After last week's demolition of Richmond, one could have cut the New England Revolution a break if the team expected a similar walkover against fellow USL-2 club Crystal Palace Baltimore.
When Kenny Mansally scored after six minutes, everything looked like it would hold to form and the Revs would safely advance to the semifinals.
Crystal Palace responded in the only way no one expected: scoring a goal.
The Revolution advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals after defeating Crystal Palace on penalties after playing to a 1-1 draw at Veterans Stadium.
"We had some chances," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said. "We would have preferred to win the game in 90 minutes, but we had to do it on penalties. That's what a cup tie is all about."
The cup tie almost never started when Mansally collected a Brandon Tyler through-ball and rounded Crystal Palace 'keeper Brian Rowland to open the scoring.
"Credit to them," Nicol said. "They could have easily crumbled."
But the Revs watched as Crystal Palace surged forward, trying to utilize the pace that undid New York in the third round last weekend.
"[Gary] Brooks and [Larry] Mark did a good job getting behind their defense," said Crystal Palace manager Pete Medd. "We figured our speed would catch them by surprise."
It did for a half as the Revs didn't keep the ball well enough in midfield. In the second half, the Revolution's trademark possession game emerged and the chances flowed, particularly down the left flank.
"If we move the ball quickly, we're going to create chances," Nicol said.
Yet Crystal Palace continued to hang around as the Revs couldn't turn the possession into goals.
"The longer the game goes, the more hope they get," Warren said.
The hope lasted all the way into extra time as Taylor Twellman couldn't convert a couple of half-chances that would have ended Crystal Palace's dream.
Only Warren's save from Val Teixeira and Mauricio Castro's chipped penalty sealed the Revolution's passage into the next round.
While the dream died for Crystal Palace against the MLS leaders and current Open Cup holders, Medd thought his team performed well.
"We're disappointed in the result, but I think we made a good account of ourselves," Medd said.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
