The Boston Avenue Athletic Club Reserves are Oklahoma Open Cup champions for the fourth year in a row after defeating Los Lobos 1-0 on Sunday. BAAC dominated the six-team tournament, outscoring its opponents 12-2.
The tournament, which sends the winner to the USASA Region III Open Cup Finals, began on Sat., last Saturday, Feb. 23 with BAAC being placed in Group A with the Oklahoma University club team and Boulder FC.
BAAC and Boulder, which are both teams named after streets in Tulsa located two blocks apart, were first up, with BAAC coming out 2-0 winners. Carlos Zuta and Dave Leung scored for the derby winners.
The BAAC Reserves then took on Oklahoma University in a rematch of last year’s final, which BAAC had won 3-2. This year, BAAC clinched the group with a 5-2 win over the Sooners.
In the final game, Oklahoma narrowly edged out Boulder 3-2 for a place in the semifinals. After falling behind 3-0, Boulder scored twice to make things interesting. Several more chances came close for Boulder, but they couldn’t find that last goal to tie things up.
Group B featured Los Lobos, Guerrero, and Sporting OKC. In the first game, Los Lobos scored three times in the final 15 minutes to defeat Guerrero 3-0. In game two, Los Lobos won the group with a 3-2 victory over Sporting OKC. In that match, Los Lobos had a player sent off, and Sporting OKC lost two of its players for its later match.
Despite losing two players, Sporting OKC booked a spot in the semifinals with a 2-2 tie against Guerrero, who last won the Oklahoma Open Cup title in 2001. Sporting had to come back from 2-0 down to earn the stalemate.
The semifinals were lopsided affairs. Los Lobos, who qualified for the US Open Cup three years in a row from 1997-99, earned a spot in the finals for the first time in seven years with a 3-0 victory over Oklahoma University. BAAC took out Sporting 4-0.
The final was much closer, with only one goal scored between the sides. Leung scored in the 27th minute for BAAC. Los Lobos missed several chances in the second half, and BAAC claimed the state title.
With the victory, BAAC Reserves moves on to the Region III tournament where they will try to advance to their first Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Last year, BAAC finished third in their group in a year when two teams from Texas advanced out of the tournament. The Region III Finals will be held April 12-14 in New Orleans.
2013 Oklahoma Open Cup tournament (Feb. 23-24)
Group A
Boston Avenue AC 2:0 Boulder FC
Boston Avenue 5:2 Oklahoma Univ. Club Team
Oklahoma Univ. Club Team 3:2 Boulder FC
Group B
Los Lobos 3:0 Guerrero
Los Lobos 3:2 Sporting OKC
Sporting OKC 2:2 Guerrero
Semifinals
Boston Avenue AC 4:0 Sporting OKC
Los Lobos 3:0 Oklahoma Univ. Club Team
Final
Boston Avenue AC 1:0 Los Lobos