The night started with such promise. So many possibilities danced in the air: The ability to move to the final 8 of the U.S. Open Cup. The potential of playing a USL team in that round. The chance to dispatch our rival in another elimination match. And, most importantly, a second chance, a second bite at the cherry, as Max Bretos would say, to shake King Kong off our backs and finally, finally beat Carson in Carson. 

Nope. Nope to all of it. 

From the first whistle, LAFC played second fiddle to the Galaxy. They were more physical. They were more clinical. They were more desperate to earn a result. And they were just better, up and down the pitch, than the Black and Gold were for all 100 minutes of this Open Cup tilt. 

LAFC would go down 3-0, all scored in the second half, before we would muster a response with 5 minutes to play. A Ryan Hollingshead header would be a small band-aid on a gaping wound, and LAFC was bounced from the Open Cup, 3-1. What's worse is that Carlos Vela came off with a quad injury and Chiqui Palacios, our most impactful player in 2022, had to be helped straight to the locker room after a scary foul by Chicharito saw him land on his head and neck during an aerial challenge. We hope Diego is OK.

Also on this episode, Scarf makes an obscure WWF reference, Filly breaks out his thesaurus, and the boys discuss the potential of life without Carlos. This is a tough one, Defenders, but, as always, we are here to go through it with you!