David Walker

2018 US Open Cup Round 3: MLS-bound Nashville SC ousts Brilla to earn date with MLS team

May 24, 2018 by David Walker

Coming off a huge upset of Indy Eleven in the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, PDL’s Mississippi Brilla rolled into Nashville hoping to pick off another USL team. However, Nashville SC have yet to lose at home this year, and were looking to maintain the Cup momentum they earned last week when they defeated crosstown rivals Inter Nashville.

In the end, some order was restored to the universe as the professionals beat the amateurs, but just barely. Nashville held on to defeat a very dangerous Brilla side 3-1 in front of a crowd of 1,047 at the Vanderbilt University Soccer Complex.

Mississippi came here with a terrific win under their belt, and they looked very confident,” said Nashville SC head coach Gary Smith. “These games are extremely difficult. You’re favorites, I said it last week, a bit of a banana skin. Our attitude was good, we started off well, couldn’t have asked for much more in the first half other than to really have finished the game off.”

Complete midfield dominance by Nashville combined with defensive miscues by Brilla to offer up plenty of chances in the first half. Nashville’s first goal came in the 20th minute when Brandon Allen scored off an assist by Tucker Hume. Robin Shroot stole the ball just outside the penalty area and played the ball to Hume, who faked a shot and laid the ball off to Allen, who beat Jordan Bell with a left-footed shot just inside the post.

The Shroot/Hume combination has continued to bring success to NSC, with the former getting two assists and the latter getting both goals against Inter Nashville in the Second Round.

Brandon Allen was playing in his first game for Nashville SC, having signed just the day before from Bethlehem Steel, also of the USL.

Allen nearly got a second goal in the 24th minute after a hard foul in the 18-yard box led to a Nashville penalty kick. Allen made a decent effort on the PK, but Brilla’s Bell made a quality diving save to his right, denying Allen.

Just five minutes later another foul led to Nashville defender London Woodberry scoring his first goal of the season, a curling a free kick around the wall from 24 yards out, putting the ball just inside the right post to give the home team a 2-0 lead going into the half.

Brilla failed to register even one shot in the first half, and it seemed like the game was all but over – but after the halftime, the game turned upside down.

Scoring goals? For us it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. #OurTownOurClub pic.twitter.com/O84Vxg7U4c

— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) May 24, 2018

The PDL team from Mississippi came out and took over. They controlled possession, pressed hard, and within fifteen minutes had pulled back a goal and looked like they might be on the verge of another upset. Nashville’s CJ Cochran made several desperate saves and it looked like his team might weather the storm until Christian Kirchoff’s cross from the right wing found the head of Napo Matsoso and with 30 minutes remaining the game was 2-1.

Nashville were content to continue absorbing Brilla’s pressure, and it almost didn’t work out for them. Mississippi came agonizingly close on several occasions, and until Robin Shroot scored his first goal of the season in the 91st minute off the counterattack, overtime seemed like it might be in the cards. Nashville SC goes on to the Fourth Round, but Mississippi Brilla can hold their heads high, having had a great run.

The draw for the Fourth Round will be held May 24 for June 6 matchups that will feature the introduction of MLS teams to Cup competition.

2018 US Open Cup Round 2: Nashville SC wins the inaugural “El Nashico” with Inter Nashville FC

May 20, 2018 by David Walker

Tucker Hume of Nashville SC scores one of his two goals against Inter Nashville FC in the Second Round of the 2018 US Open Cup. Photo: Nashville SC

Some local wag named this derby match “El Nashico”. It’s unclear if this nickname will survive – it’s actually unclear if Nashville will still have two teams after MLS comes to town – but for tonight it’s a rivalry. NPSL side Inter Nashville, coming off a 6-1 thrashing of defending PDL champion Charlotte Eagles last week in the First Round, faced off against USL side Nashville SC in their Lamar Hunt US Open Cup debut at Vanderbilt University’s Lacrosse/Soccer complex in front of 2070 fans.

Nashville SC boasted an honest-to-goodness supporters group, complete with pregame tailgate and drum-accompanied march to the stadium. Inter took a more no-frills approach, but were brimming with confidence after their first round romp. Inter’s Chuka Aruh earned Player of the Round honors from TheCup.us in his team’s first ever appearance in the tournament.

Inter came out applying high pressure and showing a willingness to attack, while Nashville SC were content to knock the ball around early on and look for openings in Inter’s defense. Eventually Inter began to lay back and absorb pressure from Nashville SC. In the 19th minute, NSC midfielder Robin Shroot found Tucker Hume with a long through ball that got past the Inter back line. Hume dribbled into the penalty area, pushed the ball to the right as goalkeeper John Coffman charged off his line, then slotted the ball home to put the USL team up 1-0.

After last night’s win in the @opencup we’re one game away from facing an @MLS team. #OurTownOurClub

: https://t.co/b1JhEUyBSr pic.twitter.com/mKY3LJNvWE

— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) May 17, 2018

The remainder of the first half was played fairly even, with Nashville SC continuing the attacking momentum while Inter played a dangerous counterattacking game. The half (the whole match, really) was full of hard tackles and not a few yellow cards from both sides, but no more goals as the first half ended 1-0.

Nashville SC fans cheer on their team against Inter Nashville FC in a Second Round match in the 2018 US Open Cup. Photo: Nashville SC

The second half started much the same way as the first had, with Inter playing the high line and NSC playing possession soccer. Just as Inter started to fall back defensively and look to counter as they had done at the start of the game, Referee Leland Grant whistled play dead and cleared the field because of lightning in the area. In all the weather delay lasted about 30 minutes.

When play resumed, Inter tried to take advantage of the rest period and once again tried to press NSC and maintain the high line, but the game quickly fell back into NSC attacking and Inter trying to counter. Both sides had their chances, and the game was never comfortably in hand for NSC unti Shroot and Hume connected in the 89th minute, this time with Hume making a beautiful spin move in the box and roofing a shot past Coffman to put the game away at 2-0.

Nashville SC will host PDL side Mississippi Brilla (who upset the USL’s Indy Eleven 1-0 at home) on Wednesday May 23rd, again at the Vanderbilt University Lacrosse/Soccer Complex in Nashville. The winner will take on a team from Major League Soccer in Round 4.

2018 US Open Cup Round 1: Chuka Aruh of Inter Nashville wins TheCup.us Player of the Round

May 15, 2018 by David Walker

Chuka Aruh of Inter Nashville poses with a couple of fans. Photo: Inter Nashville

With a first half hat trick against Charlotte Eagles, Inter Nashville’s Chuka Aruh earned TheCup.us Player of the Round honors for the First Round of the 2018 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

Aruh scored in the 5th, 6th, and 35th minutes in a road game against the reigning PDL Champions. A Richie Reichenberger goal and a brace from Ivan Sakou rounded out a convincing 6-1 victory in front of 300 fans in Matthews, North Carolina.

The award is voted on by the staff at TheCup.us and a select panel from the North American Soccer Reporters.

Other players who received strong support were the other two players who scored hat tricks in the opening round: Cesar Castillo of FC Denver and David Ochoa of Miami United FC. Dilly Duka of FC Motown and Nate Steinwascher, the goalkeeper from Detroit City FC, also received support in what was a fairly spread out vote.

Asked when he knew he was going to have a big night, Aruh said, “Before the game, I was actually a bit anxious, but once the first goal went in, I was a lot more relaxed, the touches came easy, then after the second, I just wanted to get the ball.”

Inter Nashville celebrate their 6-1 win over the Charlotte Eagles in the 2018 US Open Cup. Photo: Inter Nashville

Aruh, a native of London, England, came to Nashville to train with Rich Askey at the now-defunct Nashville FC and also played at Cumberland University in Antioch, just outside Nashville. When Askey took over coaching duties for Inter Nashville one of the first calls he made was to the young Englishman. The rest is, literally, history. It was Inter’s first game in the US Open Cup, and Aruh has the club’s first ever hat trick in the competition and just the third player from an NPSL team to score a hat trick.

Aruh is also just the second England-born player to score three goals in a game in the Modern Era. (Dom Dwyer, Sporting Kansas City in 2014)

With the win, Inter moves on to play the USL’s Nashville SC in a “Nashville Derby”. It marks the first time that two Tennessee clubs have faced each other in the history of the tournament.

“I don’t have a personal relationship with any of the guys on Nashville SC, but it’s hardly just another game for me,” said Aruh. “I feel like Inter Nashville gets overlooked around here, and I want to go out there and prove to people that Nashville SC isn’t the only team in town.”

2015 US Open Cup Round 3: Atlanta Silverbacks force OT, knock off last NPSL club Chattanooga FC 2-1 (video)

May 28, 2015 by David Walker

Last year this same fixture featured a Chattanooga team that had just made history by being the first NPSL team to defeat a professional side of any level in the US Open Cup, besting the Wilmington Hammerheads 3-1 in the 2nd Round. Hard reality set in when Eric Wynalda brought the Silverbacks into town and administered a 5-0 beating to CFC.

This year’s results are much different. The fine line that separated the two teams last year was even finer, and at times you couldn’t tell which side was in the second tier of American soccer and which was in the fourth.

Surprises in the starting lineup of Chattanooga, as Luke Winter and Luis Trude started on the bench. Bill Elliott’s strategy was to conserve their legs (in addition to league and cup play, Chattanooga are also playing in the National Amateur Championship Tournament this weekend) and bring them in late should the score be close. It was a practical plan, and it nearly paid off.

For the first 15 minutes, Chattanooga did in fact look like the professional side; playing patient possession soccer while Atlanta played long balls over the top. Atlanta settled down quickly and began to control things for about 20 minutes. The only thing that separated the sides in terms of quality was speed, particularly that of Atlanta’s Jaime Chavez, who caused all sorts of trouble making runs down the left wing.

With ten minutes left in the first half, Chattanooga took complete control. Sustained pressure, several shots, including a side volley at point blank range by Jose Ferraz that, had it been struck just a bit more sweetly, would surely have been the first goal of the match.

The second half started with Atlanta firmly in control, unlucky not to score on more than one occasion. As the half went on, Chattanooga once again took control, and when Winter and Trude came on, you could start to believe a major upset was in the making.

Then in the 86th minute, the Cinderella story seemed to be coming true. A long ball from Ferraz was dummied onto Winter, who struck it first time from sixteen yards out, and the front office team began to mentally make plans to fit a trip to Red Bull Arena into their already busy fixture list.

But fate, and referee Guido Gonzalez, Jr., stepped in to change the evening from a moment of history to yet another close game between seemingly mismatched teams. Having let play go on relatively uninterrupted for most of the match, Gonzalez called a penalty in the 89th minute on what looked like a good tackle in the box. Shaka Bangura made no mistake from the spot and overtime was in play.

Yet even in overtime Chattanooga came agonizingly close on three occasions, including a header off the crossbar and a shot into the side netting that everyone at Finlay Stadium thought, briefly, was the go ahead goal.

But in the end it was Jaime Chavez scoring from the right side of the penalty area with a perfectly executed half-volley that beat Gregory Hartley to the near side.

Final: Atlanta 2, Chattanooga 1.

Silverbacks coach Gary Smith was highly complimentary to both the Chattanooga players and coach Bill Elliott. “In all honesty, I felt they were the better team for the vast majority of the game. They had a lot of great chances that on another day could have been the end of us. We managed to scrape through by the skin of our teeth.”

REPLAY: Atlanta Silverbacks at Chattanooga FC

2014 US Open Cup Round 3: Eric Wynalda-led Atlanta Silverbacks silence Chattanooga FC, will host Real Salt Lake (video)

May 29, 2014 by David Walker

Two weeks ago, Chattanooga FC used a well-drilled wing attacking scheme to confound USL PRO side Wilmington, making history as the first NPSL team to defeat a team from USL Pro.

Tonight the dream came to an end as Eric Wynalda’s Atlanta Silverbacks of the second-tier NASL brought the amateurs down to earth with a convincing 5-0 victory in Chattanooga.

Junior Burgos had a brace, Junior Sandoval, Deon McCauley, Jaime Chavez had one apiece, as the Silverbacks dominated in front of an impressive crowd of 4,058 at Finley Stadium.

Atlanta will host MLS side Real Salt Lake in the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup on June 14 at Silverbacks Park.

Technical Director Eric Wynalda said he had seen the tape of the Wilmington game from the 2nd round.

“You can watch tape all the time and think you know what you’re getting in to,” he said, “but really you don’t know until you’re there.”

Sandoval and Burgos both scored from long distance in the first half.

Sandoval scored in the 12th minute to open the scoring before Burgos scored on a free kick from just outside the box in the 17th minute.

Burgos’ second goal in the 42nd minute was a left-footed blast from all of 30 yards out to give Atlanta a commanding 3-0 heading into halftime.

The Silverbacks added another goal in the 68th minute when McCauley — who missed on his previous scoring chances — scored to make it 4-0.

Burgos added an assist to his tally on Chavez’s goal in the 71st minute.

The Silverbacks controlled possession for most of the match while out-shooting CFC, 9-1.

The differences between a talented amateur side and a Second Division pro side are slim. Perhaps a touch more speed, a tiny but distinct tendency to make fewer bad touches and hurried passes, and, usually, an edge in physical conditioning.

When asked what the main difference between amateurs and professionals at this level, Wynalda said, “Everyone can do some tricks and make a pass, but is it the right pass? It’s mostly about vision.”

Highlights from game via WRCB-TV.
WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather

FULL MATCH REPLAY

2014 US Open Cup Round 2: Chattanooga FC first from NPSL to upset pro team with win over Wilmington Hammerheads (video)

May 16, 2014 by David Walker

Chattanooga FC made history on Wednesday night, defeating the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL Pro 3-1 to become the first NPSL team to defeat a professional team in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

Entering the competition, the league, as a whole, was 0-15-0 against pro competition all-time, but a pair of goals from Luke Winter helped lead the way to the team’s first tournament victory.

With the win, the NPSL Southeast Conference Champions advance to the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time in club history. Chattanooga will host NASL-side Atlanta Silverbacks at Finley Stadium on May 28th.

The match nearly didn’t take place at all. Heavy storms rolling in to Chattanooga from the southwest forced team officials to move the match up an hour. Despite the last minute time change, a crowd of 1,502 braved the rain.

For the first 15 minutes, the teams played each other evenly, with Wilmington holding slightly more possession. Chattanooga began to look like the stronger side, though, using fluid wing play to create several dangerous chances. In the 21st minute, forward Luke Winter beat the Wilmington offside trap for a breakaway, tucking the ball past keeper Matt Glaeser to open the scoring.

In the 39th minute, somewhat against the run of play, the Hammerheads equalized, when Brazilian-born Belgian Mickael Oliveira slipped his marker and flicked in a cross from Jordan Hamilton. This boost would be short lived, as just before halftime, Wilmington’s Jason Watson was cautioned for deliberately handling the ball while on the ground. It was his second yellow card of the match, resulting in a red card and his dismissal.

The second half started evenly but with the player advantage Chattanooga eventually asserted control. In the 63rd minute midfielder Luis Trude make a picture-perfect cross from the right wing, connecting directly with Winter. The Tennessee Wesleyan College alumnus had little choice but to head it sharply to the near post for his second goal of the night, giving the 4th Division side a 2-1 lead.

Asked about his two goals, Winter said: “The first one, I knew I was onside. It would have been hard for him to make that call. The second one, Luis hit it so well, it wasn’t even a cross – it was a pass. It was a pass directly to my head.”

In the 89th minute, with Wilmington desperately pressing late in the game, Chattanooga took advantage on the counterattack. Trude slipped through on a breakaway but was taken down by Oliveira, who was immediately sent off for stopping a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Deep into stoppage time, Chattanooga capitalized on the two-man advantage, with an insurance goal from Chrispin Ochieng, assisted by Trude, his second of the night.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

FULL MATCH REPLAY