Mother Nature has not been kind to the Maryland US Open Cup qualifying. The tournament was originally scheduled to begin on February 7, but was moved twice before finally settling on Sunday, February 28. The last day of the month wasn’t free of weather problems as only two of the three games were able to be played.
The two games that were played were both one-sided affairs with Jilly’s Bar & Grill thrashing a shorthanded AEK Baltimore squad 10-0, while FC Allyance trounced the Maryland Kicks by a score of 7-0. Jilly’s and FC Allyance will move on to the final four where they will meet Christos FC, who were awarded a bye into the Semifinals.
The lone opening round game yet to be played is a matchup between Charm City FC and Baltimore Bays Chelsea. That game was postponed due to poor field conditions and is expected to be rescheduled for the first week of March. However, at the time that this article is being written, the forecast is not promising for next weekend.
The opening game of the day was already a difficult matchup for AEK Baltimore as they took on Jilly’s Bar & Grill. Jilly’s are a solid team in the top division in the Maryland Major Soccer League (MMSL), while AEK competes in the Second Division. However, to make matters worse, Baltimore was only able to field 10 players to start the match.
Playing a man short turned AEK goal, protected by goalkeeper Jamie List, into a shooting gallery. After 45 minutes of play, Jilly’s held a 3-0 lead with a pair of goals by Chris Hastings, both of which were assisted by Brian Walter. Walter also added a goal of his own a few minutes before the break.
At halftime, the situation for Baltimore got worse as midfielder Tommy Koukolulis re-aggravated a sprained PCL injury he had suffered recently and had to leave the game at halftime. At that point, the floodgates opened. The nine-man AEK squad was helpless to prevent the blowout, as Jilly’s scored seven second half goals. To show just how one-sided it was, it could have been worse. In addition to the 10 goals that got past him, List still made 22 saves for the shorthanded club.
“It was mostly our reliable over-30 guys that showed up, so we never really stood a chance,” said AEK player/manager Mike Murphy. “Near the end, we were just throwing ourselves in front of shots. We’ll be back next year after some rebuilding.”
Brian Walter led the way for Jilly’s, scoring three goals and assisting on three more. They will move on to face last year’s Maryland champions, Christos FC, in the Semifinals.
Scoring Summary
12′ Chris Hastings (Walter) 17′ Chris Hastings (Walter) 42′ Brian Walter (Unassisted) 62′ Mike Walter (Walter) 65′ Underwood (Gold) 70′ Brian Walter (Unassisted) 71′ Brian Walter (Unassisted) 76′ Brandon Hawkes (Unassisted) 80′ McKinley (Unassisted) 85′ McKinley (Unassisted)
Lineup – Jilly’s Bar and Grill
Nick Parapinski – Goalkeeper (4 Saves), Chris Hastings, Brian Walter, Mike Walter, George Phillips, Jake Underwood, Brandon Hawkes, Jeremy Gold, Chris Collins, Kelii Maddox, Aaron McKinley
Lineup – AEK Baltimore FC
Jaime List – Goalkeeper(22 Saves), Bevin Ettiene, Mike Murphy, Robbie O’Brien, Ryan Reif, Tommy Koukoulis, Mario Inacio, Joel Goldberg, Justin Young, Brian Ritter
After reaching the Maryland Open Cup championship game the last two years, FC Allyance is back and got off to a strong start by hammering the Maryland Kicks 7-0. Allyance, a First Division team in the MMSL, was too much for the Kicks, a Second Division team from the Cosmopolitan League.
The experienced FC Allyance club was led by Eddie Emokpae and Bill Reinhardt who each scored a pair of goals. They will move on to face the winner of Charm City FC and Baltimore Bays Chelsea in the Semifinals. That match is scheduled to be played on Sunday, March 7 at 9:30 a.m. at Cedar Lane Regional Park.
Scoring Summary
21′ Eddie Emokpae (Unassisted), 26′ Bill Reinhardt (Oliveira), 44′ Eddie Emokpae (Unassisted), 51′ Bill Reinhardt (Emokpae), 64′ Bill Wardle (Donnelly) 75′ Chris Bailey (Unassisted), ??’ Waheed Razaq (Lawal)
Lineup – FC Allyance
GK: Jason Vaughn (5 saves), Bill Wardle, Chris Bailey, Arshan Dabirsiaghi, Eddie Emokpae, Jim Wakefield, Bill Reinhardt, Sandro Oliveira, Shawn Brooks, Michael Farris, William Rodenz
SUBS: Mark Donnelly(35′), Seth Schreiber (40′), Julian Greco (52′), Saheed Lawal (56′), Waheed Razaq (56′), Chris Onaja (65′)
Lineup – Maryland Kicks
GK: Julian Castiblanco (13 saves), Hemant Chakravarthi, Sumant Chakravarthi, Praveen Gnanasundram, Willy Hanelt, Edson Hernandez, Hussein Hussein, Emerson Lemus, Bryan Mack, Jaime Maldonado, Luis Rivera
SUBS: Emad Rasool (70′)
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QUARTERFINALS (Feb. 28)
AEK Baltimore FC 0:10 Jilly’s Bar & Grill
FC Allyance 7:0 Maryland Kicks
Charm City FC vs. Baltimore Bays Chelsea – POSTPONED (March 7 – 9:30 a.m. – Cedar Lane Regional Park)
SEMIFINALS (March 14)*
Christos FC vs. Jilly’s Bar & Grill – 6:00pm
FC Allyance vs. Charm City FC/Baltimore Bays Chelsea – 8:00pm
* Date/Times subject to change