As part of the 1995 US Open Cup Rewind Series, TheCup.us staff went back in our time machine and voted on a Player of the Round. Each round we honored the best individual performances of each round of the tournament.
With the amount of talent the Richmond Kickers have, if they are an amateur team, it won’t be for much longer. The Kickers, a powerhouse in the USISL Premier League, pulled off a 2-1 upset of the A-League’s Atlanta Ruckus in the Quarterfinals of the 1995 US Open Cup. Atlanta, who had a roster that featured multiple United States national team players, were knocked out of the tournament by the amateurs from Virginia at the University of Richmond Stadium.
Richmond’s goals were scored by Rob Ukrop and Scott Snyder and both of them were assisted by former University of Virginia star and US youth international Ben Crawley.
1995 US Open Cup Preview: The state of American soccer in 1995
1995 USOC Round 1 POTR: Carlos Llamosa
1995 USOC Q-Finals POTR: Ben Crawley
1995 USOC Semis POTR: Jake Arrambide
1995 USOC Final POTR: Jeff Causey
1995 USOC Player of Tourney: Rob Ukrop
1995 US Open Cup Results (click on the score of the game for a match report)
Crawley’s performance that helped send the Kickers into the Semifinals earned him TheCup.us Player of the Round honors. The award is voted on by a select panel of TheCup.us staff and contributors. Crawley narrowly edged out Sal Mercado of the El Paso Patriots (2 goals in a 2-0 upset of the A-League’s Colorado Foxes) and David Linn of the Chicago Stingers (Game-winning goal in the 89th minute in a win over the A-League’s New York Centaurs)
The underdog Kickers got off to a positive start with a goal in the 13th minute. Crawley found the Kickers’ leading scorer Rob Ukrop with a deep pass. Ukrop, a former national player of the year at Davidson College, took the ball into the box and calmly beat Ruckus goalkeeper Mun Yung-Yi with a shot to the far post.
Describing the play, Crawley told the Richmond Times-Dispatch “We made eye contact, and he just peeled away from his defender (US National Team defender John Doyle). I laid the ball in there, and he made a great run.”
After Doyle equalized for Atlanta in the 52nd minute, Crawley once again made the crucial pass ten minutes later. Brian Kamler found Crawley streaking down the left side, who in turn passed to Scott Snyder for the go-ahead goal.
Crawley’s soccer skills were first noticed as a teenager when he was a Parade Magazine High School All-American at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. He played for the United States Under-17 and Under-20 national teams and took part in multiple world championship tournaments alongside future pros like Kasey Keller, Chris Henderson, Mike Burns and others. Crawley claims he was the youngest member of the Under-20 national team during his time there.
Crawley was recruited by Bruce Arena as he continued to build a dynasty at the University of Virginia. Crawley was a major part of the school winning its first three national championships (1989, 1991, 1992). He was the Cavaliers’ leading scorer in three of his four years (1990-92).
“Bruce was a coach that gave every player what they needed to be their best,” said Crawley. “Sometimes it was kind but a lot of times it was tough. Every one of my teammates had a different experience with him. Personally, he gave me the freedom to create and I think he allowed me to be the best version of myself”
After graduating from UVA as a three-time national champion, there were not many professional options for him at the next level. Crawley turned to his high school coach, Wolfgang Sühnholz, who played for Bayern Munich and for multiple teams in the North American Soccer League in the 1970s. Suhnholz helped him find a home at TuS Celle FC, a German third division club.
After two seasons in Germany, Crawley returned stateside in hopes of signing with a Major League Soccer club when the league was scheduled to launch in 1995. Since the launch was pushed to 1996, players like Crawley had to find somewhere to play. As a result, Crawley ended up signing with the newly-created Richmond Kickers in the USISL Premier League.
“The (Kickers) team was thrown together kind of late, and (the USISL Premier League) was the highest league they would put us in,” said Crawley. “I think there’s a lot of organization (standards) that went into the A-League. So when we got it all together, it was March or April of 1995.”
While Crawley was disappointed that the Kickers weren’t added to the USISL Pro League (Div. 3) or the A-League (Div. 2), the Kickers saw the US Open Cup as an opportunity to prove themselves.
“The only time we got to step up and and show that we were quality was when we gotta play the US Open Cup,” said Crawley. “That way we got to play against teams that were supposed to beat us, but obviously we showed well.”