Seattle Sounders FC forward Sebastien Le Toux is the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round for the semifinals of the tournament.

Le Toux, who was the leading scorer in the U.S. Open Cup in 2007 and 2008, was involved in both Sounders goals in their 2-1 extra-time victory over the Houston Dynamo on July 21 in Tukwila, Wash.

The Frenchman took the time to answer some questions from USOpenCup.com editor Josh Hakala via e-mail.

UPDATED 8/7, 10:15AM

Over the first five seasons of the NPSL, league teams have had to qualify through their respective U.S. Adult Soccer Association regional tournaments to get into the U.S. Open Cup.

It’s not clear if the plan proposes taking the four berths from the eight currently assigned to the USASA. If that happens, only the four regional champions would qualify, rather than each region having two entries. Adding four berths for the NPSL and keeping eight for the USASA would require another revamp of the U.S. Open Cup setup.

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals Rochester (USL-1) 1:2 D.C. United Houston (MLS) 1:2 (aet) Seattle (MLS) Follow the Open Cup on Twitter & Facebook

Regardless of the result of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup Final, history will be made.

D.C. United gets a battle from the Rochester Rhinos, but for the fourth time in as many tries in the tournament, the Rhinos fall short, losing 2-1 on a Boyzzz Khumalo goal in the 82nd minute. Jamie Moreno moved into a tie for first place on the all-time Professional Era goalscoring chart with his 12th career Open Cup goal on a 41st minute penalty kick.

United will face the Seattle Sounders in the championship game, which they will host at RFK Stadium on September 2. The game will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.

A record setting nigth in terms of readership for our live blog as we followed two exciting Semifinal games. Click below to replay the blog.

The Rochester Rhinos may be the only USL team left in the tournament, but they have been here before. The Rhinos will make their third appearance in the Semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after a 2-1 victory over the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Second Division. For the Rhinos, it will be their first appearance in the final four since 1999, the year they won the Open Cup.

They will travel to Boyds, MD on July 21 to face D.C. United, the club that beat them in the 1996 Open Cup Final. United got past a USL Second Division club of their own, knocking off the Harrisburg City Islanders 2-1. 

In the other Semifinal, the Houston Dynamo will make their way to the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila, WA on July 21 where they will face the Seattle Sounders. The Dynamo exorcized some demons on Tuesday night, eliminating the Charleston Battery at Blackbaud Stadium, something they have been unable to do in the 2007 and 2008 tournaments. The difference in Seattle’s 1-0 win over Kansas City was an 89th minute penalty kick that Sebastien Le Toux converted for the game’s only goal.

Randi Patterson (left), shown here playing for the PDL’s Carolina Dynamo, finished tied for the most goals scored in the 2006 U.S. Open Cup with four. Photo by: Carolina Dynamo

With a 3-1 victory over Chivas USA of Major League Soccer in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the Charleston Battery became the first USL team to advance to the Quarterfinals three years in a row. The main reason they were able to do that was Randi Patterson, who scored two goals in the match, and for his efforts, has been named the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round for the Third Round.

In a more decisive vote than the previous two rounds, Patterson beat out the Houston Dynamo’s Corey Ashe (1 goal, 1 assist in 2-0 win at Austin Aztex), and the Wilmington duo of goalkeeper Daryl Sattler and last round’s top player, Kenny Bundy, who helped the Hammerheads beat Chicago 1-0. 

The Player of the Round is selected by the staff of USOpenCup.com and members of the North American Soccer Reporters, a group that consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information about the NASR can be found at www.soccerreporters.com (Note: A new website is in the works).

Patterson took time to talk to USOpenCup.com about his Open Cup experience and the difference between playing in MLS and the USL.

The underdogs of the USL ruled on day one of the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, but the Seattle Sounders and the Houston Dynamo each earned wins on Wednesday to level the tournament with four MLS teams and four USL teams in the Quarterfinals. For the second year in a row, the USL will have at least one team in the Semifinals.

The Houston Dynamo defeated the Austin Aztex 2-0 on Wednesday to set up a date with the Charleston Battery next Tuesday at Blackbaud Stadium. This will be the third year in a row that the Battery and the Dynamo square off in the Open Cup with Charleston eliminating Houston in both years.

Later that night, the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders renewed their rivalry in front of a sold-out PGE Park in Portland, Ore. The more than 16,000 fans in attendance was the fourth largest attendance (Source: Kenn.com) during the Professional Era (1995 - present) and a modern era first for the Timbers.
 

Kenny Bundy’s game-tying goal in the final minute of extra time allowed the Hammerheads to advance to a third round match versus four time Open Cup champion Chicago Fire. Photo by Wilmington Hammerheads

Wilmington Hammerheads midfielder Kenny Bundy has been named the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round for the Second Round of the tournament. Bundy came on as a 68th minute substitute for Wilmington in their match against the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division, and scored a goal in the final minute of extra time to tie the match at 3-3. Bundy also converted one of the Hammerheads’ penalty kicks in the tiebreaker.

In another narrow vote, Bundy edged Ocean City Barons goalkeeper Tunde Ogunbiyi and Portland Timbers forward Mandjou Keita. Ogunbiyi kept a clean sheet in the Barons’ 1-0 upset win over the Real Maryland Monarchs of the USL Second Division, and Keita scored two late goals to seal the Timbers’ 3-0 victory over the USASA’s Sonoma County Sol.

The Player of the Round is selected by the staff of USOpenCup.com and members of the North American Soccer Reporters, a group that consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information about the NASR can be found at www.soccerreporters.com.

The Ocean City Barons and the Wilmington Hammerheads pulled off the lone upsets of the U.S. Open Cup Second Round. The Barons get a penalty kick in the 108th minute and J.T. Noone breaks a scoreless tie and Ocean City earns a date with D.C. United at home. The Barons, based on the rest of the results won the $10,000 prize money as the amateur team that has advanced the farthest into the tournament.

However, even with the drama of a PDL team earning a match with an MLS team, without question, the match of the Second Round was the Wilmington Hammerheads and the Carolina RailHawks. After finishing regulation tied 1-1, both teams scored a pair of goals in extra time, including a Hammerheads goal in stoppage time of the second overtime period to send the match into penalty kicks. Wilmington would win the PK shootout 4-3 and will move on to host the Chicago Fire of MLS.

U.S. Open Cup Second Round
USOpenCup.com Scoreboard | Bracket | Goalscoring leaders |   USOpenCup.com Staff Picks
Notable upsets in Second Round history | Things you should know about the Second Round 

Click below for our live blog recap.

Byron Carmichael, the Ocean City Barons’ all-time leading scorer (43 goals, 19 assists in 77 regular season games), says he would be open to a return to playing pro soccer if a team approached him. Photo by Ocean City Barons

Ocean City Barons forward Byron Carmichael has been named the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round for the First Round of the tournament. Carmichael, in his sixth season with the Premier Development League side, scored a pair of goals in a 3-0 upset win against Crystal Palace Baltimore to earn the award. He edged Sonoma County Sol’s Shawn Percell, who also scored two goals in their First Round win over the PDL’s Orange County Blue Star.

The Player of the Round is selected by the staff of USOpenCup.com and members of the North American Soccer Reporters, a group that consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at www.soccerreporters.com.

Carmichael, a teacher at Luis Munoz-Rivera Elementary School in Trenton, New Jersey, is participating in his fifth U.S. Open Cup and is one of the Professional Era’s leading scorers. After this year’s opening round, his 10 goals in 11 Cup matches puts him in a tie for third with Dante Washington and Sebastien Le Toux since professional teams joined the tournament in 1995. One would assume that his brightest moment in the tournament was when he helped the Wilmington Hammerheads upset Major League Soccer’s Dallas Burn (now F.C. Dallas) in 2003, but rather than assuming, we asked him for USOpenCup.com’s Player of the Round Q&A.

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup First Round - June 10 Real Maryland Monarchs 1:0 Aegean Hawks F.C.  Ocean City Barons 3:0 CP Baltimore Highlights on NBC40

It just wouldn’t be the opening round of the U.S. Open Cup without weather problems. In two games postponed by the wet stuff on Tuesday, the Ocean City Barons knocked off Crystal Palace Baltimore of the USL Second Division 3-0, behind two goals from Byron Carmichael.

In Maryland, lightning was yet again an issue as the match between Real Maryland and the Sportsplex Aegean Hawks was stopped after 74 minutes with the Monarchs leading 1-0.

If seeing the underdogs prevail is your thing, then you went to sleep disappointed last night.

Of the fourteen matches first round U.S. Open Cup matches last night, only one was won by a team from the lower division, and even that wasn’t much of an upset.

The evening began with the lone “upset” of the day, as the NPSL’s Sonoma County Sol, perhaps the hottest team of the 32 set to play in the first round, defeated the PDL’s Orange County Blue Star 5-2. Shawn Percell scored twice and Trevor Hurst, Eric Lafon, Eric Larson added the others for the Sol. The Sol are 12-0-1 in all matches played in 2009.

Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks (Region I)
D.C.-based club has learned from their inaugural Open Cup berth in 2007

Emigrantes Das Ilhas (Region I)
"Immigrants of the Islands" making their first U.S. Open Cup appearance

402 (Region II)
New Nebraska team has familiar names excited to play in Minnesota

Bavarian S.C. (Region II)
Milwaukee club making amateur-record sixth appearance in Pro Era

Atlanta F.C. (Region III)
The second year NPSL franchise adds first Open Cup berth to list of early success

Lynch’s F.C. (Region III)
Jacksonville club has plenty of changes coming, they hope one will be winning an Open Cup game

Arizona Sahuaros (Region IV)
On hiatus from the NPSL, the Sahuaros are back in the Open Cup for the third time in four years

Sonoma County Sol (Region IV)
Three-time cup participants are a family affair, on and off the field

Dan Duggan, owner of the USL Premier Development League’s Michigan Bucks, spoke with Kartik Krishnaiyer of Major League Soccer Talk and covered many topics with regards to his team, including future prospects for a professional team in the Detroit area. The first topic they covered is the U.S. Open Cup and how important it is to their club. Duggan discussed the Bucks and the results that have helped them become the most successful PDL team in Cup history, including a 2000 victory over the New England Revolution at Foxboro Stadium.

You can listen to the podcast on the Major League Soccer Talk website.

USOpenCup.com, the only website providing comprehensive coverage to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, is now on Twitter! Now you can keep track of everything that’s going on with the tournament by following us @usopencup. You’ll find updates on qualifying, tournament games, Open Cup stories from around the web and fun historical information about the Cup’s great history.

This site was created in 2003 to bridge the media coverage void that exists for this great tournament, and Twitter is another great way for us to help soccer fans from around the country follow the Open Cup.

While we are all awaiting the announcement of the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup format, we would like to introduce a new feature here at USOpenCup.com, This Week in U.S. Open Cup History. You'll find each entry in our calendar section to the right, and they'll be packed with historic dates in the history of the tournament: Cup finals, cup controversies, landmark upsets, and many other odd and interesting moments that we have dug up while researching Open Cup results. Much more research is yet to come, so many more items will be added to the timeline as we go along!