2011 US Open Cup qualifying: Maryland kicks off state tournament

Posted on 15. Feb, 2011 by Josh Hakala in Qualification

After snow and ice delayed the opening of Maryland’s US Open Cup qualifying, the tournament got underway on Sunday with three teams advancing to the next round. Christos FC, Baltimore Kickers and the Maryland Bays will advance to the semifinals.

There are still two games to be played to complete the semifinals, because the play-in game between Magicmen and Inter AFC, originally scheduled for Feb. 6, had been postponed twice and the two teams are set to play on Feb 27, along with the semifinal match between the Maryland Bays and Christos FC. The winner of Magicmen/Inter AFC will take on Charm City FC at a date to be determined, with the winner of that match playing the Baltimore Kickers in the semis.

Play began on Sunday morning with AC Baltimore, a club formerly known as AEK Baltimore, taking on the Baltimore Kickers. Founded in 2006, AC Baltimore changed their club name last year but would suffer their first loss to the Kickers in three all-time meetings, by the score of 1-0.

Mother Nature cooperated just enough for the game to be played as snow still needed to be shoveled off the field before kickoff, leaving the pitch a little slippery for the players. It was an evenly played game that started off with a scoreless first half that saw Mario Inacio being carted off with an injury (replaced by Adeoluwa ‘Lulu’ Akerele). The Kickers would open the scoring in the 52nd minute when Jason Jannati sent a cross from the wing in what appeared to be a ball intended for a teammate at the far post. Regardless of the intent, the ball managed to curl toward goal and ended up just under the crossbar and into the back of the net.

AC Baltimore lineup (5-3-2): Nick Affrunti (GK), Robbie O’Brien, Ryan Reif, Mike Murphy, Lanre Fasina, Casey Nemphos, Mario Inacio, Rafiq Gharbi, Ben Hernandez, Eric Mcphee, Ayuk “Ramdy” Ekiko (Team website)

The next game featured two of the stronger teams in the tournament with Christos FC and the Aegean Hawks FC doing battle. The Hawks had been regulars in the Metro DC/VA association since their founding in 1996, but defected to Maryland this year. “We just wanted to try something different,” said Hawks head coach Jon Knight. “We found out that competing in the Maryland tournament as an option and we heard it was very well run, so we took advantage of the opportunity.”

Christos FC, who fell one game short of the state championship game last year (falling 3-0 to Jilly’s Bar & Grill), broke the deadlock in the 65th minute. Both teams had played an even game to that point but a pair of Loyola University players connected for the game’s first goal as Mike Deasel sent in a cross to Glenn Leitch who headed it past an out-of-position goalkeeper. With the Hawks pushing everyone forward late in the game, Christos would put the game out of reach with another Loyola player making it 2-0. Vinnie Piscopo played a ball across to Danny Ankrah who slotted it home to make it 2-0.

Aegean Hawks FC lineup: Alex Fatovic (GK), James Kpainay, Alan Golden, Clayton Voss, Devlin Barnes, Seth C’deBaca (Ernesto Marquez – 55th), Michael Goldman, Watson Prather, Scott Larrabee, John Stephens (Erwin Diaz – 65th), Nate Burkey (Mateus dos Anjos – 45th)

Christos FC lineup (4-5-1): King (GK), Bissohong (Digbeu – 80th), Wells, J. Dipino, Mahon (V. Dipino – 45th), Tyrie (Piscopo – 75th), Deasel, Pennacchia (Muntz – 65th), Leitch, Ankrah, Skelton (Dwonzkowski – 70th)

For the second year in a row, Christos will meet another of Maryland’s top teams as they host the Maryland Bays who defeated Baltimore Bays Blue ‘93, 3-1 in Sunday’s finale. Maryland, who won three MSSA championships last year, were the favorites against Baltimore who fielded an Under-18 team. Baltimore head coach Jim Fendryk got special permission to enter his U-18 side into the tournament in an effort to give his team some challenging games. The Bays scored 16 minutes into the match with Marco Mangione finding the back of the net, but Baltimore would hold strong until after halftime when Matt Beckman’s long-distance goal would make it 2-0. Maryland’s Chris Ports would set up Ryan Russell for the third goal  in the 77th minute, but the young Baltimore team would ruin the clean sheet in the 85th minute on a goal from Brandon Wilfong.

“Having personally played with some of the Maryland Bays players and having played for [Maryland Bays] Coach Bryan Bugarin myself when I was younger, we knew coming in that this was going to be a difficult test for our young guys,” said Baltimore coach Jim Fendryk. “The Maryland Bays are a quality team who has had great success in the past few seasons, highlighted by last year’s national championship appearance.

“Our game plan focused on limiting space defensively, which we did well in the first half,” he added. “In the second half, we began to settle down and build into the game and created some good opportunities. Unfortunately we made some very poor and uncharacteristic mistakes and when you make mistakes against a team like the Maryland Bays they make you pay.”

“[Baltimore] was very qualified to play in the men’s Open Cup,” said Maryland coach Bryan Bugarin. “They played the entire game in a surprisingly physical manner.”

Maryland Bays lineup: Kristopher Ward (GK), Matty Beckman, Josh Taylor, Chris Williams, Phil Greatwich (Matt Beale), Chris Ports (Danny Poe), Nino Mangione (Kevin Gnatiko), Bryan Moffa (Dan Bulls), Timmy Lane, Marco Mangione, Jon Ports (Ryan Russell)

Baltimore Bays Blue ‘93 lineup (4-5-1): Connor Kregecz (GK), Jon Grant (LB), Nick Clarke (CB), Kyle Westbrook (CB), Nick Liberto (RB), Joe Fili (CDM), Eric Borkowicz (CDM), Brandon Wilfong (CAM), Zach Stocksdale (LM), Matt Wilfong (RM), Yanni Sarioglou (CF)

Maryland US Open Cup qualifying results/schedule

Round 1
Magicmen vs. Inter AFC – Feb. 27 (Cedar Lane Regional Park in Harford, Md.)

Quarterfinals
Charm City FC vs. Magicmen/Inter AFC – Date/Location TBA
AC Baltimore 0:1 Baltimore Kickers
Maryland Bays 3:1 Baltimore Bays Blue ‘93
Christos FC 2:0 Aegean Hawks FC

Semifinals
Baltimore Kickers vs. Magicmen / Inter AFC / Charm City FC – Date/Location TBA
Maryland Bays vs. Christos FC – Feb. 27 (Cedar Lane Regional Park in Harford, Md.)

Final
Date/Location TBA

Tags: 2011 USASA Qualifying, AC Baltimore, Aegean Hawks, Baltimore Bays Blue ‘93, Baltimore Kickers, Charm City FC, Christos FC, Inter AFC, Magicmen, Maryland, Maryland Bays, USASA, USASA Region I