The Semifinals of the 1995 US Open Cup came down to four very different teams. The Seattle Sounders, the best team from the A-League (Div. 2) had to travel south to take on the injury-riddled El Paso Patriots from the USISL Pro League (Div. 3). Meanwhile, the Cinderella story of the competition, the Richmond Kickers, an amateur side from the USISL Premier League, hosted the second place team in the USISL Pro League, the Chicago Stingers.
The winner of each game will advance to the Final with $25,000 in prize money and the title as the United States’ national champion on the line.
July 30, 1995
Seattle Sounders (A-League) at El Paso Patriots (USISL Pro)
Dudley Field – El Paso, TX
Kickoff: 4 p.m. ET
Controversy has surrounded what day and time this game was to be played. Originally a window of Aug. 2 – 4 was set, and the USISL had agreed to cancel the Patriots’ game that weekend against the Los Angeles Salsa since it would not impact either team’s playoff positioning. However, news came on July 26 that the game was being moved up to July 30. The Patriots accused the Open Cup committee of playing political games since Seattle is the lone A-League team remaining. A-League commissioner Richard Groff, along with USISL commissioner Francisco Marcos, are members on the committee.
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)
In retaliation, the Patriots have set the kickoff time to 2 p.m. local time when temperatures will be close to 100 degrees, much hotter than the Sounders players are used to in the relatively mild weather of the Pacific Northwest. In comparison, the Seattle area is looking at highs in the upper 70s.
The Patriots are on top of the USISL Pro South Central division with a 15-3 record, and forward Rito Delgado is second in the league in scoring with 25 goals and 10 assists. The Patriots will be without Sal Mercado for the game, as he returns to Mexico. Mercado was the hero in their Quarterfinal upset of the A-League Colorado Foxes, scoring both goals in the 2-0 win.
In addition to the loss of Mercado, many Patriots starters are dealing with injuries. Starters Neri Bautista (ankle), Rito Delgado (leg), Guillermo McFarlane (thigh) and Erique Cervantes (ribs) are all hobbled. Since El Paso has clinched their division, the Patriots rested some of their regular starters in their final USISL regular season game against the Texas Lightning on July 28.
“It’s sort of unbelievable,” McFarlane told the El Paso Times. “We started off great and had no worries. Now we have the injuries and it makes you wonder.”
Seattle is red hot in the A-League, riding a six-game winning streak and sitting atop the league at 13-3. Peter Hattrup remains the best offensive player in the league, registering 8 goals and 5 assists. Chance Fry is also among the league leaders with 7 goals and 2 assists.
Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann is second in the league with a 1.00 goals against average and has been selected by Steve Sampson for the Parmalat Cup roster, a tournament involving the U.S. Men’s National Team along with club teams Parma, Benfica and Boca Juniors.
The Sounders have reached the Semifinals by steamrolling both USISL Pro clubs they have faced. Seattle opened the tournament with a 9-2 thrashing of the Everett BigFoot, a win so thorough that Sounders head coach Alan Hinton took two players off the field in the final ten minutes to avoid running up the score.
Their victim in the Quarterfinals was the Chico Rooks, by a score of 5-0. During that game Sounders forward Jason Dunn (twin brother of teammate James Dunn) suffered a broken nose when he was reportedly punched by the Rooks’ Eric Descombes. It was the seventh time Dunn has broken his nose in his career, and it will keep him out of the game vs. El Paso.
August 4, 1995
Chicago Stingers (USISL Pro) at Richmond Kickers (USISL Premier)
University of Richmond Stadium – Richmond, VA
Kickoff: 7:35 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: 1340 WHAP (Richmond)
While the Richmond Kickers and Chicago Stingers are both in second place in their respective divisions, the teams have had vastly different seasons. Chicago finished the USISL Pro League regular season with an 11-9 record, well behind the first place Minnesota Thunder (19-1). Despite finishing just two games over .500, the Stingers managed to qualify for the playoffs. They are scheduled to begin their playoff run on the road against the St. Louis Knights on Aug. 8.
The Kickers finished with the third-most points in the USISL Premier League with a 15-3 record, but were unable to overtake the 16-2 Cocoa Expos for first place. Richmond has the advantage of skipping the USISL Premier League playoffs, since they are hosting the “Sizzling Four” Finals on Aug. 9-11 they get an automatic spot among the four teams. The Kickers began the season with a 14-game winning streak across all competitions but recently have lost three of their last four USISL contests.
“I don’t think any team has beaten us; we’ve beaten ourselves,” Kickers head coach and former Manchester United star Dennis Violett said of the recent losses.
Stingers defender Greg Muhr and Kickers midfielder Ben Crawley have been selected for a USISL All-Star Game that will face Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers in Dublin, Ohio on Aug. 5.
Richmond may be without their best player, as forward Rob Ukrop suffered a broken cheekbone in the Quarterfinal game against the A-League’s Atlanta Ruckus when he was accidentally struck by an elbow while challenging US international and Atlanta Ruckus defender John Doyle for the ball. Ukrop will dress for the game, but Violett has said he only wants to use him as a sub “if it was an absolute emergency only”, considering the Kickers have the USISL Premier League Finals next weekend.
Chicago signed defender Matt Knowles on July 26. Knowles has played with the indoor Milwaukee Wave for the past three seasons. He was the team’s second leading scorer for the Wave in the 1994-95 season with 33 goals and 21 assists. His last stint on an outdoor pitch was in 1993 with the Tampa Rowdies of the APSL.
Richmond and Chicago reached the Semifinals by upsetting a pair of A-League clubs in the Quarterfinals on July 12.
In the opening match of the day. Richmond got by the Atlanta Ruckus 2-1 on goals from Rob Ukrop (13th minute) and Scott Snyder (62nd minute), both assisted by Ben Crawley. Crawley was voted TheCup.us Player of the Round for his performance.
To cap off the night, the Stingers needed just one goal to knock out the New York Centaurs. David Linn’s 89th minute winner made it 3-0 for the USISL teams on the night, as the El Paso Patriots went on the road and defeated the defending A-League champion Colorado Foxes in the other game.