The El Paso Patriots defeated the Laredo Heat 2-1 in a rivalry game featuring the last two PDL runners-up. The Patriots’ game-winner came in the 77th minute from Geraldo Moreira, moving El Paso in first place in the PDL Southern Conference qualifying standings with a perfect 2-0 record.

Also in the South, Mississippi Brilla picked up their first win as a franchise over DFW Tornados, 2-1. Paul Babba and Ousmane Coulibaly scored first half goals for Brilla to lead the way. Combined with their opening draw against the New Orleans Shell Shockers, Mississippi is very much in the hunt for an Open Cup spot in their inaugural season.

Bradenton bounced back from a bad 4-1 loss to Central Florida with a convincing 4-0 win over the Cocoa Expos. The Academics received goals from four different players, but the man of the match was Haitian Under-20 player, who not only scored one of the goals, but also assisted on two others. After an opening loss, Bradenton will likely need to win out and get some help in order to qualify.

The Hampton Roads Piranhas made their debut in Open Cup qualifying with a 2-0 win over the West Virginia Chaos. The Piranhas are made up largely of players from the Virginia Beach Submariners, who folded shortly before the season started. (Eastern Conference Standings)

Finally, in the Western Conference, Fabricio Codeceira scored a stoppage time winner to help the Fresno Fuego overcome the Los Angeles Storm 2-1. Like Bradenton, the Fuego are also recovering from an opening day loss (at Bakersfield 3-0), and will need some additional help to get into the tournament.