It’s a busy weekend of qualifying for the 100th edition of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, as we head down the home stretch. By Monday morning, the USASA will know five of the six teams that will join Red Force (Florida) and North Texas Rayados in the 2013 US Open Cup. Also, US Club Soccer’s “lights out” semifinal match will be replayed on Sunday to determine who will play the Fresno Fuego Future in a “Win & You’re In” match the following weekend.
Here is a breakdown of this weekend’s games, and as always you can check Twitter (@USOpenCup) for updates, and remember if you’re at any of these games or have any Open Cup-related news/info/comments to make, be sure to use this year’s hashtag #USOC100.
(All Times Eastern)
FRIDAY
USASA Region IV Tournament
DAY 1: Friday, April 19
Ontario Soccer Park – Ontario, CA
PSA Elite 3:0 Doxa Italia
DV8 Defenders 8:2 The Internationalists
Cal FC 12:3 San Francisco City FC
It was a high-scoring opening day of the USASA Region IV tournament, as the trend of barn-burners and blowouts continue. With many teams having been burned by goal difference tiebreakers in the past, a recent tradition of running up the score has been established and ehas continued into 2013. Cal FC dropped a dozen goals on newcomers San Francisco City in their quest to qualify for the second straight year, and attempt to provide an encore to one of last year’s biggest Cinderella stories. 2011 qualifiers DV8 Defenders missed the cut last year and started their campaign to represent the Bay Area once again with a convincing 8-2 win over The Internationalists. While the most competitive match of the day was still a 3-0 shutout with PSA Elite taking out Doxa Italia. Although, with head-to-head likely the first tiebreaker in the group, and PSA Elite competing in the other group, Doxa Italia still has hope of qualifying just like they did in 2011 as long as they win both of their games on Saturday. Clearly, that will be no easy task as they must play Cal FC and DV8 Defenders.
SATURDAY
USASA Region II Semifinals (Win & You’re In)
Saturday, April 20 – 3 p.m.
Kroc Center – Chicago, IL
FC Indiana 1:2 (AET) RWB Adria
RWB Adria, a semifinalist in 1978 and 1991, qualifies for the US Open Cup for the first time since 2008.
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USASA Region IV Tournament
DAY 2: Saturday, April 20
Ontario Soccer Park – Ontario, CA
Doxa Italia 7:0 San Francisco City FC
Cal FC 4:1 DV8 Defenders
PSA Elite 10:1 The Internationalists
Doxa Italia 2:1 Cal FC
PSA Elite 9:2 DV8 Defenders
San Francisco City FC 4:1 The Internationalists
When the dust settled out west on Saturday evening, two teams punched their ticket to the 2013 US Open Cup. PSA Elite cruised to three straight wins, outscoring its opponents 22-3, en route to a Group B win and their second straight trip to the Open Cup. Fellow Southern California club, Doxa Italia, overcame a 3-0 loss to PSA Elite in the opening game and clinched their second Open Cup berth in three years. Doxa emerged from Group A despite their loss to Group B champion PSA by defeating the two clubs in their group, newcomers San Francisco City (7-0), followed by a winner-take-all game against last year’s Cinderella story Cal FC. Doxa defeated Cal FC 2-1 in the final game as the two clubs finished tied atop the group standings, with Doxa Italia moving on to the championship game by way of the head-to-head tiebreaker. PSA Elite and Doxa Italia have both clinched their spot in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, they will meet again in the Region IV title game on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. local time) to determine who will represent the region at the USASA National Finals.
2013 US Open Cup qualifying: USASA Region IV Finals (April 19-21)
Ontario Soccer Park – Ontario, CA –
All Times Eastern
| Group A | PTS | W | L | D | GD |
| Doxa Italia (CA – South) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +5 |
| Cal FC (CA – South) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +12 |
| San Fran. City (CA – North) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -13 |
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| Group B | PTS | W | L | D | GD |
| PSA Elite (CA – South) | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +19 |
| DV8 Defenders (CA – North) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -4 |
| Internationalists (CA – South) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -18 |
SUNDAY
USASA Region II Semifinals (Win & You’re In)
Sunday, April 21 – 1 p.m.
Olathe North – Olathe, KS
Dearborn Stars SC (MI) 0:1 KC Athletics (KS)
KC Athletics player/manager Kyle Perkins scored the lone goal in the 90th minute to send the Kansas-based club to their second straight Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. This will be their third Open Cup berth in the last four years.
USASA Region I Quarterfinals
Sunday, April 21 – 3 p.m.
Newtown High School – Newtown, CT
NY Pancyprian Freedoms (ENY) 0:0 Newtown Pride SC (CT)
Newtown Pride advance 7-6 in PK shootout – will play at Mass Premier Soccer on April 28 (Win & You’re In)
The two teams battled to a scoreless draw after 120 minutes, but it was Newtown Pride SC who advanced after winning the penalty kick shootout 7-6. The Connecticut representative are now one win away from a US Open Cup berth and they will travel to the Boston area to play Mass Premier Soccer (MA) on April 28. More details to come. 
USASA Region I Semifinals (Win & You’re In)
Sunday, April 21 – 6 p.m.
Montville Community Park (130 Changebridge Rd.) – Montville, NJ
Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks (MDCVA) 1:1 Icon FC (NJ)
Icon FC wins PK shootout, 7-6, to qualify for the 2013 US Open Cup
Icon FC became just the second New Jersey-based USASA team to qualify for the US Open Cup in the Modern Pro Era (1995-present) when they won a penalty kick shootout with the Aegean Hawks. 7-6. The match finished 1-1 after 120 minutes and for the second time that Sunday afternoon, a Region I match had to be decided at the penalty kick spot. More details to come.
US Club Soccer Semifinals
Sunday, April 21 – 8 p.m.
Valley Christian High School – San Jose, CA
San Ramon FC 0:2 (AET) Los Gatos Storm
Los Gatos Storm will play Fresno Fuego Future in the USCS Final
There are now two teams remaining in the US Club Soccer qualifying tournament after Los Gatos Storm needed extra time to defeat San Ramon FC 2-0 on Sunday night. The original game was cut short in the middle of the second overtime period due to a power outage, but the replay lasted the full 120 minutes as the Storm put themselves one win away from a berth in the 100th edition of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. They will play the Fresno Fuego Future, a club that features the PDL franchise of the same name, at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, CA to decide US Club Soccer’s representative in the 2013 US Open Cup. The winner of that game will begin play in the Play-In Round on May 7 against an NPSL opponent still to be determined. More details to come.
#USOC100