Open Cup GameThread: Harrisburg City Islanders At D.C. United

by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2025 6:47 PM EDT

D.C. United takes on a familiar USL-2 club in the US Open Cup quarterfinals tonight. This tournament remains United's only legitimate shot at winning a trophy in 2010, and the team seems to be taking it seriously. If you've been following D.C. for several years, then you know that these two teams have a history, with Harrisburg defeating United at Hempfield High School in 2007, before the home team knocked them out of the Cup in this same round last year.

Game Time: 7:30 PM

Television: Still up for debate whether or not the match will be streamed live on dcunited.com

Projected Starting Lineup: This match will feature the long-awaited debut of designated player Branko Boskovic in United's starting lineup, who will be joined in the midfield by Santino Quaranta, Kurt Morsink, and Thabiso Khumalo. The starting forwards of Danny Allsopp and Pablo Hernandez are more proof that D.C. really wants to win this match. But the backline of Devon McTavish, Barry Rice, Carey Talley, and Stephen King (?!?!) leaves some to be desired.

If you're going to the match, sing loud and be proud. If not, this is your place for pre-game, in-game, and post-game thoughts.

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Read More: Branko Boskovic (MIDFIELDER - WAS), Santino Quaranta (F - WAS), Kurt Morsink (MIDFIELDER - WAS), Barry Rice (DEFENDER - WAS), Devon McTavish (DEFENDER - WAS), Stephen King (MIDFIELDER - WAS), DC United

Comments

Streaming live on the team's website.

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 6:53 PM EDT reply actions

Starting at 7:15ET

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks Bald!

by dc army on Jul 21, 2025 7:12 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Stephen King on the back line?

The horror. The horror. The horror.

by dc army on Jul 21, 2025 7:14 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Guessing he got short straw or something (Najar did it a couple weeks ago vs. Richmond).

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions

That was fast.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

Shit I just turned it on. What did I miss?

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2025 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll have to leave it to Pollack

(I was catching up on SEC Media Days stuff, so I just heard the audio)

Branko scored from Quaranta (and McTavish?), but I didn’t see the how. 1-0.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Tino got a ball on the left side, got it to Boskovic in the middle for a calm finish in the box.

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Branko!

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

Is anyone else having some serious problems with the stream?

It’s not crashing, but it buffers about once every 30-45 seconds.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:42 PM EDT reply actions

Yep, full of lag.

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 7:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Borderline unbearable

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2025 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions

I think I've reached full-blown stream crash now.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:48 PM EDT reply actions

Yup, keeps freezing at the same spot on different browsers.

Someone else want to see if this thing unsticks itself?

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Twitter following! W00t?

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, Strasburg is on tonight at least.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions

What’s a Strasburg? (I keed).

And I thought Tom Soehn was a shitty coach.

by Bald Pollack on Jul 21, 2025 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Looks like the sream just ended up getting pulled off the site.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 7:57 PM EDT reply actions

Other options to follow along:

TheCup.US Live Blog: http://thecup.us/2010-us-open-cup-quarterfinals-preview-harrisburg-city-islanders-at-dc-united-live-blog-at-7-p-m/

Harrisburg radio stream: http://wmssfm.com/live.shtml

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2025 8:06 PM EDT reply actions

Live Blog is slamming attendance at the Sounders game last week.

Simulated Gameday Experience - just like the real thing, only we have smoke machines.

by Chris Pendley on Jul 21, 2025 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Pop quiz

Is it the Harrisburg City “Islanders”? Or the Harrisburg “City Islanders”?

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2025 8:17 PM EDT reply actions

It’s the CITY ISLANDERS! Still trying to figure it out though. It’s not a particularly big city, and it’s not on an island…
And why the palm tree in the logo?

A Capital Wasteland - Blogging about you behind your back.

by Jake Shapiro on Jul 21, 2025 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I've got your answer.

It is the Harrisburg “City Islanders” because they play on an island in the middle of the Susquehanna river. The island is called City Island. The Harrisburg Senators (the Nationals AA team) plays on the same island.

by 6612 on Jul 21, 2025 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow thanks!

I knew Harrisburg was right on the Susquehanna, but had no idea the river had any islands in it. Thanks for sharing.

Do you have any insight though into why they have a palm tree for their logo? Surely there are no palm trees within 800 miles of PA…

Managing Editor for BlackAndRedUnited.com. Weekend Writer for SBNation DC.

by Martin Shatzer on Jul 21, 2025 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions

No palm trees on city island.

I am from Harrisburg and go to a lot of games on the island (DC is my MLS team). There are definitely no palm trees there. I think the trees are only in the logo because we are called the islanders.

by 6612 on Jul 22, 2025 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions