San Antonio FC battled past the Charleston Battery, while Union Omaha continued its impressive attacking performances to advance past Birmingham Legion FC to reach the Semifinals of the USL eCup: Rocket League Edition on Wednesday night on ESPN3.

San Antonio FC’s Josh Richards upped his attacking output in every game and put his dominance in the faceoff circle to good use to advance past the Charleston Battery’s Mauro Cichero with a three-game victory (5-0, 6-4, 9-7) and reach the Semifinals.

SAFC jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 as Richards played the carom off the right end wall perfectly to finish from close range after 19 seconds. The Battery had a chance to level almost a minute later but sent their finish on a breakaway wide of the right post, allowing San Antonio to recover, and Richards then doubled his lead on a long-range strike that went in off the left post past a despairing attempt at a save by Cichero. San Antonio added another 12 seconds later as a great defensive interception quickly turned defense into attack for a long-range finish, and Richards made it four goals in 24 seconds after decisive wins on back-to-back faceoffs. The Battery tried to fight back in the second half of the contest, but Richards’ defensive abilities preserved a shutout with his use of the boost button particularly impressive when Cichero opened up space to shoot while also posting three saves.

San Antonio got out to another positive start in Game 2, opening the scoring after 45 seconds, but the Battery replied with an equalizer arriving 15 seconds later on a powerful upfield surge. The teams then exchanged three goals 13 seconds apart as Charleston again rallied back after going behind before Richards’ ability in the faceoff circle allowed him to restore San Antonio’s lead with 2:50 to play. The Battery wouldn’t be shaken, however, and equalized for a third time with just under two minutes to go with a finish from the left side.

But SAFC needed only 16 seconds to go back ahead as Richards produced a spectacular aerial finish from the left side to take his fourth lead of the contest, and then with 1:07 remaining used a clever reverse move to take a two-goal edge for the first time in the game. A crucial save by San Antonio with 51 seconds to go kept it that way, and was quickly followed by a long-range shot for a 6-3 lead. While Charleston pulled one goal back before the final buzzer, it proved only a consolation as SAFC took a two-game lead.

San Antonio’s ability to claim faceoffs once again proved key to start Game 3 as Richards skied to put home a finish after only seven seconds to take the lead. The game then tightened, going more than a minute without a goal, but SAFC’s finish 1:15 in it quickly opened the scoring floodgates. Charleston pulled back within one 14 seconds later before pulling even with 2:53 to play, but SAFC won the ensuing faceoff and set up another aerial finish for Richards to go back on top. The Battery responded emphatically with two goals in 12 seconds to take their first lead of the match, however, and made it a three-goal run to go up 5-3 with 2:13 to play in the contest.

The scoring barely slowed as San Antonio wrested back momentum eight seconds later before tying the game up again with 1:46 to go on a steal in the attacking end that led to an open-net finish, and it took only another eight seconds for Richards to bag his third consecutive tally to go back ahead. Two more SAFC goals arrived quickly after that – an unlucky bounce on the side wall leaving Charleston stranded as it pursued the faceoff – but Cichero wouldn’t be deterred and made it a two-goal game with 58 seconds to go. However, San Antonio clinched the game – and the series – 17 seconds later on an end-to-end rush, leaving too little time for the Battery to launch one final comeback. 

Union Omaha’s Jay Mims took big leads in the opening two games before having to battle to close out the series (12-1, 9-1, 8-3), but eventually saw off Birmingham Legion FC’s Kaylor Hodges to book his place in the Semifinals.

Omaha took the lead in Game 1 after 16 seconds as Mims delivered an angled finish to the left corner, and quickly doubled his lead on a lofted finish that was just out of the reach of Legion FC’s attempt to block. In all, Los Buhos ran out to a six-goal lead with just 1:28 of the contest gone as they controlled tempo and possession while finishing precisely when the opportunities presented themselves. Omaha’s ability to execute chipped finishes proved particularly difficult for Birmingham to handle, with Mims following through to squeeze a finish just under the crossbar with 2:47 to go. Legion FC avoided the shutout with 1:33 to play in the game, but it was little consolation as Omaha had already run into double figures.

The same pattern emerged in Game 2 as Omaha took the lead just nine seconds in, putting away a rebound chance after an initial shot had narrowly missed the left corner. What was now becoming a trademark chipped finish doubled the lead 37 seconds in as the effort found the left corner, while at the other end nothing quite went right for Legion FC as a chance to halve the deficit came back off the left post and away to safety. Birmingham did show signs of tightening up defensively, but an Omaha run of four goals in 48 seconds made it a six-goal game at the halfway mark of the contest and proved too big of a hill to climb for Legion FC to scale.

Los Buhos struck first again in Game 3 as Mims timed his boost perfectly to finish aerially after the opening faceoff deflected off the side-wall, and Omaha capitalized on a slack attempt to clear to make it a two-goal advantage less than a minute in. This time, however, Legion FC fought back and tied the game with back-to-back goals of its own as Omaha’s scoring touch at the other end momentarily eluded it.

The game remained level midway through as Birmingham battled well defensively, and the teams then exchanged goals 10 seconds apart to keep things all square with 1:33 to play. A precise finish to the top-left corner 14 seconds later game Union the lead for good, however, as Birmingham failed to capitalize on a chance off the ensuing faceoff before allowing a goal on the counterattack. Three more goals in the final minute then iced the game for Omaha, sending Los Buhos into the Semifinals.