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Feilhaber and Menace Bounced from Open Cup in Round Two

Despite a valiant attempt at a comeback and a Feilhaber goal, Union Omaha eliminated the Menace again from the Open Cup.

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2 months ago

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Credit: Thad Bell

While Sporting Kansas City II were bounced in the first round of the US Open Cup in controversial fashion, some KC connections remain with the team that eliminated them. The Des Moines Menace moved on to round two with several KC based players on their team. The headliner is Sporting KC legend Benny Feilhaber. The former SKC II coach was joined by former Sporting KC midfielder Felipe Hernandez and SKC II 2023 MVP Lucas Rosa. Another former SKC II and SKC Academy player, Leroy Enzugusi, who drew the game winning penalty back in KC, also joined Benny.

Despite the KC connections, it’s all the MLS retirees that have made Des Moines the story of the early tournament. Sacha Kljestan is the co-captain with Feilhaber and he’s joined by former New York Red Bulls teammates Bradley Wright-Phillips and Dax McCarty. (For a full rundown of the veterans, check out our initial Open Cup preview).

The lineup for Des Moines included significant changes. Instead of a mostly veteran lineup, five players were under 30, instead of one last time out. Rosa and Hernandez got the start, but Feilhaber was on the bench. In terms of MLS veterans, Kljestan, BWP, McCarty and former FC Dallas man Matt Hedges were in the starting lineup.

The Union Omaha lineup didn’t have as big of names, but there was one noteworthy MLS veteran in center back Brent Kallman, who used to play for Minnesota United.

While the Menace looked better at the beginning of the game than they did against SKC II, it was clear Omaha was a team that played together regularly. Their passing was crisp, and the movement was far better. Despite that, it was an early mistake in the 13th minute from Matt Hedges, not anything Omaha did, that left Des Moines under pressure. Fortunately, despite the giveaway leading to a shot, it was directly on goal which Enzo easily handled.

In the 16th minute, it took a bad turn for the veteran side. BWP had to be subbed out for 23-year-old Cade Hagan who played collegiately for Pitt and DePaul. It was a presumed injury for Wright-Phillips, but nothing was shown on the broadcast. Shortly after the substitution, Omaha opened the scoring in the 18th minute. A nice through ball up the right-side setup a run to the endline that was cut back to the penalty spot for a blasted shot to put the USL League One side up 1-0. Dion Acoff was the goal scorer.

The 24th minute brought the games first yellow card. It went to Brandon Knapp when Hernandez was blatantly held to stop a counterattack. In the 29th, it felt like a near disaster for Des Moines. Hedges misplayed a bouncing ball on the turf and the Omaha attacker got in behind and he appeared to be pulled from behind in the box, but the player stayed on his feet and took a poor shot instead of earning a PK and likely a Hedges red card.

Things went from bad to worse in a 34th minute counter from Des Moines. Omaha pushed up the left side of the pitch and pushed a hard shot off Enzo Carvalho who spilled the rebound right in front of the goal where Josue Gomez blasted home the rebound. 2-0 Union Omaha.

Briefly after the goal, Des Moines looked to be getting going with much sharper passing. That’s until Max Schneider pushed down a player from behind for the games 2nd yellow card. The subsequent Kljestan free kick was under hit and not a threat to Cole Jensen’s net. In the 42nd, Marco Milanese shoved Hagan in the back to earn a yellow and then screamed at the referee and was very demonstrative, but he managed to not get a second yellow. Kljestan’s free kick this time was much better but still resulted in a header just wide of the net. Right after that, Schneider committed a hard foul and the ref reached for his pocket before he realized Schneider was on a yellow and backed off. The announcers continued to highlight Omaha’s rough play might be the only thing that would undo them if they had a red card.

The first half came to an end with Des Moines in a hole that may be tough to dig out. They had options on the bench with veteran names, like Feilhaber, that could change the game. And speed like Enzugusi capable of breaking the game open. And changes are exactly what they did. Feilhaber replaced his former teammate Hernandez, who had miss used as a wide player in the first half. The only other change was in defense as Kyle Owens replaced Hedges, who had been limping at times in the first stanza.

In under 20 seconds, Des Moines almost gave away their chance at a comeback. Moises Hernandez turned the ball over deep in his own half, but the ensuing shot was blasted high and wide to leave a sliver of hope. In the subsequent two minutes, Omaha got several more chances on goal, but Enzo kept the ball out. After that, Des Moines really settled in. Feilhaber and the other veterans were making quick, one touch passes that were causing Omaha to get out of shape.

Then in the 54th minute, the whole game changed. Benny Feilhaber snuck off the back shoulder of his man to slip into the box and was pulled down from behind to earn a second yellow. The tug on the arm wasn’t much, but it was enough to get Knapp sent off. Feilhaber then stepped up and took the PK and he did his vintage penalty kick stutter step and placed it in the bottom left corner. Des Moines was trailing by a goal but now up a man. Game on!

Immediately after the goal, Kljestan subbed off for Enzugusi. The game got a bit disjointed for a while until the 69th minute a bizarre sequence happened in front of the Des Moines bench. Omaha kept failing to pick up the ball for a throw in and wasting time. After it went on for probably 30 seconds, a Des Moines player handed the Omaha player the ball and he failed to hold onto it. Then a Menace bench player handed him the ball and he intentionally dropped it causing further delays. Feilhaber complained to the referee and during that sequence Kljestan and the Omaha player started pushing each other behind the refs back. After further delays, Kljestan was red carded from the bench so no matter the result, he’ll be missing the next round.

Despite the man advantage, Omaha remained well organized and tough to play through. They actually had the better of the game since they were able to bunker and counter the tired legs of the amateur Des Moines side. In the 80th Mikey Ambrose was the final sub for the Menace as Thompson left the field. Immediately after the best chance since the penalty came for Des Moines when Feilhaber showed vintage skill to send and inch perfect ball through to Enzugusi who tried to chip the keeper, but the ball drifted wide for a goal kick.

 

The game would drift into stoppage time with Des Moines still down a goal. The fourth official put five minutes on the board, but Omaha effectively killed off all that time to pull off the 2-1 win on the road. Both the stats and eye test favored Omaha and they continue their streak of always advancing to at least the third round of the US Open Cup.

With the Menace being eliminated, amateur side El Farolito who advanced yesterday, earned $50,000 as the furthest advancing team in the Open Division.

The full game is available to re-watch on US Soccer’s YouTube account.

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I've been covering Kansas City soccer since 2014, including Sporting Kansas City, the KC Current, SKC II and more. I'm based out of Kansas City, MO, but got my start covering SKC while writing from Phoenix, AZ.

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