SECOND ROUND
Rochester Rhinos at Harrisburg City Islanders
Skyline Sports Complex – Harrisburg, Pa. – 7 p.m.
Broadcast: USLlive.com
THIRD ROUND
Chicago Fire at Rochester Rhinos
June 28, 7:35 p.m. ET Sahlen’s Stadium; Rochester, N.Y.
OR
Harrisburg City Islanders at Chicago Fire
June 28, 8:30 p.m. ET Toyota Park; Bridgeview, Ill.
Harrisburg City Islanders
The club has been a member of USL’s professional third division league since its founding in 2004 and has only missed the postseason on two occasions. The club won the league title in 2007.
Path to the Open Cup: Automatic entrant from USL Pro.
First Round: Harrisburg City Islanders 2:1 Reading United
Harrisburg found themselves trailing by a goal in the First Round to fellow Philadelphia Union affiliate, the PDL’s Reading United AC, at halftime and looked to be heading toward an early exit when JT Noone scored in the 86th minute. Four minutes later Sainey Touray provided the 2-1 game-winner in a late stunner. Recap [+]
League Form: The City Islanders returned to league action Friday with a 1-0 win in Richmond on a goal from Jason Hotchkin just before the break. They are current in second place in the National Division with a record of 5-4-2 (4-1-1 at home).
Open Cup History: After failing to qualify in its first three seasons (2004-2006), the club has reached the quarterfinals three times over its appearances in the last four years. Harrisburg is the only third division club in the Pro Era to reach the quarterfinals three times, and the only one to do it two years in a row (2009-10).
In 2007 the club upset visiting DC United 1-0 in the Third Round before falling 2-1 on the road to the New England Revolution. The following year, however, the team was knocked out in the second round by league rival Baltimore via penalties. After defeating Reading 4-1 and sneaking past league foe Western Mass via penalties in 2009, the club returned the favor against New England, beating the MLS club in overtime 2-1 in Connecticut before falling 2-1 to DC United in the Quarterfinals. The club upset a third MLS club in four years last year. After needing overtime to defeat the Brooklyn Italians 4-2 and edging Long Island Rough Riders 1-0, the City Islanders knocked off the New York Red Bulls in overtime, 1-0, on a goal from Dominic Oppong. DC would knock them out once again in the quarters, this time 2-0.
PRO ERA RECORDS: 10-3-2 (1-1 in PKs) overall | 3-3-2 (1-1 in PKs) vs. pro teams | 0-0-2 (1-1 in PKs) vs. 3rd Division
Rochester Rhinos
Founded in 1996, the Rhinos are arguably the most successful professional club outside of Major League Soccer, winning three professional second division titles in six league finals appearances. The club, which has also reached the Open Cup Final twice and won it in 1999, has never failed to qualify for the tournament.
Path to the Open Cup: Automatic entrant from USL Pro.
First Round: Rochester Rhinos (USL Pro) 2:1 Phoenix SC (USASA)
The Rhinos took the initial lead through JC Banks in the 27th minute of the First Round Tuesday and Anthony Hamilton doubled the advantage from the spot in the 55th. Visiting Phoenix SC made it a tense finish with a strike midway through the second half to make it 2-1, but Rochester’s defense held on. Recap [+]
League Form: Rochester traveled to Pittsburgh for league action Friday, blanking the Riverhounds 3-0 on first half goals from Rich Costanzo, Andrew Hoxie and Drew Cost. The Rhinos are in first place in the National Division with a 6-4-3 record.
Open Cup History: The club is most famous for its 1999 US Open Cup championship run with four victories over MLS clubs (Chicago, Dallas, Columbus, Colorado) after needing overtime to defeat PDL side New York Freedoms 2-1. The Rhinos also reached the final in their debut season in 1996, beating Tampa Bay and Colorado before falling to DC United in the final at RFK Stadium. Rochester also advanced versus MLS opposition in 2004, edging New England in penalties after a 1-1 draw, and 2005, topping New York 3-1. Both games were in the Fourth Round. The Rhinos reached the Semifinals for a third time in 2009, eliminating Columbus via penalties in a Third Round 1-1 draw and downing third division Wilmington 2-1 in the Quarterfinals before being eliminated 2-1 by DC.
Last year Rochester blanked the PDL Dayton Dutch Lions 2-0 and third division Pittsburgh Riverhounds 3-0 before falling 2-1 to the Crew in the Third Round. The Rhinos also have the distinction as the lower division club that has eliminated the most MLS teams with nine (7-10-4 overall, 2-2 in PKs)
PRO ERA RECORD: 26-12-5 (3-2 in PKs) overall | 17-3-5 vs. pro teams (all as 2nd Division franchise)
Chicago Fire
How They Qualified: Seeded fourth overall, the Fire opened the play-in tournament in the second round of the western bracket of MLS qualifying. They defeated the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids March 30 with a 2-1 victory. Gaston Puerari, who was recently sold to Atlas (Mexico), scored the opening goal moments before the break with Andre Akpan answering back in third minute of the second stanza. In the haze remaining from flares set off at the hour mark defender Jalil Anibaba let loose a shocking 45-yard strike that surprised the keeper and proved to be the winner. Trailing San Jose by two goals in the finale for the bracket, Chicago’s Orr Barouch pulled a goal back in the 61st and Yamith Cuesta leveled terms in the 76th, sending the match, ultimately, to penalties where two Earthquakes rang shots off the crossbar in a 5-4 decision to send the Fire to the Open Cup.
This Month in MLS: The Fire played its fourth league match of the month this Saturday when they traveled to Foxboro to take on the New England Revolution, earning a 1-1 draw with Dominic Oduro scoring the opening goal. They also have two more contests before the Third Round with matches at home versus Real Salt Lake and New York Red Bulls June 22 and 26, respectively. They opened the month with a scoreless draw at home against the Seattle Sounders June 4 and repeated the outcome June 9 against fellow play-in qualifier Sporting Kansas City in the MLS debut of LiveStrong Sporting Park. Sean Johnson recorded both shutouts. The club extended an unbeaten streak to five games with a 1-0 home victory June 12 against the Columbus Crew with a stoppage time winning goal from Cristian Nazarit and Johnson registering a third consecutive clean sheet.
Last Five: D-W-D-D-D | Season Record: 2-4-9 (1-1-4 Home, 1-3-5 Away), Tied for sixth in Eastern Conference, 14th overall.
Open Cup History: The Fire are one of the most successful Pro Era teams, winning the Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006) and finishing runner-up in 2004. The team has qualified for the Open Cup every year since their founding in 1998. However, since the 2006 Cup title, the team has only won one game in the tournament since, going 1-3-1 (0-1 in PKs). Two of those four losses came against third division teams (Wilmington in 2009, Charleston in PKs in 2010), as did their sole win (Cleveland in 2008), with their other losses against MLS’s DC United (2008) and second division Carolina RailHawks (2007).
Last year, the team played a scoreless draw against the Charleston Battery in the third round, then couldn’t find the net in a penalty shoot, losing 3-0.
PRO ERA RECORD: 25-8-3 (2-1 in PKs)
FIRST ROUND
Reading United AC (PDL) 1:2 Harrisburg City Islanders (USL PRO)
Skyline Sports Complex – Harrisburg, Pa. – 7 p.m.
Full Recap [+]
Phoenix SC (USASA-East PA) 1:2 Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO)
Sahlen’s Stadium – Rochester, N.Y. – 7:35 p.m.
Full Recap [+]
ELIMINATED TEAMS
Reading United AC
Founded in 1996, the club has been a member of USL playing in the professional third division through 2003 and in the PDL since. Previously known as the Rage, the club recently applied the significant image change with its new affiliation agreement with Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union in December of 2009. In recent years the club has been a dominant force, finishing first in the division three straight years and reaching the PDL Final Four twice.
Path to the Open Cup: Reading controlled the Mid Atlantic group essentially from the second game with two wins and a +5 goal differential. With all four games wrapping up midway through the division’s fixture schedule, the team’s perfect record and nearly perfect +11 GD set the bar too high for Long Island to catch up as the Rough Riders failed to earn the maximum differential, leaving them out of reach on tiebreakers come their final game. A Matt Sanner hat-trick doomed Brooklyn in the opener, 3-1, and a three-assist night from Hasani Sinclair in the second game led Reading to a 4-0 win against the Rangers. Will Bates provided a double in the 4-1 win at Westchester for the third win and repeated the feat two nights later in another 4-1 win, this time at home against Ocean City.
June News Updates: Fell 2-0 at home June 10 versus Long Island Rough Riders… Matthew Baker and Matthew Hedges scored in a 2-1 win June 5 at New Jersey Rangers… Four second-half goals after a 1-1 first half led to 5-1 victory (5 different scorers) on June 3 against visiting Central Jersey, who played a man down after 56th (three goals scored after).
Open Cup History: With its three Open Cup appearances the past three years as a PDL team, the club matched the number of times it played in the tournament as a professional third division side. Reading is yet to earn a win in the tournament, falling to higher division opponents on three occasions and once to a USASA club in a 1-0 decision against Bavarian SC (Milwaukee) in 2003. Last year, the team was knocked out in overtime, 2-1, by Real Maryland of the USL Second Division. Two years ago the team was knocked out 4-1 at Harrisburg (USL-2). This year Reading and the Kitsap Pumas made history by joining the Michigan Bucks (1999-2001, 2006-08) as the only three teams in PDL history to qualify for the Open Cup three years in a row.
PRO ERA RECORD: 0-4-0 overall | 0-2-0 vs. 3rd Division | 0-1-0 vs. Harrisburg (2009 First Round)
Local History: The German American Soccer Club represented Reading, Pa. in the Open Cup from 1940-1942, though the club saw little success in the tournament and often failed to move beyond the early stages of the regional qualifying rounds.
Phoenix SC
Officially known as First German Sport Club Phoenix for much of its existence, the Philadelphia club was founded in 1926 and is located in Feasterville, where it is home to numerous sporting activities. Although it is one of the oldest clubs in the 2011 field, it is believed to be making its tournament debut. The club plays in the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania where it recently clinched the Men’s Majors Division title.
Path to Open Cup: The club opened the Region I tournament with a dramatic affair with goals from Scott Rowling and Danny Murtagh to take a two-goal lead against the Maryland Bays only to see the lead disappear at home in the second half, forcing overtime. A Bobby Francis penalty seven minutes into extra time gave Phoenix the 3-2 Quarterfinal win. The Semifinal match proved much easier with Murtagh giving the side a 1-0 lead in the 41st and Francis a two-goal lead from the spot in the 51st. An own goal from Go Soccer FC sealed the opponent’s fate in the 70th, sending Phoenix to the US Open Cup with a 3-0 win.
June News Updates: The team has been idle since winning the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania with a 12-1-1 record (2 games remain unplayed).
Open Cup History: Their first known match in the Open Cup was on October 18, 1936, when Phoenix defeated the German Hungarian SC 4-1. From that point forward you can find their name among the results of both the Open and Amateur Cups year after year. 2011 marks their first entry in the tournament during the Professional Era (1995-present).