The Central Coast Roadrunners, based out of San Luis Obispo, pulled the first upset in the U.S. Open Cup when they beat the Albuquerque Geckos ù ranked second in the 39-team D3 Pro League ù 4-2 in the first round. Central Coast, the ’96 Premier League champion, rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to win. “It was probably our best overall match of the season,” said Roadrunners president Larry Smyth. The Roadrunners have recovered from the loss of ’96 Premier League Rookie of the Year Bryan Taylor to MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy and Marc Rohrer to the German Regionalliga. They lost captain Jeff Oetman with a knee injury in their opener, and speedster Craig Tomlinson has returned to Jamaica for a trial with Jamaica’s World Cup team. Form prevailed in the other two first-round games. The Austin Lone Stars got a hat trick from Gabe Jones in a 4-1 win over the Tucson Amigos, while Marquis White had two goals to lead the San Francisco Seals to a 4-0 win over the USASA Region IV champion San Jose Inter. edited by Soccer America Managing Editor Paul Kennedy