After the comedown from Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s thrilling victory against New York City FC on Wednesday night in the U.S. Open Cup subsided, there was another question.

Where were all the other Cupsets?

While four other USL Championship clubs took their opponents from MLS to extra time – including 2024 Semifinalist Indy Eleven taking the Philadelphia Union to a penalty shootout – the Hounds were the last lower-division team standing in the Round of 16.

Since the tournament expanded to include every professional club in the United States in 2012, that’s an unprecedented low. It’s also a drop from the high of recent editions of the Open Cup which had seen at least one lower-division club reach the Quarterfinals since the tournament’s resumption in 2022 following a two-year hiatus.

• RISING UP: Pittsburgh’s advancement was the 17th by a lower-division club against MLS opposition since the 2022 tournament, which featured seven upsets of top-flight opponents as Sacramento Republic FC reached the Final. That equaled the total number of upsets that had occurred in the prior five editions of the tournament between 2015-19.

• THROWBACK YEAR: For longtime followers of the tournament, this might have felt like a throwback to a decade ago. In 2015, only then-USL Championship side the Charlotte Independence and New York Cosmos of the NASL advanced past MLS opponents upon their entry to the tournament and were then knocked out in the next round.

• EBBS AND FLOWS: The tide began to rise in the years that followed, but it was more for select clubs than the wave of results we’d started to see of late. Then-USL Championship club FC Cincinnati’s run to the Semifinals in 2017 was memorable, but they were one of only three sides – Miami FC and Sacramento Republic FC the others – to win against MLS opponents in that tournament.

There are another couple of factors here that should be noted, starting with the current fluctuating on-field state of the USL Championship itself. Since the start of the 2024 season, all-but-one club in the Western Conference has changed Head Coach, resulting in new systems and ideas still being bedded in. Two coaching changes have already come in the Eastern Conference this season, and while there are some great stories, there doesn’t yet appear to be a dominant force with a quarter of the season played.

On top of that, for clubs with continuity like Louisville City FC – who were a preferred pick by the likes of former United States international Charlie Davies on CBS Sports Golazo Network to secure an upset – the moments simply haven’t gone in their favor. Despite holding an edge in Expected Goals in all four of its matchups against MLS opposition since 2022 – cumulatively holding a 4.84xG to 3.38xG advantage – LouCity’s winless streak dating to 2018 continued this year as it failed to deliver in key moments. As Hounds Coach Bob Lilley told us last year, you must rise to meet the moment if you’re going to advance.

There’s also the fact that the landscape of Major League Soccer saw a key shift this year with the portioning of places in its own creation of Leagues Cup – which Concacaf in its wisdom bestows three slots in the Concacaf Champions Cup – and those in the Open Cup – which receives one slot.

With 30 teams, MLS has become more difficult to win than ever, meaning a ticket to the CCC might most easily be earned in the Open Cup for the MLS clubs involved. The whole idea of five wins to lift a trophy might be simple, but from some of the lineups that were on display on Tuesday and Wednesday night, it’s one that this week seemed more front of mind than in the past.

So, what does it mean for USL Championship and League One clubs moving forward?

What we know is in the years that followed the previous low point in 2015, the number of Cupsets gradually scaled up. That was due to more investment coming into the league, raising the talent level and the potential for surprises, as well as teams simply catching lightning in a bottle. With the USL’s previously announced long-term plans, current clubs vying to be part of USL Division One when it launches are likely to start moving in that direction again, scaling up the talent level further.

What we should also remember is Open Cup runs by lower-division clubs are special. While this year’s Round of 32 was a dud, it should make the successes we’ve seen over the past three years stand out all-the-more.

They don’t always come around.