The annual Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament is usually filled with exciting upsets by the lower division teams. In 2002, the intrigue continued via numerous overtime matches and a little bit of controversy but it was largely devoid of the upsets.
The majority of the upsets and some of the controversy came in the First Round when the Raleigh CASL Elite and Des Moines Menace of the Premier Development League advanced against third division professional opponents. Shortly after the round concluded, the dismissed San Diego Gauchos of the D3 Pro League were notified they would go to Minnesota in place of USASA opponent Mexico SC, who were disqualified for using illegal players in their match.
Des Moines nearly became the darling of the tournament when it took perennial A-League power Rochester to overtime in the Second Round before falling, 3-2, to the Rhinos.
The A-League swept the round, surprising many longtime followers of the cup who expected an upset somewhere in the mix. The D3 Pro League’s Utah Blitzz and South Jersey Barons nearly pulled it off against the Seattle Sounders and Hampton Roads Mariners, respectively, but came up short in one-goal losses.
Major League Soccer teams then gave the A-League sides a dose of their own medicine, nearly sweeping them completely from the tournament in the Third Round.
The eventual league champion Milwaukee Rampage were the lone second division side to advance to the Quarterfinals with a tight 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire. The elimination of the other seven were not easy either as a tournament round record four matches were decided in overtime.
In all, six of the eight games were decided by just one goal. One of the overtime matches ended in heated fashion with the Rhinos and Kansas City Wizards coaches and players rushing the field yelling and arguing with one another.
In the other matches, the Dallas Burn needed overtime to defeat the Silverbacks 2-1, Colorado scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Charleston in overtime, the MetroStars survived a 1-0 nailbiter in Virginia Beach and the defending MLS Champion San Jose Earthquakes squeaked out an overtime victory over Seattle in a 4-3 thriller.
Milwaukee would fall 2-0 in the quarters against the Wizards, leaving the remainder of the cup an all-MLS affair with the Columbus Crew, Dallas Burn and defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy.
The other three quarterfinal matches featuring MLS teams were even closer games. The Crew knocked off the MetroStars 2-1 and in a pair of 1-0 overtime results, Dallas defeated Colorado and the Galaxy eliminated the Earthquakes.
Columbus knocked Kansas City out 3-2 in overtime in the semis, setting up a final with the Galaxy, who downed Dallas handily 4-1.
