Canadians in USOC: De Rosario, Hamilton enjoy great games

Dwayne De Rosario PHOTO: PAUL FREDERIKSEN

For Canadians Dwayne De Rosario and Paul Hamilton, Wednesday’s fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup saw them make important contributions as their clubs survived.

For Canadian Andres Arango, Wednesday represented the Open Cup end of the line.

De Rosario, who has struggled so far this MLS season and isn’t a sure starter with last-place D.C. United, was back in league-MVP form Wednesday. His hat trick was all that D.C. United needed to beat the Philadelphia Union by a 3-1 count. Two of De Rosario’s goals came from outside the penalty area, including a 40-yard lob to seal the game late.

Two weeks after his Carolina RailHawks knocked the Galaxy out of the U.S. Open Cup, Paul Hamilton and his NASL mates made it a sweep of of Los Angeles MLS sides. Hamilton played all 120 minutes at centre back as Carolina ousted Chivas 3-1 after extra time.

Ty Shipalane rounded Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy on a breakaway to open the scoring. But Chivas’s Carlos Alvarez equalized early in the second half, and, right before the end of regulation, RailHawk Nick Millington saved the tie as he cleared a ball off his own goal line.

In extra time, the RailHawks, currently the top-of-the-table team in NASL, showed off why they’d likely be a better MLS side than Chivas. Shipalane centred the ball to Cesar Elizondo, who finished from close range. Brian Ackley got the insurance goal off a corner kick.

Really, Chivas is the MLS team, but Carolina had to be the favourite playing at home. Simply put, the RailHawks are a better team and better organization than Chivas, no matter the league.

The RailHawks now face a daunting trip to Utah and a date with Real Salt Lake in the next round.

For Andres Arango, the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ Canadian fullback, the fourth round wasn’t as kind. His team went to the west coast to play the Portland Timbers, and the MLS side handled its NASL opposition easily, winning 2-0. Arango played the full 90, but an early goal from Michael Nanchoff and a second-half marker from Jack Jewsbury were the products of Portland’s dominance. Two weeks after knocking Seattle out of the USOC, Arango and Tampa couldn’t make it a Cascadia sweep.

Canadian Will Johnson didn’t play for Portland in Wednesday’s win.