The Final of the USL eCup: Rocket League Edition will be an all-USL League One affair after FC Tucson was taken to four sets before overcoming Tacoma Defiance and Union Omaha ended San Antonio FC’s bid for a title in the Semifinals on Thursday night on ESPN3. 

FC Tucson’s Trent Wieland got his biggest test of the tournament so far as Tacoma Defiance’s Josh Atencio battled well throughout, but in the end Wieland came away with a four-set victory (11-4, 12-2, 5-6, 6-2) to advance to the Final.  

Tacoma struck first in Game 1, countering off a misfire by Tucson to go end-to-end on the counterattack and finish after 19 seconds. But Tucson replied before the end of the opening minute as Wieland outmaneuvered Atencio in the left corner before finishing, and then took the lead with a minute gone on a low shot to the right corner. Tucson then began to stretch its lead, holding out the Defiance in its own defensive end while manufacturing two fine aerial finishes to take a 6-1 lead with 1:49 to play. Tacoma struck twice in the space of 17 seconds to cut it back to a four-goal game at 7-3 with 1:14 remaining, but Tucson then ran away with the game inside the final minute as it pulled away with four goals inside the final 60 seconds.

Game 2 opened in a similar fashion to the first as the Defiance took advantage of the opening faceoff to open the scoring after four seconds. Once again, however, Tucson hit back to take the lead quickly as it notched three goals in 12 seconds to make it 3-1 with 32 seconds gone. A fourth tally arrived from long range as Tucson just got off a shot from inside its own half before an explosive challenge arrived by Tacoma, and from there Atencio wasn’t able to find a way back into the contest as Wieland reeled off eight consecutive goals to take an 8-1 lead at the halfway mark and cruised to victory from there.

The action took a little while to get going in Game 3, but when Tacoma struck first on an aerial finish with 1:08 gone it set the stage for the tightest game of the contest. Both teams looked to use the side-walls for elevation, but the Defiance made a pair of good saves to remain ahead and then saw its aerial gambit pay off to the tune of a 3-0 lead, a rebound finish with 2:48 to go putting Tucson in its biggest hole of the tournament. Also making a difference was Tacoma’s decision to sit back at times on faceoffs to defend, but the attacking prowess Tucson had shown previously in the tournament returned to strike twice before the midway point of the period.

An equalizer for Tucson then arrived with 1:56 to play as momentum seemed to have shifted back its way, but Tacoma struck back five seconds later after a successful challenge at a faceoff left an open net for a finish. Tucson tied the game again 31 seconds later as Wieland set himself up for first-time finish off a carom off the end wall, and then FCT went ahead for the first time in the game moments later to put itself on the verge of the Final. The Defiance wouldn’t go quietly, though, and a remarkable long-range finish made it even again at 5-5 with 39 seconds to play. Tacoma almost then stole the game in regulation with a shot off the crossbar before Tucson missed out on its own chance with 11 seconds remaining before the game went to overtime. In the extra session, Tucson should have put the game away immediately but hit the right post on a close-range finish, and then hit the crossbar as well, and Tacoma punished the misses by scoring 51 seconds in to stay alive in the contest.

The momentum provided by the win carried over into Game 4 as once again Tacoma struck first after 22 seconds, but after a Tucson equalizer quickly tied things back up again the game became another tense affair. A last-ditch Tacoma save with just over three minutes to go denied Tucson the lead, but Wieland finally struck with a finish from the left side after the Defiance were unable to properly control in their defensive zone. Tacoma recovered well, stealing possession in the Tucson end to level things up with 2:19 to go, but then a first-time finish from the Tucson half restored Wieland’s lead 18 seconds later before he made it 4-2 with 1:30 remaining. More solid defensive work by Tucson helped contain Tacoma’s chances at a comeback, and with 37 seconds remaining a tally from the left side made it a winning four-goal margin for the tournament favorites. 

Union Omaha’s Wesley Mims produced another outstanding exhibition of attacking play to advance in three games (14-4, 7-2, 12-1) against San Antonio FC’s Josh Richards in the second Semifinal.

Omaha struck twice in the opening 30 seconds of Game 1 as Mims put home a pair of long-range finishes just out of the reach of SAFC’s defense. A misjudged attempt to block by Richards off the ensuing faceoff quickly made it a three-goal game, but San Antonio pulled a goal back with a nicely-taken shot to the top-right corner as it looked to get back on track. A clever juke move just inside his own half allowed Richards to then cut the deficit to one with a finish into an empty net, but Los Buhos then regained their scoring mojo as Mims rang off three goals in 26 seconds to establish a four-goal lead. San Antonio replied off the ensuing faceoff, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Omaha steadily put together another string of goals to make it a 10-3 lead with 1:40 remaining. That put the game effectively our of reach, and while SAFC pulled back a consolation goal with just over a minute to go, Omaha continued to rack up goals down the final stretch.

Union replicated its positive start in Game 2, opening the scoring after 18 seconds with a fine finish from the right that found the bottom-left corner of the net. A massive save inside the opening minute on a big aerial chance for San Antonio then kept Omaha ahead before Mims added a second at the 1:41 mark of the contest. San Antonio squeezed home a finish to half the deficit with just over two minutes gone, but Union refused to relinquish its lead even as the two sides exchanged goals around the midway point of the game. A pair of goals 17 seconds apart then allowed Omaha to stretch its lead to three with 1:27 to go in the game, and Mims put the game away with a beautiful looping finish from well inside his own half to the bottom right corner with 45 seconds remaining.

San Antonio opened up Game 3 on the right foot, however, as a well-timed defensive challenged paved the way for the opening goal after 21 seconds for Richards. A big defensive challenge of its own by Omaha opened up the chance to level, however, before a costly turnover in its own end by SAFC gave Mims the opportunity to drive Los Buhos into the lead. Union built on its momentum to take a 5-1 lead just past the midway of the period, the fifth goal arriving shortly after a brilliant effort by San Antonio to turn a shot onto the right post and out to safety. Omaha’s touch around the net proved key to then sealing the victory as a pair of deft finishes with the outside of the vehicle made it a six-goal game before Mims bull-rushed Richards in the right corner to make it 8-1 with 1:13 to play, and what proved to be an insurmountable lead.