Perennial rivals AAC Eagles and RWB Adria squared off in the 2010 Illinois Open Cup Final to determine who would take the next step toward qualifying for next year’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. It was a battle of the Eagles, a Polish club from the Metropolitan Soccer League against RWB, a Croatian club from the National Soccer League, with a spot in the USASA Region II Finals hanging in the balance.
The AAC Eagles, the 1990 US Open Cup champions, were victorious, 2-0 over RWB, ending a streak of three straight years of the Croatian club representing the state at the Region II Finals. After several years of domination by Adria it was the Eagles’ turn to excel and for most of the game they did exactly that.
In a game played at Carbajal Field in Hawthorn Park in the western Chicago suburb of Cicero, Ill., the Eagles opened the scoring early in the first half. A scramble at the Adria 6-yard box resulted in the first Eagles goal awarded to Rafal Popko in the 18th minute.
Midway through the same half, an excellent strike by Adria was thwarted by goalkeeper Marek Los and instead of celebrating an equalizer, Adria succumbed to a second goal a few minutes later. Jakub Piotrowski’s solid strike put the Eagles up 2-0 in the 37th minute.
Going into the second half with a two-goal lead, the Eagles sat back and defended, allowing Adria back into the game. For a while, it was the Eagles who were under siege, but time and again either the Eagles’ defense held tough or Adria missed the target. There were chances at both ends as the game came to a close and at the final whistle, Adria graciously accepted defeat and the Polish side celebrated their first Illinois Open Cup title since 2003.
With the win, the AAC Eagles will play in the Region II Finals which will be held next spring with the champions and representatives of the other Midwestern states.
If the format remains the same from recent years, the two teams reaching the Region II championship game will clinch a berth in the 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Eagles will attempt to qualify for the national tournament for the second time in three years and add to an already-impressive resume that includes six appearances and one championship in the last 20 years (1989, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2008).
TheCup.us would like to thank Judith McLean of the Illinois State Soccer Association (ISSA) for her contributions to this story. You can find more information about the ISSA on their official website at www.illinoissoccer.org.
Lineups
AAC Eagles (Metropolitan Soccer League)
1 Marek Los
4 Darek Szewczyk
5 Miroslaw Modzelewski
6 Piotr Kolasinski
8 David Otachel
9 Jacek Zezhowski
10 Rafal Popko
11 Jakub Piotrowski
14 Adrian Skital
15 Marcin Pieniazek
16 Matthew Kochowwicz
Subs
7 Mariusz Misiaszek
17 Kamil Szczepanski
21 Marcin Simson
3 Christopher Gasiorek
Subs not used
19 Alekander Dianocki
13 Marek Golik
18 Pavel Polight
Coach: Joe Opiola
RWB Adria (National Soccer League)
0 Igor Dimov
4 Joey Carver
6 Eduardo Rodriguez
8 Admir Ljeljak
9 Elmedin Zukic
10 Semir Mesanovic
11 Igor Stjepic
14 Mark Merkowski
18 Mario Pinon
20 Awadallah Morad
23 Daniel Ayegbusi
Subs
7 Elfid Kovacevic
12 Eric Duda
99 Rafael Zaniol
Coach: Sinisa Alebic