Crystal Palace Baltimore were sent crashing out of the U.S. Open Cup yesterday following a 5-3 penalty shoot-out defeat against New England Revolution.

The Eagles had fallen behind early following a 6^th minute goal from Kenny Mansally. Despite facing superior opposition Palace refused to lay down and in the 20^th minute were rewarded with an equaliser from Dan Lader. However the power of the MLS side showed when they successfully buried the Eagles in a penalty shoot-out.

Palace came into the match full of hope following a 2-0 victory of New York Red Bulls in the previous round, a side who also apply their trade in the MLS. Despite facing a weakened New England team, the quality difference in player's did show.

Had the Eagles been successful in progressing to the Semi-Final it would have been the first time a Third Division team had proceeded that far since 1997, the San Fransisco Bay Seals being the last to complete such a task. Baltimore are unlikely to feel to disheartened however as they have been awarded $10,000 for being the United Soccer League Second Division's most improved team.

For the second cup game in succession Palace Baltimore found themselves reduced to 10 men, as Sergio Flores (pictured above-right) was shown a red card in the 119^th minute. Although the effect on game time was minimal, Palace were left with one less player to choose from in the penalty shoot-out. Val Teixeira was the player unfortunate enough to see his penalty kick saved by the New England goalkeeper, Doug Warren, before Mauricio Castro made himself a hero by putting Revolution into their second U.S. Open Cup Semi-Final in two years.

New England are now set to take on D.C. United in August with a place in the final on the line.

Scoring Summary:
NE - Kenny Mansally (Brandon Tyler) 6mins
BAL - Dan Lader (unassisted) 20mins

Penalty Kicks - Shootout:
NE - Chase Hilgenbrinck (Goal)
BAL - Shintaro Harada (Goal)
NE - Kheli Dube (Goal)
BAL - Bryan Harkin (Goal)
NE - Chris Tierney (Goal)
BAL - Matthew Mbuta (Goal)
NE - Amaechi Igwe (Goal)
BAL - Val Teixeira (Saved)
NE - Mauricio Castro (Goal)

New England Revolution: Doug Warren (GK), Chase Hilgenbrinck, Amaechi Igwe, Sam Brill, Rob Valentino (Brandon Manzonelli 84), Chris Tierney, Brandon Tyler, Pat Phelan, Khano Smith (Joe Germanese 67), Kenny Mansally (Kheli Dube 102), Taylor Twellman (Mauricio Castro 120)

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Reis (GK)

STATS: Shots 26; Shots on Goal 8; Saves 5; Corner Kicks 5; Offsides 4; Fouls Committed 11

Crystal Palace Baltimore: Brian Rowland (GK), Shintaro Harada, Andrew Marshall, Mike Lookingland, Paul Robson, Larry Mark (Cecil Lewis 81), Pat Healey (Val Teixeira 73), Dan Lader (Jim Cherneski 115), Bryan Harkin, Matthew Mbuta, Gary Brooks (Sergio Flores 81)