The Richmond Kickers braved the Texas heat and defeated the El Paso Patriots in a penalty kick shootout to win the 1995 US Open Cup. After finishing tied at 1-1 after 120 minutes of the championship game, Kickers goalkeeper Jeff Causey made two crucial saves to give Richmond a 4-2 win in the shootout. With the win, the Kickers became the first Virginia-based club to win the tournament.
Causey, playing for a USISL Premier League amateur team, made nine saves in regulation and extra time. For about 33 minutes of the second half, Richmond played with a man down.
For his performance, Causey has been voted TheCup.us Player of the Round for the 1995 US Open Cup. The award is voted on by a select panel of TheCup.us staff and contributors.
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 other finalist for the award, Rob Ukrop, was a consistent offensive threat for the Kickers. Ukrop also scored the game’s opening goal in the 49th minute, converted the first penalty kick in the game’s tiebreaking shootout, and drew the foul that led to the Patriots’ Hector Cervantes getting a red card in the 83rd minute.
As the more than 7,000 mostly disappointed fans were making their way out of the SISD Student Activities Center in El Paso, the tournament organizers announced that Ukrop was the MVP of the game. When the staff of TheCup.us voted on this award in 2025, they backed up Ukrop’s post-game comments 30 years later.
“Jeff played great.” Ukrop told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “He made two excellent saves in the shootout. He should have been the MVP. There’s no doubt.”
The lone goal Causey allowed in the game came in the 81st minute when El Paso’s Sal Mercado laid a ball off to defender Gabino Amparan who fired a right footed shot from about 30 yards out. The ball took a deflection off a defender in front of the goal and found its way into the back of the net.
“It was so frustrating because I had a couple of good saves before that, and then you know, it’s getting late (in the game), and it’s hot, and guys are starting to cramp up and physically slow down and then all of a sudden there’s a deflection and we’re tied,” said Causey. “The deflection was crushing, but then it was like, ‘ok, now we gotta go into overtime and even more people are starting to cramp up … it was definitely a gut check.”
After 30 minutes of extra time played without a goal, the champion would be decided by a penalty kick shootout. 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’s winning goal won the tournament by the score of 4-2. As soon as the ball nestled into the back of the net, Brady ran behind the goal where Causey and the rest of his teammates mobbed him in the Texas heat in front of a disappointed crowd in El Paso.
With very few games broadcast on television, and no scouting video, the goalkeepers in the PK shootout had nothing to work with. There were no cheat sheets.
“It was just reading cues and body language and run-up position,” said Causey about his approach to the shootout. “I had a couple of ideas, and had a little bit of luck on the guesses, getting a good push (off the line) and I was able to make a couple of good saves.”
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.”
By lifting the US Open Cup trophy with the Richmond Kickers, it added to Causey’s trophy case. The former NCAA All-American won three national championships (1991-93) at the University of Virginia under head coach Bruce Arena and just a few weeks before winning the 1995 US Open Cup, he led the Kickers to the USISL Premier League title.