D.C. United falls in Fourth Round Disappointment

Days after both their longtime rivals (in the New York Red Bulls) and their opponents in last year's final (in Real Salt Lake) were eliminated in U.S. Open Cup play on the road,

The first half saw the Rhinos avail themselves nicely in the first 10 minutes, and after D.C. found some sort of form afterwards, the Rhinos struck first as Michael Garzi crossed a ball that Colin Rolfe found a boot to and past Andrew Dykstra for a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute, a lead that they kept until halftime.

The second half found D.C. trying to connect passes from Colin Martin and Jalen Robinson in separate instances, but the closest shot was one where Conor Doyle redirected a Robinson cross just wide of the net. In rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, the game saw a suspension due to lighting, moments after a 61st minute yellow card to Steven Birnbaum after he misjudged a ball in the air and brought down a Rhino player, his second yellow of the night.

After the delay which lasted approximately 45 minutes, the teams resumed play for ten minutes before a second round of electricity suspended the game again, this time for more than an hour. When the teams returned to play the final 20 minutes, little action followed. When Chris Rolfe came on for the disappointing Alex Caskey

Pending the remainder of the matches, D.C. is the fourth MLS team to be eliminated in the fourth round, joining the aforementioned Red Bulls and RSL along with Chivas USA. Rochester moves on to play the winner of the Richmond Kickers-New England Revolution game, which kicks off tomorrow.