfinal, Charleston and Houston have a history in the Open Cup and Charleston have gotten the better of the Texas side both times they've met.

The second match of the evening was a renewal of one of the most historic rivalries in American soccer as Portland and Seattle met at PGE Park. Before the match Portland displayed a brilliant tifo featuring a lumberjack and the space needle as well as a sign reading "a league below, a class above", we need to see more stuff like that here.

However, any energy Portland had from that display was pulled right out of them as Seattle scored after just 40 seconds of play. A Roger Levesque diving header found it's way passed Cronin who had a miserable night in goal. Seattle would go two goals up later on with a blast from Stephen King in the 26th minute. Despite this Portland tried to fight back and even clawed back a goal through Keita Mandjou just before half-time.

The second half featured close chances for both teams but neither could find the net again as the match ended 2-1 to Seattle. The Sounders will now face Kansas City at Starfire Stadium in the quarterfinals.

It was a bloody day for MLS in the third round of the US Open Cup as only two of the six teams in action came away with victories, and one needed penalties to do so.

Perhaps the biggest upset of the night came in Wilmington where the Hammerheads saw off the Chicago Fire 1-0 despite facing frantic pressure from the MLS side. Someone I know called it :).

Wilmington will travel to Rochester after the Rhinos pulled another upset after they took the defending MLS Champions Columbus to penalties and beat them. This isn't really a shock, the Rhinos tend to take the Open Cup very seriously having won it in 1999, the club's proudest moment.

Harrisburg joined their fellow USL Second Division team Wilmington in the fourth round after they beat New England 2-1 after extra time in a match played at New England's secondary home in New Britain, CT. It's an excellent result for Harrisburg as they will now face local rivals and holders DC United at United's secondary home in Maryland.

DC defeated Ocean City 2-0 to dash the hopes of the final PDL side in the cup at the SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland. The match was played in awful weather and the stadium had issues that messed with the broadcast of the match.

Somehow Kansas City needed penalties to beat the Minnesota Thunder at the National Sports Center in Blaine. The Thunder came back from 2-0 down to equalize in the 87th minute which forced extra time, where despite dominating play and scoring a third goal Kansas City couldn't prevent Melvin Tarley from making it 3-3 and forcing penalties. Kansas City saved two of them and advanced 4-2.

The biggest win of the match came in South Carolina where Charleston beat Chivas USA 3-1. Chivas have really turned into the whipping boys of the cup after they lost to Dallas Roma (a local league side) in 2006. Full credit has to go to the Battery though who are having an excellent season.

This is the part where some people would say "USL is better than MLS", but I won't. The USL teams do tend to take the cup much more seriously though and that tends to annoy me. MLS teams suffer from fixture congestion issues caused by executives grabbing money. The main excuse thrown up when an MLS team is felled by a USL team is that the MLS team fielded a reserve side, the problem is, so do Mexican teams in the SuperLiga.

Chicago Fire fans are upset tonight, and rightly so. While the Hammerheads are a decent team in their own rite, they're part-time. Chicago should beat them. Three years ago, Chicago would've taken this cup seriously, it was a mark of pride for the Fire fans to play and play well in the Open Cup, it was also a mark of pride for the likes of Peter Wilt. But for the new executives at Toyota Park the cup is a burden getting in the way of the contrived SuperLiga. It's shameful, and it insults the hardcore fans.

This is a night of celebration for some USL teams, especially Wilmington and Harrisburg, and they've earned it. The 2009 almanac won't care who played, only who won.

Tomorrow night sees the tie of the round, Portland vs. Seattle. It's an old rivalry as far as American soccer goes, and as heated as it gets in the US. But don't discount Austin v Houston, the Austin fans should turn out in force for that Texas derby.

The third round of the US Open Cup starts today and it features some interesting ties. The draw of the round has to be the renewal of the Cascadia derby between the Portland Timber and Seattle Sounders at PGE Park. Portland and Seattle are rivals in just about everything and soccer is certainly no exception, the Timbers and Sounders have been doing battle in one form or another since the 1970's. Stadium officials are expecting a sell out crowd in Portland, it should be an interesting match to say the least. As if the fire needed anymore fuel, Portland cast aside the Kitsap Pumas - who some Sounders fans hold a soft-spot for - to get to the third round. This match takes place on Wednesday.

While the northwest has grabbed the headlines it shouldn't shift any attention away from the mid-Atlantic region where tiny Ocean City will look to continue their storybook run against holders DC United at the Maryland SoccerPlex, DC United's secondary home. The Barons have beaten two professional Maryland clubs, Crystal Palace Baltimore and Real Maryland - the latter of whom call the SoccerPlex home - to get this far. I hate the phrase "David v Goliath" (Because I'm 205 cm and I'm a puppy dog, apperently) but I guess this could be described as one. Ocean City sit third out of nine in their PDL Northeastern Division table, while DC United currently top the Eastern table in MLS (but sit fourth overall).

Another match of note includes a Texas derby on Wednesday between Austin and Houston at Nelson Field. With FC Dallas' recent crowd issues, this may be a match between the best supported sides in Texas. The Dynamo have been powerful as usual this season as they've stormed to the top of the MLS table, fate has not been as kind to Austin who rank near the bottom of the USL First Division in their maiden season. Texas, like California and if you want, North (and South) Carolina is a bit of an interesting case. A state cup competition could be viable there (ten sides in the top four divisions call Texas home), but at the moment that's just a pipe dream.

The biggest potential for an upset could be on the Carolina coast when Chicago travels down east to take on Wilmington at Legion Field. The Hammerheads are having an impressive season while the Fire have looked flat at times.

The other matches in round three are: Tuesday - New England (MLS) v Harrisburg (USL2) [at New Britain, CT],  Rochester (USL1) v Columbus (MLS), Charleston (USL1) v Chivas USA (MLS), Minnesota (USL1) v Kansas City (MLS)