HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Grueling travel. Stifling heat and humidity. A leading scorer missing.
There were plenty of reasons the Yakima Reds could've used to explain away their brief appearance in the U.S. Open Cup.
But Reds coach Hector Vega wouldn't go down that road. To him, there was only one explanation for Yakima's quick exit.
"The better team won," Vega said after the Harrisburg City Islanders' dominating 5-1 victory over Yakima in the first round of the tournament that determines the United States soccer champion.
Yakima, which was making its first appearance in the tournament after 14 years, drew a difficult assignment in the first round, playing the City Islanders, who are the defending United Soccer League Second Division champions.
The Second Division is considered the third-best league in the USL, behind only Major League Soccer and the USL First Division or A-League, and one step above the Premier Division that Yakima plays in.
Tuesday, Harrisburg proved to be the superior team, jumping on the Reds with a goal in the opening 30 seconds and eventually building a 4-0 halftime lead.
In fact, the home team led 5-0 before Yakima's Alonso Rojas scored an unassisted goal in the 84th minute.
"If we had more energy and experience, I don't think we beat them, but we'd give them a better game," Vega said.
Yakima played without Jake Sagare, who couldn't make the trip, but had he been there, he would've been quite familiar with the Harrisburg player doing much of the offensive damage against the Reds.
Brent Wiesner, a teammate of Sagare's at the University of Washington, scored once, had three assists, and also sent in a long pass that turned into an own goal by Yakima, giving him a part in all five Harrisburg scores.
Wiesner make his mark quickly, assisting on David Schofield's goal in the opening minute. His pass in the 16th minute was knocked into the goal by a Reds player for a quick 2-0 lead.
Yakima settled down and looked like it would stay within striking distance at halftime, but Wiesner had other ideas. He scored his goal in the 43rd minute, and then assisted on Almir Barbosa's goal just before halftime to stun the Reds.
Geoff Bloes added a second-half goal before Rojas scored for Yakima.
Yakima goalie Robert McCurdy faced 13 shots and made three saves.
Harrisburg's Danny Cepero didn't need to make a save in the first half, and his replacement, Brian Pope, made three in the second half as the City Islanders won their fourth straight match and extended their unbeaten streak to six.
Yakima has now lost two straight after a starting 5-0-1.
With that part of the country experiencing a heat wave, Vega said the players had trouble adjusting to the 90-degree temperatures and high humidity Tuesday. Combined with the cross-country travel, he said the team wasn't 100 percent, but Vega reiterated that it wouldn't have mattered against Harrisburg.
Despite the disappointing showing, Vega said they were still glad to have had the opportunity to play in this tournament.
"It was a very positive experience," he said. "They treated us very well here and it's a nice place to play."
Yakima will now try and regroup as they return to league play. They will remain in Pennsylvania for another day before flying to Utah where they meet the BYU Cougars on Friday and the Ogden Outlaws on Saturday.
First half: 1, Harrisburg, David Schofield (Brent Wiesner), 1:00; 2, Harrisburg, own goal by Yakima, 16:00; 3, Harrisburg, Wiesner (Schofield), 43:00.
Second half: 4, Harrisburg, Geoff Bloes (Wiesner), 57:00; 6, Yakima, Alonso Rojas, 86:00.
Saves: Robert McCurdy (Y) 3, Danny Cepero (H) 0, Brian Pope (H) 3.
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