U.S. OPEN CUP: FIRE UPSET IN 3RD ROUND

USL-2's Wilmington Hammerheads edge Chicago, 1-0

Kenny Bundy of the United Soccer Leagues Second Division's Wilmington Hammerheads once again came through for his squad in this 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Bundy (pictured, right) scored a goal in the 37th minute as the Hammerheads upset Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire, 1-0, on Tuesday night in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup in front of 5,423 spectators at Legion Stadium in Wilmington, N.C.

For Bundy, this is the second straight game he has come up big. Bundy was a 68th-minute sub during Wilmington's second-round match against the USL First Division's Carolina RailHawks. In the final minute of stoppage time, Bundy scored a goal to tie the match at 3-all. He also converted one of the Hammerheads' penalty kicks in the tiebreaker to help Wilmington advance to face the Fire.

The Fire supplied enough of an attack Tuesday, but could not put much on goal. They held a 15-6 shots advantage. The Fire's starting front line supplied nine shots alone, with Stefan Dimitrov shooting six times and Justin Mapp (pictured left) three. Chicago also held a 10-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Hammerheads goalkeeper Darryl Sattler had four saves for the clean sheet. Chicago backup goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra made three saves in a full game of work.

Chicago went with a bulk of its usual substitutes to start this match. The starting midfield alone had a different look to it with Mike Banner, Baggio Husidic, Peter Lowry and Patrick Nyarko. Lowry was placed on the disabled list earlier this year because of a left knee strain.

Maybe the Twitter updates were a bad omen for the Fire. During their "Tweet-cast" (there was no broadcast of the game) the Fire quickly updated one of their posts that said they will play the Rochester Rhinos/Columbus Crew winner with an accurate "should the Fire win tonight" correction.

It was Upset Central on Tuesday for MLS squads. Rochester topped the Columbus Crew in PKs, 5-3, after playing to a 1-all draw in regulation. The Harrisburg City Islanders defeated the New England Revolution, 2-1. The Charleston Battery topped Chivas USA, 3-1, though the Battery have a good track record having made last year's U.S. Open Cup finals.

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Next up: The Fire resume MLS play after a three-week league hiatus. They hit the road to take on the Colorado Rapids for an 8 p.m. (CST) match on Saturday, July 4.