St. Louis CITY SC advanced to its first-ever U.S. Open Cup Semifinal after defeating Houston Dynamo in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw in regulation on Wednesday night at Energizer Park. Marcel Hartel opened the scoring for CITY SC in the 10th minute before Houston answered one minute later. The Dynamo took a 2-1 lead in the 42nd minute to carry the one goal advantage into halftime. Following the break, Hartel converted a penalty in the 52nd minute for his second goal of the match and the third brace of his CITY SC career. After two scoreless overtime periods, CITY SC secured a 4-2 victory in the penalty shootout after conversions from Eduard Löwen, Hartel, Timo Baumgartl, and Chris Durkin. Goalkeeper Ben Lundt recorded two saves in the shootout, including the match-clinching stop against Héctor Herrera. 

St. Louis will return to MLS play this Saturday, May 23, facing Austin FC at Energizer Park with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. CT. 

Marcel Hartel scored his third and fourth career U.S. Open Cup goals 
Tonight’s brace was Hartel’s third of his career with CITY SC 
Hartel leads the team in goals this season in goals (6) across all competitions 
With tonight’s win, CITY SC advanced to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal for the first time in club history. The date, time, and opponent will be announced at a later date 

May 19, 2026 – Energizer Park (St. Louis, MO) 

STL: Marcel Hartel, 10th minute – Marcel Hartel scored with a left footed shot from the left side of the box to the high center of the goal.  

HOU: Mateusz Bogusz, 11th minute – Mateusz Bogusz scored with a right footed shot from the center of the box to the center of the goal.  

HOU: Artur, 42nd minute – Artur scored with a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom corner.  

STL: Marcel Hartel, (penalty kick), 52nd minute – Marcel Hartel with a right footed shot from the penalty spot to the bottom left corner. 

STL: Marcel Hartel, 10’ 

HOU: Mateusz Bogusz, 11’ 

STL: Marcel Hartel, 52’ 

HOU: Lawrence Ennali (caution), 29’ 

STL: Daniel Edelman (caution), 57’ 

HOU: Guilherme Augusto (caution), 59’ 

HOU: Agustín Bouzat (caution), 90’+4 

STL: Chris Durkin (caution), 90’+7 

HOU: Lawrence Ennali (ejection), 109’ 

HOU: Artur (caution), 110’ 

STL: Mykhi Joyner (caution), 118’ 

STL: GK Roman Bürki © (Ben Lundt, 26’); D Lukas MacNaughton (Fallou Fall, 120’+3), D Timo Baumgartl, D Dante Polvara; M Conrad Wallem, M Chris Durkin, M Daniel Edelman (Eduard Löwen, 63’), M Tomas Totland (Mykhi Joyner 106’); F Marcel Hartel, F Sangbin Jeong (Brendan McSorley, 91’), F Sergio Córdova (Simon Becher, 63’)

Substitutes not used: D Mbacke Fall,

TOTAL SHOTS: 14; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 16; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 8

HOU: GK Jonathan Bond; D Antônio Carlos, D Agustin Resch, D Felipe Andrade (Duane Holmes, 120’+1); M Artur ©, M Agustín Bouzat, M Jack McGlynn (Héctor Herrera, 87’); F Mateusz Bogusz, F Lawrence Ennali, F Ezequiel Ponce (Ondrej Lingr, 76’), F Guilherme Augusto

Substitutes not used: GK Blake Gillingham, D Franco Negri, D Erik Sviatchenko, F Aliyu Ibrahim

TOTAL SHOTS: 22; SHOTS ON GOAL: 11; FOULS: 18; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2

Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees