You survived the opening round of amateur leagues and organizations; welcome to the Second Round and the introduction of the professional clubs from the North American Soccer League and USL Pro – and along with them a chance at making headlines. Three clubs from the two leagues are coming into the event without a victory (Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks and Dayton Dutch Lions). Will they finally get their first win, or will they suffer even deeper lows? Fate awaits them Tuesday night, as do the 16 Major League Soccer clubs that will join the fray seven days later in the Third Round.

Minnesota Dark Cloud supporters with their "US Open Cup Banned" banner. | Photo: Jeremy Olson, DigitalGopher.net

For the first time ever and after a year’s absence of the USSF 2nd Division from US Open Cup competition, the North American Soccer League (NASL) will enter into Cup play on Tuesday evening.

“We were disappointed we didn’t get in it last year but we also understood with the sanctioning and the stance US Soccer took, we had to learn to crawl before we walked,” said Fort Lauderdale Strikers head coach Daryl Shore.

Indeed, the NASL who had an on-again, off-again and then on-again sanctioning process with the USSF in late 2010 and early 2011, were deemed to have received that sanctioning too late to be included in the Cup competition in 2011. The exclusion meant that the 98-year old tournament would not include a 2nd Division team.

The NASL had a positive first year in 2011 and were sanctioned by the USSF for 2012. With the early sanctioning also came the approval to be included in the competition for the first time as a league.

NASL coach of the year Manny Lagos, who led his Minnesota Stars to the 2011 Championship, said it wasn’t just disappointing to the league, its players and coaches. “It was disappointing from a league perspective but also from a fan’s perspective,” said Lagos.

Minnesota soccer fans have a history of participating in the US Open Cup. In 2005, the last year his father Buzz Lagos coached the Minnesota Thunder, that team made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament, defeating MLS teams Real Salt Lake 6-4, the Colorado Rapids 4-1 and the Kansas City Wizards 3-1 before being bounced from the tournament by the Galaxy in the Semifinals. Last year the Stars supporters, the Dark Clouds, proudly posted a banner at each and every game that stated, “US Open Cup Banned”.

Northern Ireland born Colin Clarke, head coach of the Carolina RailHawks, has plenty of experience in cup competitions, as a player in England and as a coach of FC Dallas. He participated in the Caribbean Federation Union (CFU) with his former team the Puerto Rico Islanders who had good success in that tournament. Clarke brought his FC Dallas team to the US Open Cup final in 2005 where they lost to the Galaxy 1-0. FC Dallas were defeated in the Quarterfinals of the tournament in 2006, losing to the Houston Dynamo.

Andy Herron, now a member of the NASL's Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, helped the Chicago Fire win the 2006 US Open Cup title, and was named TheCup.us Player of the Tournament. Photo: Chicago Fire

Clarke’s RailHawks will host the PSA Elite (USASA) amateur team at WakeMed Soccer Park on Tuesday evening.

“I’m looking forward to it very much,” said Clarke in regard to entry back into the US Open Cup as coach of an American Division 2 team. “We (Puerto Rico Islanders) had great success in the CFU. But now that’s gone and we’ve got the Open Cup. The last time my team played in that we got close to the final with Dallas in the last couple of years there.

“It’s a big competition for us. We didn’t get to play in it last year, so were excited to get out there and hopefully get through the early rounds and play against some MLS teams. It’s our equivalent to the FA Cup back in my home of England. It’s our chance to play against the big boys and see what we can do.”

Shore also has had plenty of US Open Cup experience, serving as assistant coach for 10 years with the Chicago Fire. There he saw both sides of what can happen in a format that gives all levels of teams an equal chance to compete.

“The Fire took the Open Cup very seriously,” said Shore. “I’ve seen both sides of it. We won a couple of Open Cups with the Fire. I also remember losing to Milwaukee in the first round and another year, one of my last with the Fire, we lost to Wilmington (Hammerheads, Division 3 professional). So I know what the Open Cup is about. These young lower level teams can surprise sometimes.”

“The first thing that actually comes to my mind as a player is we were defending US Open Cup Champions when I was with the Fire,” reminisced Lagos. “We went to Rochester, New York to play a lower level team and we ended up losing 2-1. That’s the reality of the tournament. It was a tough day and we didn’t play as well as we would have liked. It can be one game and you’re done. That’s the tough part but it’s also the exciting part of the tournament.”

Coach Shore said that like the Fire, his philosophy in Ft. Lauderdale is to be the last NASL team standing in the Open Cup. “We know there’s money involved. We’re going to take it very seriously.  We’ve even brought in players who have had success in the US Open Cup. Players like Andy Herron who scored the winning goal in the 2006 Open Cup final. We’ve got guys on this team that want to take the Open Cup serious and go far in the tournament.”

“I approach it that it’s an honor to coach a team in such a storied tournament,” said MLS player turned coach, Lagos. “It’s a great format. We get to be challenged by playing higher level teams and sometimes you play lower level teams, but all of games are always exciting. It can be very tense and emotional, especially at the round we are entering into.”

Lagos’ Stars will take the 4 hour bus ride down I-35 from Minnesota to Iowa on Tuesday to play one of the better USL PDL teams, the Des Monies Menace. He points to the fact that the essence of the tournament is “representation of all the teams, amateur and professional, battling for the trophy.”

“The Menace are a really well-run PDL organization. They get a lot of top midwest college players and All-Americans. They’ve also had some good men’s league players that are on their way up to professional careers. It’s a very good team and we’re excited to go down there in front of a potentially hostile environment and get a result.”

The Menace averaged 3,372 fans last season, which was a better average attendance than all but two of the NASL teams in 2011.

“Anything can happen,” concluded Lagos. “Lower level teams play well and higher level teams play well. That’s the lure of the US Open Cup. I think as more people become aware of that one game-one day excitement, I think it will become even more of a story line in the US Soccer landscape.”

Brian Quarstad  is the creator and senior editor of IMSoccer News. You can follow him on Twitter @IMSoccerNews

A candidate the week before for a hat-trick in a 4-1 win against the Dayton Dutch Lions, Bulow’s double put him in rarified air on the career scoring list for the Professional Era (1995-present) of the US Open Cup, making him the leading choice for the honor.

The Player of the Round award is voted on by the staff of the definitive US Open Cup site TheCup.us and a selected panel of members of the North American Soccer Reporters which also selects the MLS Player of the Week.

This Week

Photo: Richmond Kickers / Suz Kitsteiner

Bulow delivered the opening score 17 minutes in when he stationed himself at the six and drove in a low cross from Edson Elcock. He nearly doubled the lead two minutes later on a fantastic diving header only to see it slide wide of the far post.

Pittsburgh would level terms on the half-hour mark, but Bulow restored the advantage four minutes before the break, finishing off another low cross at the six on a ball from Sascha Gorres.

Bulow is the first player for the Kickers to be named Player of the Round by TheCup.us, which has selected the honor since 2006.

Historically

Bulow’s five goals in the past two rounds lifted him from being tied for 11th in goals since 1995 to a tie for first with Johnny Menyongar and all-time MLS leading scorer Jaime Moreno. When he entered the tournament he was level with former MLS greats Ronald Cerritos and in the process of leading Richmond to a pair of wins, passed MLS stars Josh Wolff, Carlos Ruiz, Dante Washington and Sebastien Le Toux among several of his USL peers. All of the mentioned MLS players but Le Toux, who is only in his third MLS campaign, rank among the league’s top 25 in the all-time scoring table for the league.

Playing more than four games is a rare occurrence in the US Open Cup where lower division clubs are, for the most part, eventually eliminated by the Major League Soccer teams, who themselves are limited to four matches by entering in the Third Round. That makes being a scoring leader on the all-time list for the Pro Era a lofty list. A player must either have two or three standout tournament performances or tally in a vast number of different tournaments.

Bulow is becoming a mixture of the two. After scoring three goals in his debut campaign in 2004 with the PDL Cape Cod Crusaders, he had scored only five more goals in four further appearances. In comparison, Menyongar scored the bulk of his goals, 12, in his first three campaigns while Moreno scored more than one goal only twice (3 in 1996, 4 in 2000) in his eight campaigns. Retiring this past offseason and now coaching in DC’s youth academy, his last came a year ago, joining Menyongar, who had moved to the top in 2008.

In a stroke of coincidence, the Kickers drew the Columbus Crew for the Third Round contest in which Bulow could surpass Moreno as the Pro Era scoring leader for the tournament. The Crew are the club of Jeff Cunningham, who is currently one tally back of Moreno in the all-time MLS scoring table, leaving Moreno in a position where he could see both honors disappear in one week. Cunningham, though listed as questionable by the Crew for Sunday’s match against Colorado with a right hamstring strain, came into the game for the final 15 minutes but saw few opportunities as the club led 4-1 already. The next Columbus match is at Dallas Saturday.

Odds are in Bulow’s favor to also finish as the tournament’s leading scorer. Only four tournaments since 1995 have seen a scoring leader reach six goals in a given tournament on a total of six occasions. Five players have led four different tournaments with five goals. Last year, Miami FC’s Paul Araujo Jr. (now with Real Salt Lake) and Nate Jaqua of Seattle Sounders FC both netted five goals to tie for scoring honors.

It was not a case of Richmond getting a favorable draw against amateur clubs that allowed Bulow to run up his tally. Instead, the Kickers have played two fellow USL Pro clubs thus far, and the midfielder has only three goals in 13 league appearances, scoring his last April 30.

Professional Era Scoring Leaders (1995-present)

# – Player – Last Goal
13 – Johnny Menyongar – 2008
13 – Jaime Moreno – 2010
13 – David Bulow – 2011
12 – Melvin Tarley – 2009
11 – Sebastien Le Toux – 2009
10 – Byron Carmichael – 2009
10 – Dante Washington – 2004
9 – Tomas Boltnar – 2006
9 – Randi Patterson – 2009
9 – Carlos Ruiz – 2007
9 – Matthew Delicate – 2011
9 – Josh Wolff – 2005
8 – Ronald Cerritos – 2006
8 – Brian McBride – 2002

Bold – Playing for a 2011 Open Cup team

Professional Era Leaders Among 2011 Open Cup Participants

13 – David Bulow (Richmond Kickers)
9 – Matthew Delicate (Richmond Kickers)
7 – Chris Albright (NY Red Bulls)
7 – Nate Jaqua (Seattle Sounders)
6 – Paulo Araujo Jr (Real Salt Lake)
6 – Jeff Cunningham (Columbus Crew)
6 – Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
6 – Jamie Watson (Orlando City)
5 – Davy Arnaud (Sporting KC)
5 – Dominic Oduro (Chicago Fire)

Leading Scorers by Year

Year – Goals – Players
2010 – 5 – Nate Jaqua (Seattle Sounders), Paulo Araujo Jr (Miami FC)
2009 – 3 – Five players
2008 – 5 – Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders)
2007 – 5 – Sebastien Le Toux (Seattle Sounders)
2006 – 4 – Four players
2005 – 6 – Herculez Gomez (LA Galaxy), Melvin Tarley (Minnesota Thunder)
2004 – 4 – Julian Nash (Chicago Fire Reserves)
2003 – 4 – Amado Guevara (Metrostars)
2002 – 4 – Johnny Menyongar (Minnesota Thunder)
2001 – 5 – Abdul Thompson Conteh (DC United)
2000 – 6 – Josh Wolff (Chicago Fire), Welton (Miami Fusion)
1999 – 6 – Mugurel Dimitru (San Diego Flash)
1998 – 4 – Jason Acres (Chicago Stingers)
1997 – 6 – Marquis White (San Francisco Bay Seals)
1996 – 4 – Doug Miller (Rochester Raging Rhinos)
1995 – 4 – Shawn Medved (Seattle Sounders)

Photo: Wilmington Hammerheads

Another round is in the books for the 2011 US Open Cup and the trend of the favorites advancing through the tournament continued in full force Tuesday night as there were no surprise results in the seven completed matches with one to be replayed Wednesday afternoon. The biggest headline of the night was the end of the Charleston Battery’s status of being unbeaten against non-MLS opposition at the famous Blackbaud Stadium.

NY Pancyprian Freedoms 0:0 AET (5:6 PK) FC New York – Recap [+]

The USL Pro club survived a 22nd minute red card, going nearly 100 minutes down a player in a scoreless draw against a fierce amateur side with veteran ex-professionals before advancing in seven rounds of penalties on a pair of surprising failed attempts from two Freedoms stars. TheCup.us Match MVP: Steven Diaz

Rochester Rhinos 1:0 Harrisburg City Islanders – Recap [+]

A fantastic night in goal from Neal Kitson and a late penalty kick converted by Tony Donatelli put the former Open Cup champions through against their league rivals for another chance to play the role of giant killer. TheCup.us Match MVP: Neal Kitson

Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1:4 Richmond Kickers – Recap [+]

With two goals in the first half, David Bulow took the tournament lead in scoring and moved into a tie for first in the all-time professional era scoring table. Matthew Delicate added two more to lock up the victory against their league foes. TheCup.us Match MVP: David Bulow

Charlotte Eagles 2:3 (AET) Wilmington Hammerheads – Recap [+]

Trailing their state and league rivals by two, the Hammerheads made a thrilling comeback to take the match in overtime. TheCup.us Match MVP: Chris Banks

Orlando City 1:0 Charleston Battery – Recap [+]

A strike from defender Rob Valentino proved the difference as Orlando City became the first non-MLS club to win at Blackbaud stadium against the Battery. TheCup.us Match MVP: Rob Valentino

Chicago Fire Premier 2:0 Madison 56ers – Recap [+]

A lengthy thunderstorm washed out the match 17 minutes into the contest, erasing Chicago’s initial 1-0 lead in a game that was replayed in full on Wednesday. The following day, Chicago Fire Premier punched their ticket to the Third Round with a 2-0 victory over the Madison 56ers. The Fire received goals from Andrew Ribeiro in the 66th minute and Thierry Zahui just two minutes later to seal the victory. Chicago moves on to play Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday, June 28 at LiveStrong Park at 8:30 p.m. EST. TheCup.us Match MVP: Andrew Ribeiro

Real Colorado Foxes 1:3 Kitsap Pumas – Recap [+]

An own goal negated Kitsap’s early lead, making Robbie Christner’s double the difference in the contest between the two unbeaten PDL clubs. TheCup.us Match MVP: Robbie Christner

LA Blues 1:0 Ventura County Fusion – Recap [+]

Israel Sesay was in the right place at the right time to bury a rebound just before the break as the USL Pro expansion side won out in a tightly fought contest. TheCup.us Match MVP: Israel Sesay

LINKS

2011 US Open Cup goalscoring leaders [+]
2011 US Open Cup bracket [+]
2011 US Open Cup participant map [+]

2011 US Open Cup Third Round Schedule

JUNE 28
FC New York at New York Red Bulls
8 p.m. ET  Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J.

Chicago Fire at Rochester Rhinos
7:35 p.m. ET  Sahlen’s Stadium; Rochester, N.Y.

Richmond Kickers at Columbus Crew
7:30 p.m. ET  Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, Ohio

Wilmington Hammerheads at Real Salt Lake
9 p.m. ET  Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah

Orlando City SC at FC Dallas
9 p.m. ET  Pizza Hut Park; Frisco, Texas

Chicago Fire Premier / Madison 56ers at Sporting Kansas City
8:30 p.m. ET  LIVESTRONG Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kan.

Los Angeles Blues at Los Angeles Galaxy
10:30 p.m. ET  Titan Stadium (CSUF); Fullerton, Calif.

Kitsap Pumas at Seattle Sounders
10 p.m. ET  Starfire Sports Stadium; Tukwila, Wash

-

The original match scheduled for Tuesday was postponed due to lightning. Photo: WisconsinSoccerCentral.com

After spending 48 hours in Madison, starting a game and taking the lead only to have it abandoned due to lightning Tuesday night and finally playing their second-round US Open Cup match Wednesday, the Chicago Fire PDL team headed back to the Windy City with a sense of satisfaction – and a marquee matchup in the next round.

Creighton’s Andrew Ribeiro, a Wisconsin native, and substitute Thierry Zahui scored in a three-minute span in the second half as the Fire knocked off the Madison 56ers 2-0 at Breese Stevens Field.

The Fire advance to play Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City in a third-round match Tuesday at the new, $200 million Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

“It’s a great feeling. I honestly couldn’t be more proud of our players right now,” said Fire coach Mark Spooner, whose team was playing its fourth game in eight days – not including the 17-plus minutes Tuesday. “The adversity they’ve come through just so far in this young season is only going to stand them in good stead. They deserve this opportunity.”

Both teams had chances in the opening half, but Fire goalkeeper David Meves and 56ers counterpart Kyle Dillman kept it scoreless, making two saves apiece.

Madison was content to let Chicago control possession and looked to hit the Fire on counters. That led to three quality opportunities in the opening 45 minutes – Meves made a nice stop on Jed Hohlbein’s 15th-minute strike and gathered up a shot by Trevor Banks in the 33rd, and Keenan Newallo flashed a shot wide in the 38th.

“We knew we had to kind of sit back and counter, because if we chased them all day they would break on us,” 56ers midfielder Tenzin Rampa said. “And I thought we did a great job of that in the first half. We hoped to pop one in and kind of defend and let it play out.”

The Fire, who saw Dillman deny center back Johnny Raj with a great save in the sixth minute after a free kick bounced around on the right side of the box, kept their poise.

“There was one moment when we had the ball when we counted on the bench and they had nine guys behind it all around their penalty area,” Spooner said. “It was frustrating for us and it was working for them. We talked about being patient and the ability to draw players out of positions.”

Chicago created chance after chance in the first 10 minutes after halftime, including a shout for a penalty kick in the 56th minute. The Fire wanted a handball called on the 56ers’ Henry Aiyenero after Paulo Vaz headed a corner kick into the 6-yard box, but referee
Margaret Domka didn’t share their opinion of the play.

Ten minutes later, Ribeiro got the breakthrough.

Fire midfielder Harrison Petts laid a pass back to the Green Bay native, who drilled a shot from 20 yards out on the left side. Dillman dove and got a hand to the blast, but the ball spun off the keeper’s hand and into the net at the far post in the 66th minute to open the scoring.

“I’d say a ball like that, one out of 10 will go (in). And this one did,” Ribeiro said of his first goal of the year. “The keeper made a nice save, but it was a little too hard for him. I got a little lucky.”

“He’s been looking forward to this game for a while,” Spooner added. “His performance tonight was well worth it, he was fantastic. I think he covered every blade of grass twice. He was great tonight.”

Two minutes later, Zahui, a 24-year-old from the Ivory Coast, ripped a shot from the right side that deflected off 56ers midfielder Keith Dangarembwa and past Dillman to double the lead.

“I guess I’ve got some travel arrangements to make now,” Spooner said with a smile.

Meanwhile, the home side lamented a number of plays that were close but not close enough, from their chances to grab the opening goal to Dillman just missing keeping out Ribeiro’s shot.

“It’s hard to think about it right now,” Hohlbein said. “To have a chance like that and then miss out on an opportunity (to play an MLS team), it’s pretty tough.

“In higher-level games, you don’t see teams get tons of chances. You get four or five quality chances, and you’ve got to finish one or two of them. … I’ve obviously got that running through my mind right now, I had a few quality chances that I probably should have finished. It’s tough.”

Photo: WisconsinSoccerCentral.com

———————————————————–
REPORT FROM TUESDAY NIGHT:

It was a strange night of soccer Tuesday at Breese Stevens Field. And in the end, not very much soccer.

The Madison 56ers and the Chicago Fire Premier played just more than 17 minutes of their Second Round US Open Cup match before the game was halted by lightning with the Fire ahead 1-0.

A little more than 2 hours later, officials postponed the match, which will be replayed in its entirety at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Breese Stevens. The 56ers announced that admission will be free.

“It’s a little weird. (Stuff) happens,” 56ers coach Jim Launder said.

“It’s good and bad. It’s a replay, so we just erase the goal and start over. It’s not good because we lost a huge fan night … It’s not good because we’ll play in a dead stadium tomorrow, because nobody will be here at 4 p.m. And it’s not good because I think we’re going to be missing two players, maybe three.”

The Fire certainly wanted the game to resume, having taken the early lead on Chris Estridge’s goal in the ninth minute.

Indiana midfielder Harrison Petts, who pounded a shot from 23 yards out off the corner of the crossbar and left post in the fourth minute, chipped a ball for Estridge over the 56ers’ backline and the Wake Forest midfielder calmly finished against Madison goalkeeper Kyle Dillman (Madison La Follette).

Estridge raced over to celebrate with about 25 members of the Fire’s Section 8 supporters group who made the trip north. They lived uo their reputation, pounding on drum, singing songs and waving massive flags.

Four minutes later, Fire forward Paulo Vaz also got in behind the 56ers’ backline, but Dillman made a sliding save on the Lynn University striker.

“Two times when we didn’t get pressure on the ball and we didn’t step back and we just let guys run in behind us,” said Launder, who added that he would re-evaluate his lineup overnight. ”I wasn’t impressed with our defensive stance. All of our backs did the same thing, they all just stopped.”

Referee Margaret Domka suspended play 17 minutes, 19 seconds into the match as storms rolled into the area and lightning was spotted. Heavy rains followed, and intermittent showers and lightning persisted. All the while, the Section 8 group kept drumming and singing.

“It was a little surreal,” Fire PDL coach Mark Spooner said. “We were trying to get updates and (the officials) weren’t that forthcoming with them, so it was frustrating. But it is what is; nobody can do anything about the weather.

“The thing that I don’t like, obviously, is now you start 0-0 again for 90 minutes. I would think that there would be a better method than that in a competition like this.”

If the match had reached 45 minutes, it would have been declared a result.

However, for the game to be resumed, 20 minutes needed to pass without lightning in the area, and there still were regular flashes in the skies as the teams left the stadium. Also, the lights at Breese Stevens need to be turned off by 11 p.m. due to a local ordinance.

“They would want to get that half game in and win the game – I would, too,” Launder said. “It wasn’t going to happen.”

So for the Fire, it was yet another night spent in a hotel. They had three road matches last week and have logged more than 1,500 miles during trips to Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“It’s just one thing after another,” said Spooner, whose team requested Wednesday’s replay be moved to 4 p.m. from the scheduled 7 p.m. start time to help them get back to Chicago earlier with a PDL match Friday.

“You know, though, it’s good for their development. This whole program is designed around them becoming pros, and this is part of it. We have to react now to it and see where we can go.”

Speaking late Tuesday night, Spooner said when they got to the hotel, there weren’t enough rooms.

“What a fun night,” he deadpanned.

Robbie Christner scores the third and final goal for Kitsap Pumas in their 3-1 win over Real Colorado. Photo: Prost Amerika

Kitsap Pumas secured a glamour cup tie with Sounders FC after a pulsating 3-1 US Open Cup win over Real Colorado Foxes. Despite a strong challenge from their visitors, goals from Cameron Hepple, and two from Robbie Christner canceled out a Sterling Copeland effort.

The Pumas must now venture over the water to Tukwila to play the cup holders Sounders FC in what can be billed either a local derby or a David v Goliath.

Pumas coach Pete Fewing said:

“The guys played very well. We were nervous at the beginning. We’ve played three games in seven days, one in 104 degrees in Texas, 90 minutes, 30 minutes over time and penalty kicks. Tonight some of the guys were tired. It took us a while to get a rhythm. Second half I though we found the ball a little better. We were fortunate to be up 2-1 at half time.

We were fortunate because I thought they were dangerous, they were talented. I’m proud of the guys. We were sluggish yesterday in practise, so to come out and get a 3-1 result, we had to dig and battle. I told them at half time this was one of the better teams. We had to deal with something we hadn’t had to deal with yet. That kind of pace and that kind of ball movement.”

When asked his scouting report on the Sounders, he quipped:

“I’ve seen them, I’ve watched them a little bit so it will be interesting. It’s big. They’re the big team in the neighbourhood. We know their players. They’ve got a great coach so it’s a big honour to go play them. That’s the beauty of this cup. You get a situation where the Kitsap Pumas get to play the Seattle Sounders.”

And asked if he would be welcomed back at Sounders training tomorrow, Fewing joked, “I don’t know, Sigi might say ‘get him out of here.’ We have to figure out what’s proper etiquette.”

And this thoroughly decent man will of course do the right thing.

Bryan Meredith returned in goal for the Pumas, having recovered from a foot injury and Elliott Fauske started at right midfield for the Pumas for David Gray.

Real Colorado Foxes started the brighter with some early pressure as 80 degree sunshine beat down on the Memorial Stadium.The first chance fell to them the ninth minute. Sterling Copeland broke into the penalty box but drove wide of the right hand post in an early warning to the hosts.

Bryan Meredith, returning from a foot injury, saved the Pumas two minutes later after a superb through ball by Kristopher Banghart found Curtis Stecyk whose shot was superbly saved by Meredith.

A minute later, at the other end Matt Friesen’s shot looped over the bar as he shot under pressure from two defenders.

Banghart looked to be a constant threat with his accurate quality passes from center midfield and the Pumas were taking their time to find their feet.

Kitsap took the lead against the run of play in the 17th minute. Bahamian international Hepple prodded the ball home after a scramble in the Foxes box. The defence had missed an opportunity to clear a bobbling ball and paid the price.

It was hard on the visitors, who had been the better team for the first 15 minutes but had fallen victim to a moment’s lapse of concentration. Colorado equalised after a breakaway by Sterling Copeland saw his shot rebound off the bar with Meredith beaten. However, he was sharp enough to be first to the rebound and headed the ball over the line despite a despairing attempt to clear the ball from under the bar.

The Pumas now knew they were in for a battle and Nik Besagno was booked for a midfield tackle on Joseph Madigan.

Pumas nearly regained the lead moments after but a chip by Elliott Fauske was headed away by Isaac Cowles with the keeper beaten and the net gaping behind Cowles. Pumas forward Bryan Burke shot over from 25 yards in an entertaining game which was now vacillating from end to end.

Taylor Kemp on the left hand side of the Colorado midfield was having an outstanding game and on one occasion ran 60 yards up the touchline, burning up three opponents in his wake. Unfortunately for his valiant effort, the move came to nothing.

Pumas regained the lead three minutes before half time and it was a corker of a goal from Robbie Christner. He rifled past keeper Miguel Rosales after receiving the ball from Burke inside the area.

However, the Pumas can have had no illusions of the tough battle to come in the second half against a very competent and effective Colorado side.

Even before half time Meredith was called into action by a decent long range drive by Kyle Christensen.

There were no changes at half time. Nik Besagno had the first chance of the second half after some excellent work by Mark Lee, who forced two defenders into a mistake.

The first 15 minutes of the second half presented Kitsap with far fewer problems than the first 15 of the first period. However, the danger was never far away, and the need for a third goal was apparent.

Isaac Schafer made some space but the shot was weak and although the sunshine was beautiful for the spectators, substitutions were surely going to follow.

There was a curious incident just after the hour. The ball was running through the Pumas keeper Bryan Meredith. The Foxes’ Copeland made an unnecessary challenge on the keeper and seemed to come off in a degree of pain. Pumas were a trifle fortunate shortly after when Banghart was penalized for what seemed a clean tackle on Burke. Matt Friesen curled the ball straight into the keeper’s arms when his traditional trademark of power may have served him better.

In the 63rd minute Pete Fewing made his first change, withdrawing Friesen for the Scottish midfielder David Gray. Gray took up a role in central midfield. Three minutes later,  Fewing made a second change, bringing on Warlen Silva for Nik Besagno.

Surprisingly, Foxes were still to make a change.

Fauske nearly put the Pumas 3-1 ahead after a neatly worked move from the corner after Bryan Burke and he produced a neat 1-2. Seconds later, Meredith had to be smart to collect a drive cleanly. With 17 minutes to go, the game was in the balance. Brazilian substitute Silva volleyed past the post seconds later, but the game was becoming too open for the side holding the lead. However, with extra time a possibility, Fewing needed to save a substitution.

Pumas won a free kick from 23 yards out after Hepple was held back by Zelin. With Friesen off the pitch it fell to David Gray to take the free kick.  Gray’s free kick made Rosales work hard, but the Foxes keeper was well up to the task.

With 15 minutes to go, Foxes’ coach Leigh Davies made his first change, bringing on Peter Davies for Zelin. Davis made another change when Tony Rosales came on for the industrious Madigan.

Daniel Scott made a timely interception from a Mike Lind cross with a forward poised to head goalward. His interception had all the hallmarks of a game saver if the Pumas could hold out.

As the sun finally dipped behind the clouds, the Foxes upped the pace a little and suddenly a new sense of urgency was in their game, with nine minutes to go.

Meredith was in no hurry to restart the game, but the Pumas seemed to have run out of any desire to further their lead and had moved into lead protection mode.

The Foxes continued to threaten, looking a stronger side with Schafer on the left and Mike Lind on the right.

On a breakaway, Fauske found Hepple on the left. He won a corner to allow the Pumas to eat up the clock a little more. From the corner, Fauske’s cross eluded Daniel Scott’s head by three inches. Then came a moment of madness when the Pumas hit the crossbar twice, Rosales made another save and David Gray had a shot blocked on the line. Moments later, the Pumas secured the match with a Robbie Christner header. Colorado had thrown too many men forward and the Pumas had exploited the gaps by an adventurous spirit, prompted by David Gray.

Moments later, Pumas survived a penalty shout when Copeland went down way too easily under pressure from Scott. Had he stayed on his feet he might have had a shooting chance. He was cautioned as the last act of a highly competent refereeing display.

Before the end Adam Tormoehlen replaced Schafer, and Fewing made his last substitution, bringing in Tye Perdido for Bryan Burke.

The final whistle preceded joyous scenes as this quite remarkable cup run continued.

Attendance: 1298

TheCup.us Match MVP: Robbie Christner

Scoring Summary
KIT: Cameron Hepple – 17th min.
RCF: Steve Mohn (Own Goal) – 23rd min.
KIT: Robbie Christner – 43rd min.
KIT: Robbie Christner – 88th min.

The Richmond Kickers celebrate one of their four goals on Tuesday night. Their eight goals in the first two matches is the most since they scored nine in the first two games in 2005. Photo: Suz Kitsteiner | Richmond Kickers

The Richmond Kickers offense continues to hit on all cylinders as they dismissed fellow USL Pro team, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4-1 in the US Open Cup Second Round. The Kickers, who defeated the Dayton Dutch Lions (USL Pro) by the same score in the opening round, received two goals each from David Bulow and Matthew Delicate to cruise into a Third Round matchup with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.

Combined with his hat trick in Round 1, Bulow now has a tournament-high five goals, which is already a club record for a single tournament. The two goals on Tuesday give him 13 for his career, which puts him into a three-way tie with Jaime Moreno (DC United) and Johnny Menyongar (Rochester Rhinos / Minnesota Thunder) for first place on the Professional Era (1995-present) goalscoring chart.

Just like their opening round match, the Kickers attempted to get out to a fast start, and the early pressure paid off. Bulow opened up the scoring in the 17th minute when Edson Elcock crossed a ball into the box from the right wing and the tournament’s leading scorer was there to tuck it past goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap to make it 1-0.

After a spectacular diving header went wide for Bulow moments later, it was the Riverhounds who leveled the match in the 30th minute. Chad Severs received a ball inside the box off the head of Jason Yeisley, who found space and nodded it into the back of the net to tie the game.

With both teams creating chances heading into halftime, Bulow would strike again before the break. Sascha Gorres delivered a cross into the box and once again, Bulow was on the other end, inside the six, with his record-tying 13th career Open Cup goal. The goal broke a couple of club records, as he became the Kickers’ all-time goalscoring leader in the competition and broke the team’s single-tournament record of four which was held by McColm Cephas (2005) and Kevin Jeffrey (2001).

After halftime, Gorres would create a two-goal gap with a cross to the top of the box for Delicate who placed a header above the outstretched arms of Gilstrap, who had come out to get the ball.

Down 3-1, Pittsburgh threw everything forward to get back in the game, but Richmond would put the game away in the 81st minute when Delicate fired an unstoppable shot into the upper corner from just outside the penalty area. For Delicate, it was his eighth career US Open Cup goal, moving him into a tie with Ronald Cerritos and former US international Brian McBride for sixth on the Pro Era chart.

With the win, Richmond has still never lost to a 3rd Division team in the Open Cup and will face off with the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium next Tuesday. The game will be the first meeting between the two teams since the Kickers dropped a 3-0 decision to the Crew in that same stadium back in 2002. Brian McBride and Dante Washington scored for the MLS team that day.

TheCup.us Match MVP: David Bulow

Scoring:
RIC: David Bulow (Edson Elcock) – 17th min.
PIT: Chad Severs (Jason Yeisley) – 30th min.
RIC: David Bulow (Sascha Gorres) – 41st min.
RIC: Matthew Delicate (Sascha Gorres) – 52nd min.
RIC: Matthew Delicate (Ross MacKenzie) – 81st min.

Lineups

RICHMOND: GK Ronnie Pascale; D Sascha Görres, Henry Kalungi, Yomby William, Luke Vercollone (Stanley Nyazamba 69′); Jamel Wallace (Ross Mackenzie 58′), David Hertel, David Bulow, Edson Elcock, Shaka Bangura (Evan Harding 54′); F Matthew Delicâte

PITTSBURGH: GK Hunter Gilstrap; D Nikola Katic, Sterling Flunder, Mike Seth (Jeremy Deighton 70′), Louie Rolko; Tommy Gray, Matt Fondy (Matthew Tuttle 70′), Sammy Appiah, Shintaro Harada; F Jason Yeisley, Chad Severs

Cautions
85′: Appiah (Pitt)

Ejections:
None.

Attendance: 1161

Photo: LA Blues

The Blues were missing two starters from last week’s U.S. Open Cup first round victory due to red cards with Josh Tudela and Leonard Griffin out for this week’s game. Defender Nelson Akwari stepped up and took the leadership role throughout the game by maintaining a strong back line that helped goalkeeper Oscar Dautt preserve the shutout.

“Those guys are talented, but Nelson has been around. We knew he was going to step up and it wasn’t a surprise,” said Sesay.

The Blues controlled the game from the outset of the match, but the Fusion fought back. They had one of their best chances in the 32nd minute when Jake Hustedt headed a cross just wide.

Their misfortune turned into the Blues’ gain in the 45th minute. Blues forward Chukwudi Chijindu had a breakaway stuffed point blank by Fusion goalkeeper Sam Hayden only to have the deflection fall to Israel Sesay. Sesay then faked a shot to lose the defender and scored the lone goal of the game.

“I got an opening and saw the defense coming back. I took a touch and then I took a shot,” Sesay said.

The Fusion had their best opportunity at the beginning of the second half. David Walker beat Blues defender Michael Randolph down the right flank and had a one on one situation with the goalie. His shot beat Dautt in the middle of the box and rolled just wide of the post as the Fusion failed to equalize.

It was an omen of things to come as the Fusion applied pressure throughout the second half and kept the ball on the Blues’ side of the field. Unfortunately the Blues backline held their own throughout the match and did not allow for too many more chances after Hustedt’s shot.

Things did get a tense towards the end as a member of the Fusion’s coaching staff was ejected in the 85th minute and the Fusion’s Gyasi Zardes and the Blues’ Dane Saintus, Chijindu also received cautions to go with Sesay’s card at the beginning of the game.

After the game though, the focus shifted to next week where some Blues’ players will get an opportunity to face off against their former squad. Akwari, Tudela, Griffin, Randolph, Sesay and Chijindu (who is on loan from Chivas USA) all have MLS experience and will get an opportunity to show that the talent gap is not that big between the first and third divisions of the American soccer pyramid.

“We feel (that the talent gap) isn’t that much. We’re going to show everyone what we are capable of doing,” said Sesay.

TheCup.us Match MVP: Israel Sesay

You can follow Nick Gaspar on Twitter @TheNtotheG.

Scoring:
LA: Sesay – 45th min.

Cautions:
17′: Sesay (LA)
62′: Chijindu (LA)
90+1′: Saintus (LA)
90+2′: Zardes (VC)

Photo: Wilmington Hammerheads

The Wilmington Hammerheads fought back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Charlotte Eagles 3-2 in overtime to advance in the US Open Cup on Tuesday. Luke Mulholland, who had the Hammerheads’ first shot on goal, provided the winning shot to cap a furious comeback in the last third of the game.

This was the third Open Cup meeting between the two clubs in the last six years, and with the victory, the Hammerheads maintain their perfect record, having defeated the Eagles the first two times they played (2006, 2009). Wilmington advances to Round 3 where they will face Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. The club has reached an MLS opponent in each of the last three trips to the tournament, including a 2009 Third Round upset of the Chicago Fire.

Charlotte controlled the opening 60 minutes, pressuring their in-state USL Pro rivals throughout. They broke through just before the half, as Weston Roberts took a free kick and nailed a shot to the far corner. The pressure continued in the second half, capped off by a Darren Toby goal in the 54th minute.

However, Wilmington refused to give up. Andriy Budnyy answered seven minutes later, taking a ball from newly-subbed Chris Banks and firing a low shot to cut the deficit in half. It was Budnyy’s third goal of the tournament.

The home team continued to pressure, eventually smothering the Eagles for the equalizer in the 78th minute. Jack Avesyan hit a free kick into the box, where Banks headed the ball in to pull the game level. Banks almost grabbed the lead three minutes later, as his header hit the crossbar and bounced out.

The teams fought hard in overtime, with Mulholland’s shot in the 103rd gave Wilmington the edge. The teams traded chances in the second overtime period, but neither would find the back of the net again.

The Hammerheads have a big trip ahead of them next week when they travel to Utah to play Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium next Tuesday at 9:00 PM EDT.

TheCup.us Match MVP: Chris Banks

Scoring:
CHAR: Weston Roberts – 44th minute
CHAR: Darren Toby – 54th minute
WILM: Andriy Budnyy (Chris Banks) – 61st minute
WILM: Chris Banks (Jack Avesyan) – 78th minute
WILM: Luke Mulholland – 103rd minute

Lineups:
Eagles: Reed, Dalby, Moore, Roberts, Bryan, Herrera, Bloom, Guzman, Rife, Toby, Sanchez
Hammerheads: Polak, Riley, Evans, Becerra, Spendlove, Mullholland, Nicholson, Gusman, Avasyan, Budnyy, Noviello (Banks 56)

Cautions:
19′: Guzman (Char)
35′: Noviello (Wilm)
55′: Avesyan (Wilm)
90′: Nicholson (Wilm)
93′: Moore (Char)
94′: Mulholland (Wilm)
109′: Herrera (Char)

Ejections:
None.

Referee: Daniel Fitzgerald
Assistant Referees Larry Stroud, Conor Williams
Fourth Official: Mark Kadlecik