The draw is regionalised during the earlier rounds. That provided the opportunity for local bragging rights.
Most of the match-ups were closely fought, especially in Invercargill, where University needed extra time to prevail over Old Boys.
Henry Pierce gave the students a 16th-minute lead, which they held until injury time in the first half when Zac Tull equalised.
Tull then gave Old Boys the lead with 12 minutes remaining.
The students responded. Blake Fairbairn grabbed a 79th-minute equaliser.
With no further scoring, the game moved into extra time. University scored three goals in the first half of added time. Fairbairn scored again and Oscar Kidd bagged two.
Tull scored early in the second half of extra time to claim a hat-trick and set up a pulsating final 13 minutes. But Old Boys were unable to breach the students’ defence, and University won 5-3 to go into the third round draw for matches to be played on the weekend of June 13.
They are joined in the next round by Dunedin City Royals, who took on Invercargill’s Queens Park at Tahuna Park. Queens Park opened the scoring in the 10th minute.
A long ball caught out the Royals’ defence. Piers Van Miltenburg burst through, got the ball to Brayan Orobio, who made no mistake from the edge of the box.
The Royals equalised through Max Davidson, who finished off a well-worked team passing move that started with keeper Alex Boomer and saw 12 passes open up the Park defence.
The Royals took the lead after 25 minutes with another series of patient passing that saw Jacob Fielding score from 15m out.
Connor Neil scored the Royals’ third goal after 31 minutes.
Park pulled one back just before the break when centre back Rodrigo Schmidt de Camargo won possession on the halfway line.
He showed great touch to dribble forward and beat three players before giving Boomer no chance.
It took until the last minute of the game for the Royals to make the game safe when Gabriel Varrica pounced on a loose ball inside the box and banged it past the keeper.
And, in injury time, a deep inswinging corner to the far post was headed back across goal for Neil to head home from close range to take the game 5-2.
Mosgiel beat Timaru United 5-0 with Carter West opening the scoring after 40 seconds. Harvey Stephens made it 2-0 quarter of an hour later.
West scored an absolute screamer on the hour mark. He ran at the defence and then bent his shot into the top corner.
Matt Adye scored for the third game in a row seven minutes later, and Tyler Le Bherz added another in injury time.
Northern overcame Wānaka 3-0 at the Caledonian.
Toby Orchiston grabbed a double and Josh Kotkamp added a third in injury time.
In the Kate Sheppard Cup second-round match, the Dunedin City Royals thumped Green Island 8-0 in Dunedin. They led 3-0 at halftime.
Georgia Nixon and Nieve Collin bagged two goals apiece. — Neville Watson
