In front of a crowd of 7,378 in El Paso, Texas, the Richmond Kickers claimed the “double”, winning the 1995 US Open cup on penalties after a 1-1 extra time draw, just a few weeks after claiming the USISL Premier League crown. The win by the amateur side also marked the first time a team from Virginia and the USISL (United States Interregional Soccer League) won the US Open Cup.
The game was played at the SISD Student Activities Complex because it had a higher capacity than the Patriots home at Dudley Field, which seats about 7,000. The Patriots front office were hoping to draw more than 10,000 for the game.
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)
The championship atmosphere began in the airport when the Kickers arrived for the Final with temperatures in the 90s.
“We got off the airplane and there was a band playing the Macarena, which was really popular at the time,” recalled Richmond goalkeeper Jeff Causey. “So there was a group singing and dancing in the airport to kind of welcome us there as part of the (US Open Cup) Final.”
While the Kickers were an amateur club for the purpose of maintaining their players NCAA eligibility, the roster was filled with talented and experienced players, countering the Patriots roster with Mexican League experience. Several of the Kickers players were part of Bruce Arena’s newly-established dynasty at the University of Virginia.
“Our team had a lot of really strong college players that had already been in big game situations or played with youth national teams,” said Causey, who won three national titles at UVA from 1991-1993. “We had been in big games, so I guess the stress of being in a cup final … we weren’t as awe struck as some teams might have been.”
It was easy to be awe struck by the moment. This championship game was broadcast live on the Prime Network, a regional sports network collective that reached homes across the country. For many of the players on the field, this was the first time they would be playing in front of a television audience.
It was a relatively even first half. The first scoring chance came in the 5th minute when Richmond’s Richie Williams delivered a cross to the far post from the left wing. There Brian Kamler skied for the header and managed to put it on target, but El Paso goalkeeper Jake Arrambide was in position to make the save.
Around the 20th minute, Richmond’s Rob Ukrop had his header off a free kick miss wide of the target. This was followed up a few minutes later with El Paso’s best chance of the game.
A long ball was sent over the top to the Patriots’ David Stewart. It appeared as though Stewart was going to have a clear scoring chance, but Kickers defender Mike Clark tracked back and slide tackled the ball away to safety.
A few minutes after that, the home team had another chance when defender Gabino Amparan received a cross from a corner kick and headed it toward the upper corner of the near post. Richmond goalkeeper Jeff Causey moved well across the goal and made the save.
In the 32nd minute, Rob Ukrop tripped up Sal Mercado who was attempting to make a break through the middle of the field in the offensive third. Ukrop was shown a yellow card, but the free kick that followed was blasted high over the bar.
The last chance for the Patriots in the first half came a few minutes before the halftime whistle when the ball was headed from the left wing to the top of the box. There Rito Delgado launched a shot off a volley that went just over the bar.
A minute from halftime, the Kickers earned a free kick from about 45 yards out and Jon Hall fired a low-driving missle that missed the target by just a few inches.
The 1995 US Open Cup Final was scoreless at the half. As the second half began, fitness would come into play as the temperatures in El Paso hovered around the mid-90s.
After the halftime break, the Patriots David Stewart broke away from a pair of Kickers defenders in the 49th minute, but Richmond goalkeeper Jeff Causey charged from his goalmouth to force Stewart’s shot wide.
Just a minute later, Richmond would finally break the scoreless deadlock. Leigh Cowlishaw received a pass and took it to the touchline, where he passed back to a wide-open Rob Ukrop in front of goal. Ukrop, who was still healing from a broken cheekbone that he suffered in the Quarterfinal win over the Atlanta Ruckus, was able to get a shot off before a pair of Patriots defenders converged on him, beating goalkeeper Jake Arrambide. It was the third goal of the competition for the former national player of the year from Davidson College.
After back-to-back shutouts of A-League teams (Colorado Foxes & Seattle Sounders), it was the first goal Arrambide had allowed since the first half of the Patriots’ opening round win over the McCormick Kickers.
“We fell asleep.” Patriots head coach Oscar Lira said of the opening goal. “We couldn’t clear the ball, they stole it and put it in. That is the only reason they scored, we fell asleep for a moment.”
Richmond’s joy would be short lived. In the 51st minute, defender Kevin Scott was shown a straight red card for a late tackle on the Patriots’ Rafael Nunez, forcing the Kickers to play with 10 men the rest of the way.
With nine minutes remaining, El Paso found the equalizer. After passing the ball around the outside of the penalty area, Sal Mercado delivered it to Gabino Amparan, who blasted a shot from 30-yards out. The shot deflected off the foot of Richmond’s Mike Clark and got past a helpless Jeff Causey in goal.
“We thought, even down 1-0, that we could tie and possibly get the win,” said Mercado, who had flown in from Mexico City the morning of the game after playing with Atlético Celaya. “We gained our confidence back and pressured Richmond but the ball just wouldn’t go in.”
“Right after I scored (in the 49th minute), Kevin got the red card and the momentum went their way.” said Ukrop. “They were more aggressive and had us down a man. But then things evened up when their guy fouled me.”
The foul that Ukrop referenced came two minutes after the tying goal. Just as bad news followed Richmond’s goal, El Paso would suffer the same fate. Hector Cervantes fouled Ukrop on a breakaway, leaving referee Arturo Angeles little choice but to send Cervantes off, leaving the two sides even on the scoreboard and even with 10 players each on the field heading into extra time.
During extra time, El Paso outshot the Kickers 5-0, and nearly won the title in the 120th minute when second-half substitute Cesar Sosa connected on a header off a corner kick. However, Causey was in position to make the save and keep the game tied at 1-1 heading into penalty kicks.
The 83rd US Open Cup Final would be decided from the penalty spot. It was just the second time in tournament history that the champion would be decided this way. The first time came in 1987 when Washington D.C.’s Club Espana defeated the Mitre Eagles (Seattle, Wash.) to lift the trophy.
Heading into penalty kicks Richmond certainly held the advantage. The Kickers were 3-0 on the year in penalty shootouts during the USISL Premier League season, while the USISL Pro League, where El Paso played, used the NASL-style shootouts to break ties.
“I could tell they wanted to go to the shootout with penalty kicks,” El Paso coach Oscar Lira said. “That’s what we didn’t want. We’ve had trouble with penalty kicks all year. We didn’t want it to come to that.”
Ukrop and Brian Bates converted Richmond’s first two spot kicks, while Mercado scored for El Paso. The Patriots’ second kick taker, Raul Gomez, saw his attempt stopped by Causey as it went towards the middle of the goal.
Ben Crawley (Kickers) and Gabino Amparan (Patriots) each converted to make it 3-2 Richmond, but in the fourth round Arrambide dove to his left to stop John Hall’s kick. Causey responded by doing the same for Cesar Sosa’s attempt that followed, opening the door for the Kickers.
This left El Paso in do-or-die territory, needing to stop Michael Brady’s shot to stay alive. Unfortunately for the Patriots and their fans, Arrambide guessed wrong, diving to his right while Brady’s kick went to the left. Brady led his Kickers teammates in celebration behind the goal while the El Paso crowd fell into a disappointed silence.
With a goal in regulation and another in the PK shootout, Rob Ukrop was named the game’s MVP at the stadium. After the game, he did not hesitate to aim the spotlight on teammate Jeff Causey.
“Jeff played great.” Ukrop said. “He made two excellent saves in the shootout. He should have been the MVP. There’s no doubt.”
Causey made nine saves over 120 minutes in addition to those two saves in the PK shootout and the only goal that got past him in regulation or extra time was deflected. Causey spent each of Richmond’s PK attempts crouched at the left corner of the penalty area with his back to the goal, focusing on the Patriots kicks he would be facing.
“It takes a lot of nerve, but after I made those saves, I was happy to help the team.” Causey said. “I thrive on that.”
Kickers head coach Dennis Voillet felt the game should have never made it to penalty kicks.
“The way we played and the way they played, I thought we should have won the thing in the first hour,” said Viollet, a former Manchester United star in his playing days. “We should have been up 2-0 after the first half.”
In addition to winning the 83rd edition of the US Open Cup, the Kickers earned $25,000 in prize money, as well as a spot in the 1996 CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup against Necaxa of Mexico. (Note: the tournament would be abandoned before Richmond had a chance to play.)
Despite the loss, the Patriots did leave the game with a small consolation prize. USISL commissioner Francisco Marcos was in attendance and stated that there was a good chance El Paso would host the 1996 USISL Pro League “Sizzling Nine” post-season championship tournament.