<
>

Mathers penalty sees Seattle past Portland; Colorado rallies past OKC FC

The Seattle Sounders saw off Cascadia rival Portland Timbers 2-1 in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington.

Aaron Kovar got the hosts out to an early lead in the third minute, slotting home a Nouhou Tolo cross from the center of the penalty area.

But the Timbers struck back in the 38th minute, when Augustine Williams headed home after Rennico Clarke redirected a corner kick to him at the back post to send the teams into half-time tied at 1-1.

A 54th minute Andre Lewis handball led to the Sounders' winner, with Zach Mathers converting from the spot to give his team the win and book a spot in the fifth round of the domestic club competition.

The Colorado Rapids needed a three-goal second half rally to beat Oklahoma City Energy FC 3-2.

First-half strikes from Oklahoma's Daniel Gonzalez and Philip Rasmussen had the United Soccer League side up 2-0 at half-time.

But the Rapids came storming back in the second half and started the scoring in the 49th minute when substitute Dominique Badji got on the end of a Dennis Castillo cross and fired home to halve the deficit.

Eric Miller had Colorado tied at 2-2 in the 66th minute, poking home from close range after an Alan Gordon corner kick dropped to him in the OCE FC penalty area.

And the winner came from another set piece, with Castillo heading home a Dillon Powers corner kick to the top left corner of C.J. Cochran's goal to send Colorado through to the next round.

D.C. United ended the Cinderella run of tiny Christos FC with a 4-1 win over the team sponsored by a local liquor store in Baltimore, Maryland.

But D.C. had to earn the win after the hosts got off to a dream start when Mamadou Kansaye scored from a curled free kick from 20 yards out.

The visiting MLS club got back on level terms in the 35th minute when Julian Buescher struck with a left footed shot from the middle of the penalty area following a Lamar Neagle corner kick.

But with less than 10 minutes of regulation time remaining, the score was still level. D.C., who had fielded a reserve side in large part, were ultimately bailed out by substitutes Ian Harkes and Lloyd Sam, who came on in the 57th and 77th minutes, respectively.

Buescher set up Sam for the go-ahead goal and the returned the favor, assisting on the next goal, which Buescher scored to make it 3-1.

Harkes added a stoppage-time goal, with Buescher again assisting, to make it 4-1 and book passage to the fifth round.