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Evan Ream

2018 Meet the Underdogs: FC Denver hopes US Open Cup will lead to national recognition

May 5, 2018 by Evan Ream

FC Denver poses for a team photo during a trip where they traveled to play two friendlies against USL side Saint Louis FC. Photo: FC Denver
FC Denver poses for a team photo during a trip where they traveled to play two friendlies against USL side Saint Louis FC. Photo: FC Denver
FC Denver poses for a team photo during a trip where they traveled to play two friendlies against USL side Saint Louis FC. Photo: FC Denver

Followers of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and amateur soccer in Colorado may very well be aware of the recent national success of Harpo’s FC, but this year’s tournament will see another emerging power from the Rocky Mountain State look to follow in the footsteps of the two-time Second Round qualifier.

Playing in the Colorado Premier League, FC Denver has been one of the top teams in the state since its inception in 2005, with two USSSA State Cup championships under its belt as well as several other regional titles.

Denver qualified for the 2018 US Open Cup through the open division qualifying tournament, showing excellent form in pitching three shutouts in victories over Gam United FC (3-0), Fort Collins United (1-0), and Indios Denver FC (2-0 AET).

And if the club has anything to say about it, this qualification is just the first step toward growing FC Denver into what player-coach Drew Melin hopes will be a club that garners national recognition.

“I think eventually our goal is to get to a higher level,” said Melin, who plays outside back for FC Denver. “Whether that’s joining a national league or going even farther and joining NPSL or something like that, that’s one of our primary goals, just to continue to grow and become a national team here representing Denver.”

Comprised mostly of former collegiate varsity and club players — Melin played for the club team at Colorado State — FC Denver plays a possession-based, technical style of play that leaves little room for its opponents to generate any quality attacks.

FC Denver lines up before a recent game. Photo: FC Denver
FC Denver lines up before a recent game. Photo: FC Denver

With a defense led by former University of St. Francis (Joilet, Ill.) goalkeeper Michael Moberg and classy center back Joel Miller, opponents will be hard-pressed to score on FC Denver, while its attack is led by former UC Santa Barbara standout and Chivas USA reserve Cesar Castillo.

However, like any other amateur side anywhere in the world, it can sometimes be a challenge for Melin and Co. to get a consistent batch of players to train and play.

“The biggest challenge is getting people to have a commitment level of making it every week,” Melin said. “We only practice once a week and then we play on Sundays. But guys have their own lives, they have work, they have their own schedules, they go out of town.

“We have some teachers that go on spring breaks, one of our top defenders works in the field, so for almost a whole season, he couldn’t practice with us,” he added. “And with the travel, it’s very hard to get guys consistently out.”

Usually limited to the confines of Colorado, that travel was expanded this past spring when — due to its Open Cup qualification — FC Denver was invited to play two friendlies against United Soccer League (USL) club Saint Louis FC.

“It was a great bonding experience,” Melin said. “We went out there with hope that we would at least learn a ton. Not many people (on our team) have played a team of that level so we were going out there, give it our all, learn as much as we can, and get a lot of playing time for everyone out there.

“It was unbelievable,” he added .”Just Saint Louis FC, they were super classy, they were very skilled, very well-coached. Off the field, their fans chatted with us after both games and during the games.”

FC Denver players (white) battle for the ball during an exhibition game with Saint Louis FC of the USL. Photo: FC Denver
FC Denver players (white) battle for the ball during an exhibition game with Saint Louis FC of the USL. Photo: FC Denver

Those fans, the St. Louligans, even chipped in some of the proceeds from their organization to help FC Denver, which had a goal of raising $6,000 to cover expenses for its First Round US Open Cup game.

On the field, FC Denver lost both games by a combined 13-0 scoreline, but according to Melin, the experience was invaluable.

“We focus less on the scoreline and more on how we actually played in that second game,” he said. “We learned a lot. If we just take the scoreline, we’re using that as our rock bottom and just trying to improve from there.”

Now the focus shifts to a team FC Denver is already familiar with, Azteca FC, a fellow Colorado Premier League squad that knocked off the aforementioned Harpo’s FC to qualify for the Open Cup.

Denver will host Azteca FC on May 9 at 7:15 p.m. local time at North Stadium in Westminster, Colo.

“It will be a very skilled, very physical game, very technical,” Melin said. “With two teams that know each other as well as we do and with so much on the line, you never know. It could get pretty feisty, but I expect it to be very technical and very physical.”

FC Denver and friends out on the town. Photo: FC Denver
FC Denver and friends out on the town. Photo: FC Denver

Both squads know that there’s plenty to play for, with the winner moving on to face the USL’s Colorado Springs Switchbacks just one week later.

“It would probably be the biggest game any of us has played in up to this point,” Melin said about a possible Switchbacks match. “And for some of us to do it at the age that we’re doing it — because we have a couple of guys in our 30s — for us to be able to do it at this age and at this stage of our lives and soccer careers, it’s massive. It’s kind of unheard of.

“Obviously, you think of the US Open Cup as a whole and what the potential of what you could do, with some of the amateur teams in the past playing MLS teams, sometimes it’s hard to just limit yourself to looking at USL teams, but what we just have to make sure to do is to focus on the Azteca team,” he added. “We know that if we win, it would be a quick turnaround, to play the Switchbacks in a week, but we have to get past this Azteca team.”

Filed Under: 2018 US Open Cup, Feature - Main, Feature - Qualifying, Meet the Underdogs, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Qualifying Tagged With: 2018 US Open Cup, FC Denver, Meet the Underdogs

2017 US Open Cup Round 4: Sacramento Republic conquer RSL to earn first win over MLS team

June 16, 2017 by Evan Ream

sacramento-republic-vs-real-salt-lake-2017-usoc-bigMaybe they just like to play in the U.S. Open Cup.

Starting the USL season in indifferent form, Sacramento Republic FC are having statistically their worst-ever season, scoring just 11 goals in 13 games, en route to a 4-6-3 start that has the club on the outside looking in of the playoff race.

But at the same time, the Republic’s cup form has been impeccable, especially Wednesday night at Papa Murphy’s Park when Sacramento picked up their first-ever victory against an MLS club in the competition, defeating Real Salt Lake 4-1 in a dominating performance.

In doing so, the Republic have now scored ten goals in just three Open Cup matches, a far cry from their league form.

“We’ve had so much disappointment this season with results, not performances,” said head coach Paul Buckle. “I was delighted with the performance in the end, the character, great fitness levels, we kept the ball very well, we scored some good goals and we looked very dangerous.”

The city of Sacramento was pretty excited on social media after the club's first-ever win over an MLS opponent.
The city of Sacramento was pretty excited on social media after the club’s first-ever win over an MLS opponent.

After dominating the possession and coming up short on four corner kicks in the first half, the Republic finally hit pay-dirt on the fifth, in the 29th minute of the game.

Though the initial chance was cleared out by the Real Salt Lake defense, the ball fell to Sacramento left back James Kiffe, who played a cross far post to Danny Barrera. Barrera made his name in the competition playing for the 2012 Cal FC side that reached the fifth round of the tournament.

Barrera laid out full stretch to head the ball back across the box to Trinidad and Tobago international Trevin Caesar, who rippled the back of the net on the half volley for a 1-0 lead.

How you feeling this morning, Sacramento?

Relive all the ⚽️ from last night’s historic 4-1 win over RSL to get your day started off right pic.twitter.com/QrojM1UDJl

— Republic FC (@SacRepublicFC) June 15, 2017

It was a lead that would last just six minutes as Real Salt Lake equalized completely against the run of play on a slaloming run through the heart of the Republic defense that ended with Ricardo Velazco rifling a shot low and hard past Sacramento goalkeeper Evan Newton.

But a Republic side that had played poorly in the USL as of late wouldn’t stop fighting, and again took the lead two minutes before half time, again off of a service from Danny Barrera on a cleared corner kick.

With the ball on his cultured left foot, Barrera whipped a cross into the near post that defensive midfielder Augustin Cazarez flicked to the far post and into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead.

For Cazarez, a quiet-spoken defensive midfielder, it was his first competitive goal for the club in exactly two years and one day, dating back to a 2-1 USL victory over Arizona United in 2015.

Just two minutes later it went from bad to worse for Real Salt Lake, who fouled Caesar in the box, leading Jeremey Hall to step up and blast the ensuing penalty off the post and into the goal for a 3-1 halftime advantage.

Barrera sealed the game late, getting on the scoresheet himself with a diving header off of a Kiffe cross that sent the home crowd into pandemonium, and for the first time, the Republic into the last 16 of the Open Cup.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2017 US Open Cup, Real Salt Lake, Sacramento Republic

2017 US Open Cup Round 2: Sacramento Republic overcome poor league form with emphatic win vs. Anahuac FC

May 23, 2017 by Evan Ream

Sacramento Republic logo

If any team appeared prime for upsetting heading into the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, it was Sacramento Republic FC.

In the midst of an 0-5-1 run in USL play in which the club had failed to score a goal in a club-record 563 minutes, the Republic were in arguably the worst form of their history, and facing an FC Anahuac side that had just come off an opportunistic penalty kick victory over the Sonoma County Sol.

But from minute one until the final whistle, this game was all Republic all the time as the Sacramento club ended their drought in an emphatic fashion: a 4-0 victory that advanced them to a third round game against USL expansion club Reno 1868 FC. The winner will host Real Salt Lake of MLS in Round 4.

“It’s been ages since we scored a goal, you never come out in front of guys and make excuses,” said Republic head coach Paul Buckle. “We’ve not found the back of the net in these games and it’s cost us, it’s cost us a lot of games. It’s been a very difficult time, and it still is.

“Any level of football, against any level of opposition, you’re going to come unstuck, as we did last year,” he added. “I thought the players, first of all, we approached the game in the right manner. I asked the boys to forget what had gone on before and focus on being on the front foot and being on a tempo, and we did. I think all night, we actually got better.”

English striker Harry Williams was the star on the night, becoming the third Republic player to tally multiple goals in the club’s nine-game Open Cup history.

Set up on crosses from wing back Elliot Hord, Williams struck in the 12th and 15th minutes to put the game out of reach early and become the Republic’s first goalscorer in over a month.
“It’s about time, isn’t it?” Williams said after the match.

He was joined on the scoresheet midway through the second half by substitute, and birthday boy, Wilson Kneeshaw, who was brought down in the penalty box and stepped up to send Anahuac goalkeeper Angel Alvarez the wrong way.

After not having scored for so long, the Republic sent waves of attackers forward until the last minute of the game, and were again rewarded when Trinidad and Tobago international Trevin Caeser broke through on goal in the left side of the box.

Though Caeser’s shot was saved by Alvarez, the rebound fell to fellow substitute Daniel Trickett-Smith, and the ex-Liverpool youth player struck a side volley into the back of the net that caused the crowd of 5,308 at Papa Murphy’s Park to erupt in exuberance.

With the win, the Republic improved to 6-2-1 in all-time Open Cup play, with the draw coming as a heartbreaking penalty kick loss in 2015 to the San Jose Earthquakes.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2017 US Open Cup, Anahuac FC, Sacramento Republic

2017 US Open Cup Round 1: Burlingame Dragons oust former Open Cup champs to advance for first time

May 13, 2017 by Evan Ream

The scene from historic Boxer Stadium in San Francisco with El Farolito hosting Burlingame Dragons in the First Round of the 2017 US Open Cup. Photo: Evan Ream
The scene from historic Boxer Stadium in San Francisco with El Farolito hosting Burlingame Dragons in the First Round of the 2017 US Open Cup. Photo: Evan Ream

In a match that featured a former US Open Cup winner pitted against a side that had yet to win a match in the competition, it was the newcomers who ended up victorious on the day.

The Burlingame Dragons FC, a third-year PDL franchise, managed their first win in three first round tries, beating El Farolito at Boxer Stadium 6-5 on penalties after the two teams drew 0-0 through 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime.

The circumstances of the match replicated those of many early round matches in the tournament, with several instances out of the control of both squads playing a factor.

Any side competing at this portion of the competition may be familiar with the the following aspects that impacted the match:

* The lack of field lights at Boxer Stadium forced the match to a 3 p.m. kickoff, meaning that several Dragons couldn’t attend the match due to conflicting college classes.

Burlingame Dragons FC logo* Up until just days before the game, neither side was sure who winger Gabe Silveira would suit up for, as he had played for both teams in the past few months (he ended up starting for the Dragons).

* The playing surface was less-than-optimal, with a bumpy pitch also lined for lacrosse.

“Not only did we not know much about our opponent, but our boys have only been together a few times, and we had a few players play today that we haven’t even seen,” said assistant coach Albertin Montoya, who took the reins on the night from head coach Joe Cannon, who was in Hawaii. “It’s more about an attitude and a mindset in the way we approached this game.”

Still, both sides came out attacking in a back-and-forth match, until the air was taken out of it by a stoppage of play late in the first half due to a pair of head injuries.

That pause resulted in 13 minutes of stoppage time in the first half, disrupting any momentum that was previously had by either side.

And that disruption was further exacerbated by a 52nd minute red card to Luis Nieves of El Farolito for a two-footed challenge in the middle of the park.

From there El Farolito, who were making their first appearance in the tournament since winning the US Open Cup title under the name CD Mexico in 1993, packed it in to try to play for overtime and penalties. This strategy was aided by the howling winds which saw corner flags perpetually bent over at a 45-degree angle.

Burlingame nearly prevented the inevitable in the 69th minute, but Silveira’s close-range attempt throttled the crossbar in the closest attempt either team got to actually putting the ball in the back of the net.

El Farolito dodged one more bullet just after Silveira’s shot when one of their players nearly scored an own goal, but it too could only rattle the woodwork.

The match ended up going to penalty kicks with Dragons keeper Mitchell North ending up as the hero in the shootout with two saves to help the visitors advance, 6-5.

“More often than not in PKs, the team that deserves it comes out on top,” Montoya said. “That’s just how it works. I thought we deserved it.”

For their efforts, the Dragons earned a second round match Wednesday against NASL expansion side San Francisco Deltas, who had trained at Boxer Stadium earlier in the day — many Deltas players stayed to scout their opponents.

“I haven’t even thought about ,” Montoya said. “We’re very excited that we moved on, but more importantly is the team’s coming together, they’re starting to believe in themselves. Who knows what’s going to happen? As long as we’re disciplined and we play with heart and play for each other, good things can happen.”

MORE: 2017 Meet the Underdogs: San Francisco’s El Farolito returns for first time since winning 1993 US Open Cup title

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2017 US Open Cup, Burlingame Dragons, El Farolito - CD Mexico

2016 US Open Cup Round 3: Kitsap Pumas do their homework, stun Sacramento Republic

June 2, 2016 by Evan Ream

kitsap pumas logoKitsap Pumas logoSometimes all it takes for an upset in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is a bit of homework.

Or for the Premier Development League’s Kitsap Pumas in its 3-1 victory over against the USL’s Sacramento Republic FC, a massive scouting report put together by a former Sports Illustrated writer.

“This genius to my right here put together a fantastic scouting report on ,” said Pumas head coach Cameron MacDonald, pointing to goalkeeper coach and former SI man Liviu Bird. “Our staff are pretty committed. We spend hours and hours studying footage. We had a plan.”

That game plan involved shutting down Sacramento’s bombing fullbacks to deny them of their biggest offensive threats and making the Republic play through the middle where its mainly defensive midfielders failed to create anything of consequence.

“We’ve prepared as well as we thought we possibly could,” MacDonald said. “In my reflection of the game, I don’t think anyone watching it back can be disappointed with the way they played and with the outcome.”

Of course, the ball still had to be dispatched into the back of the net by the young Pumas team, who with the victory earned a fourth round match-up with intrastate side Seattle Sounders FC.

The goals epitomized the players MacDonald lined up on his front line: they came in rapid bursts at great pace towards the goal.

First, Mike Ramos found Javier Castro near the edge of the box in the 60th minute. Castro quickly cut around his man and dispatched the ball into the back of the net for a shock 1-0 lead.

Sacramento scored one minute later when local high school product Cameron Iwasa tapped in a missed clearance.

But just two minutes after that, Ramos would tally the winner, driving home a rebound from a save that Republic goalkeeper Evan Newton couldn’t quite corral.

In the 65th it was over. Castro neatly curled a ball to the far post after a giveaway to complete his brace and give Kitsap one of the biggest upsets of the young tournament.

“If you look at our record in the PDL the last couple of seasons, unbeaten in the regular season last year, one loss the year before,” MacDonald said. “The (players) on the field are on the verge and we’ve seen we can go toe-to-toe with a strong USL lineup … The USL is only a small step away from us. If you do your homework and you have boys that believe in themselves and work together, we’ve seen you can grind out results like this.”

It was a milestone victory for the Pumas who have enjoyed so much success in league play over the years. Now, after four unsuccessful attempts, Kitsap can add “upset a professional team in the US Open Cup” to their club resume.

Republic head coach Paul Buckle didn’t mince his words when speaking to reporters after the match – there would be no excuses from his side.

“You certainly can’t make two mistakes like we did on the back line and expect to advance,” he said. “They’ve punished us and they deserved to go through.”

And as for that June 15 Kitsap date with the Sounders?

“It’s a huge ask for us, but it’s exciting,” MacDonald said. “Some of our guys will go on and play at a good level and maybe have many more nights like that, but other guys knew that they had 90 minutes tonight to earn what might be one shot against an MLS team in their career.

“When that’s the motivation going in it, it’s pretty incredible what can be achieved. We’ll look forward to it. We’ll prepare like we prepared for this and go in with our game plan and see what happens.”

Evan Ream covers Sacramento Republic FC and soccer in Northern California for The Davis Enterprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanReam.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2016 Third Round, 2016 US Open Cup, Kitsap Pumas, PDL, Sacramento Republic, USL

Series of forfeits, teams with ineligible players overshadow 2016 US Open Cup

May 31, 2016 by Evan Ream

2016-usoc-ineligible-players-bigWith dozens of amateur and professional teams battling for the United States’ true national championship, every Lamar Hunt US Open Cup creates numerous storylines.

Whether it’s the 1999 Rochester Rhinos doing the impossible of becoming the only lower division side to win the final since the introduction of MLS teams, or amateur teams Cal FC and the Michigan Bucks both upsetting MLS teams in 2012, every Cup is usually remembered for at least one or two moments.

The early part of the 2016 edition of the tournament has featured three disqualifications, the most of any competition in the Modern Era (1995-present). And those three disqualifications were just the ones that were caught in what appears to be a combination of spotty rule enforcement from the United States Soccer Federation and a lack of rule awareness by teams and players.

Section 203. Part (c) of the 2016 US Open Cup handbook is pretty clear:

“Any player who plays in any part of an Open Cup match for a team, including any match in any Open Division qualifying round, may not be included in the Open Cup roster or play for any other team in the Open Cup competition for that competition year.”

This rule is new for 2016 as the federation kicked off its inaugural open division qualifying tournament, a single-elimination competition made up of any amateur team that does not belong to the Premier Development League (PDL) or the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Prior to this year, players were only cup-tied if they played for a team in the Open Cup proper.

The reason for the ruling was to keep players from jumping from team to team. Occasionally players would play for one team during qualifying and if they got eliminated, sign with a team that qualified.

At publishing time, TheCup.us is aware of at least five teams who broke this rule by fielding or including on their roster cup-tied players in the first or second rounds of the tournament. However, only two of the teams were discovered in time to file a protest and have the result of the match overturned.

1. In their Second Round penalty kick upset victory over the Charleston Battery (USL), the Villages SC of the Premier Development League (PDL) started Paulo Vaz, who had previously played for Boca Raton FC in the open division qualifying tournament that took place last fall. The Battery discovered this after the game and immediately filed a successful protest which eliminated the PDL side and pushed Charleston into the next round.

“We were unaware of Paulo Vaz playing for another team in the qualifying rounds of the Cup,” said Alex Perez, a spokesperson for The Villages SC. “In all of his registration paperwork with us that we filed with the PDL, Paulo listed his last club as Floridians FC. It’s an unfortunate situation.”

Villages SC defeated Kraze United in Round 1 with that same ineligible player, which led Kraze United to file a protest after the Battery match in Round 2 was complete. The protest by Kraze United was denied due to the rule that states that “official match protests are required to be submitted by 5:00 p.m. CT the day following the match. (Section 306. Part (a) of the 2016 US Open Cup handbook.)

2. In a 3-1 First Round loss to the Sacramento Gold, the Burlingame Dragons started Gabe Silveira, who had taken part in the open division qualification tournament for San Francisco City FC.

According to the Dragons, they were told by US Soccer that Silveira was cleared to play. This was not discovered in time and no protest was filed.

3. In that same game, the Sacramento Gold included Andre Brown on their bench, who played for Davis Legacy in the qualifying tournament. While he didn’t appear in the match, just having him on the gameday roster is a potential violation. The USASA has disqualified teams for such a violation during qualifying, however, there is no precedent in the US Open Cup proper in the Modern Era.

4. CD Aguiluchos USA fielded ineligible players in both their first and second round matches. In their 3-0 Round 1 win over San Francisco City, substitute Ahmad Hatifie was cup-tied to Ballistic IFX. CDA also subbed on a cup-tied player in Arthur Bahr in their 5-0 loss to Sacramento Republic FC. Bahr played for San Francisco City in qualifying.

San Francisco, like Kraze United, submitted a protest, but it was also denied since it was filed long after the deadline.

5. Perhaps the most notable protest involved the Ventura County Fusion’s use of Gabe Gonzalez, who had played for Cal FC in qualification, in a 2-1 First Round victory over the LA Wolves FC.

According to the Fusion, the club was aware of Gonzalez’s participation in the qualifying rounds, but were told specifically by USSF that Gonzalez was cleared to play for the Fusion. How did the Wolves know he was ineligible? Because he played against them in qualifying for Cal FC. The Wolves edged Cal FC 2-1 to clinch their first-ever Open Cup berth.

The Wolves protested the decision and the Fusion were disqualified from the tournament.

“Rules are in place for a reason and they must be followed by all teams,” said Skwara. “The new rules for 2016 may not be perfect, but all teams still have to follow the rules or risk the repercussions.”

Ventura County then filed an appeal on the decision, which was denied by the USSF and the Wolves advanced to Round 2 to face the Orange County Blues of the USL.

According to Fusion media coordinator Polo Ascencio, the Fusion were never given a reason for the denial.

“The reply was a very simple, ‘your appeal was not successful,’ Ascencio told TheCup.us. “They just said, ‘no.’”

The federation has yet to confirm why the appeal was denied or if informing teams of the specifics of the decision are a common practice.

Ascencio said decisions like these only hurt the credibility of the tournament and the amateur teams participating in it.

“It needs to change,” Ascencio said of the roster rules. “The teams, the amateur teams, and you guys know this, in the lower levels, they take this very, very seriously for many reasons … it gives you exposure. it’s given us exposure that we didn’t want, not this way. It gives you exposure. It gives your players a chance to play against higher competition as you move on and on and on.”

With the forfeit, the Fusion’s Modern Era record streak of six consecutive First Round victories came to an end.

“We have really good, young talent looking forward for a chance and to have the chance taken away by a system that is broken,” Ascencio said. “But at the end, we did nothing wrong. We asked our players, the players that came forward didn’t play, we thought we were good. But obviously we were not good.

“We asked US Soccer for a list before the tournament started … of players who have played . Give us rosters of the teams that have played so we know,” he added. “To this day, it’s been already a couple of weeks since the started the first round, we don’t have any of those lists.

Ascencio believes the federation must have too much on its plate.

“Either they’re too busy doing something, MLS or Copa America-related, or the US Open Cup doesn’t really matter until you get the big teams in the Cup,” Ascencio said. “It’s a chance for our players to succeed, to put a spotlight on them. It’s a chance for our teams to bring our fans an experience that they might not get with our local, amateur team.

For the Fusion, Ascencio says its a missed opportunity for the team and the players.

“And obviously there’s money involved there,” he concluded. “The more you advance, the more money you can make. For some of these amateur teams … $15,000 could be a lot of money. It could be a couple year’s worth of attendance. It hurts for all the reasons, but at the end of the day it hurts because we won, but at the end, somebody said, ‘no you guys didn’t because you used a player that we said was okay to play. But, guess what, he’s not okay to play.”

Ascencio said that the Fusion plan to participate in future tournaments due to the opportunity it provides but maintains that the kinks need to be worked out.

“There has to be , there has to be,” Ascencio said. “Because if they’re not gonna change it, then things like this are going to keep happening and the teams that are going to be affected are going to be the amateur teams, not the professional teams. This is a cup that is made so that the amateur teams can flex their muscles or go on to face top competition. To have something like this happen, not only to us, but a few other teams around the nation…I feel bad for all those teams,”

None of the other teams involved in the situation that TheCup.us reached out to chose to comment on the record. The US Soccer Federation did not respond to a request for comment.

TheCup.us senior editor Josh Hakala also contributed to this report

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2016 US Open Cup, Burlingame Dragons, Cal FC, CD Aguiluchos USA, Charleston Battery, Kraze United, LA Wolves, Sacramento Gold, Sacramento Republic, San Francisco City FC, The Villages SC, Ventura County Fusion

2016 US Open Cup Round 2: Sacramento Republic adds another amateur blowout to its tournament resume

May 21, 2016 by Evan Ream

Sacramento Republic logoIn what’s becoming an annual tradition, Sacramento Republic FC opened its Lamar Hunt US Open Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, defeating NPSL side CD Aguiluchos USA 5-0 Wednesday night at Bonney Field.

Oft-injured midfielder Max Alvarez proved the difference for the Republic, setting up three goals and scoring one for himself from dead balls to help Sacramento advance to a Third Round match-up against Kitsap Pumas of the PDL.

“We were very clinical from set plays, very clinical, right to the very end with Max’s goal,” said Republic head coach Paul Buckle. “We could have scored more, I wanted to score more goals. There were opportunities for our strikers to get more goals. They didn’t come, but I’m very pleased with the clean sheet.”

It took the Republic just 24 minutes to get the only goal it would need for the match, when midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan headed home an Alvarez corner kick past Aguiluchos keeper Kevin Gonzalez for a 1-0 lead.

Gonzalez had earlier saved a weak penalty from Tommy Stewart, giving the small traveling crowd hope for an upset.

Instead, the floodgates opened after Motagalvan’s goal.

In the 36th minute, Alvarez lined up on the left side of the field roughly 30 yards to goal and whipped in a free kick into the danger area of the box.

Though an Aguiluchos defender got a piece of it, the ball was never properly cleared, paving the way for Mackenzie Pridham to stab the ball home from close range.

Centerback Carlos Rodriguez, just 19-years-old and getting his first competitive minutes for the Republic, joined in on the fun in the 44th minute. The towering defender rifled a header into the back of the net off of yet another Alvarez set piece, this time a corner.

Prior to the game, Sacramento hadn’t scored a goal off of a corner kick since Sep. 13, 2014. Now they had two goals off such plays in a 20-minute period.

“It’s nice to have a couple ,” Alvarez said. “That’s something we’ve been working on. Guys are making better runs, something we’ve been working on as well. Everyone played their part in those goals. It was good to see a couple free kick goals for once. It’s been a long time.”

Stewart made up for his penalty miss in stoppage time, putting away the competitive aspect of the game with a finish off of a rebound from Gonzalez for a 4-0 lead.

Though Aguiluchos held their own for the majority of the second half, Alvarez stepped up to one final set piece in second half stoppage time to cap the night off.

From 25 yards out, the midfielder bent a left-footed free kick into the upper corner of the net to complete the 5-0 victory and send CD Aguiluchos USA home.

“To strike a football like that, into the top corner, if that was in the Premier League or La Liga, they’d be talking about that for weeks and weeks,” Buckle said.

With the victory, Sacramento improved to 5-0-0 in Open Cup play against fourth division sides, with 24 goals scored and just six allowed in those five games.

“It’s massive for us, we really do want to have a run in the Open Cup,” Buckle said. “In England, I had some wonderful times as head coach there, some incredible memories … this is my first game in the Open Cup. Five-nil is good. But my standards are very high. Our standards at the club are high. I know that in some cases tonight, we could have been a lot better.”

Leading up to the match, much of the conversation around the Internet involved the general dearth of online streams involving USL teams in the Second Round of the Open Cup.

The Republic were one such team that chose not to stream the match, so Aguiluchos chairman Roger Amaya took matters into his own hands, streaming the match live through his phone on the CD Facebook page.

However, the ability for fans of the team to actually watch the game didn’t help produce results on the field as the Oakland-based club dropped to 1-2 in all-time Open Cup play.

Evan Ream covers Sacramento Republic FC and soccer in Northern California for The Davis Enterprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanReam

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2016 Second Round, 2016 US Open Cup, CD Aguiluchos USA, NPSL, Sacramento Republic, USL

2016 US Open Cup Round 1: Sacramento Gold rally to beat Burlingame Dragons in NPSL vs. PDL battle

May 12, 2016 by Evan Ream

Sacramento Gold Burlingame Dragons
Players from the Sacramento Gold and Burlingame Dragons battle for the ball in a 2016 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup match. Photo: Sacramento Gold
Players from the Sacramento Gold and Burlingame Dragons battle for the ball in a 2016 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup match. Photo: Sacramento Gold

SACRAMENTO – Feats of awe-inspiring skill may be rarer in lower division soccer, but they still exist on a regular basis – Sacramento Gold forward Manolo Pina is living proof of this.

Tied with visiting Burlingame Dragons FC in the second half, Pina produced two immaculate bits of skill to propel the Gold to a 3-1 comeback victory, the first Open Cup victory in Sacramento’s six-year history.

“It’s exciting,” said head coach Ruben Mora Jr. “We knew we had the players here five years ago. We just had to find our momentum and combination of guys and get the right match-up. Today it happened to be that way, so we’re excited.

“I don’t think many gave us an opportunity to win today, but we did.

In the 58th minute, just three minutes after Gold forward Jose “Cuco” Martinez leveled the game with a header, Pina received a pass near the top of the box with his back to the goal.

The diminutive attacker quickly turned, leaving his opposite number scrambling on the turf, and blasted an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net for the winning goal of the match.

Pina then helped ice the game in stoppage time, taking the ball down the line as he appeared to head for the corner to stall. Instead though, the creative forward drew two defenders and then crossed the ball to a wide open Chimdum Mez, who tapped the ball in to seal the victory.

“I know if we took them down the line, we would get them,” Pina said. “Fortunately I got by them, did a cross, and Chimdum beautifully just tapped it in. It was a good goal. We worked for it, got it, off to the next round.”

“He’s been scoring goals and tallying up assists from day one when he arrived in 2010,” Mora Jr. said. “He’s put on a few more pounds and a few more years, but he’s still putting up the goals and assists. He’s a special player for sure.”

The Dragons originally took the lead in first half stoppage time when forward Jamael Cox curled in a 20-yard free kick goal that beat Gold goalkeeper John Connolly.

But it was because of Connolly that it was only 1-0 at that point in the game as Burlingame came out of the gate flying and probably could have scored three or four in the first half if it weren’t for Connolly.

The young netminder, serving as captain on the night, produced five saves in the first half and seven overall to keep the Dragons at bay.

“He was instrumental, he kept us alive,” Mora Jr. said of Connolly. “Without him, we wouldn’t have had a chance to be in the position that we were, where we just needed to come to life. And we did. We had the right players respond. It was a team effort, but it all started with John Connolly keeping us in the game.”

Leading up to the game, much of the talk around the tournament had been how the Premier Development League was allegedly a stronger league than the National Premier Soccer League.

While both are de facto fourth division sides due to the fact that the United States Soccer Federation only sanctions the top three divisions in the country, the Gold had something to say about the perceived inferiority.

“I think we’re building a name for ourselves and credibility for league as well,” Mora Jr. said. “I don’t think the staff for the Burlingame team really gave our league much credit and took us a little lighter than they should have.”

Sacramento now moves on to travel to Southern California next Wednesday for a match-up against USASA side La Maquina, who defeated the Portland Timbers U-23’s 2-0.

“I believe we can win the next round and make it to the third round, I think. It would be great for us,” Mora Jr. said. “We definitely believe in ourselves and we can make it at least to the third round.”

“We can get pretty far if we step up our game,” Pina said. “The first half was awful. (We) stepped it up in the second half.

“We play like that every game, we can get as far as we want.”

Evan Ream covers Sacramento Republic FC and soccer in Northern California for the Davis Enterprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanReam.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2016 First Round, 2016 US Open Cup, Burlingame Dragons, NPSL, PDL, Sacramento Gold

2016 US Open Cup Round 1: CD Aguiluchos USA wins Bay Area battle with San Francisco City FC, 3-0

May 12, 2016 by Evan Ream

cd-aguiluchos-2016-logoThree second half goals from three different players gave fourth-year NPSL club CD Aguiluchos USA its first-ever victory in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup competition.

Having lost in the first round to the Ventura County Fusion in their only other appearance in the competition, Aguiluchos downed fellow Bay Area side San Francisco City FC 3-0 at Beach Chalet No. 4 in San Francisco.

Simon Rawsley scored just after the half and Miguel Santiago and Matheus Freire each added goals in the dying moments of the game to move on to the second round of the tournament, where they will head northeast to take on Sacramento Republic FC at Bonney Field.

After qualifying as the 3rd place team in the NPSL’s Golden Gate Conference in 2015, Aguiluchos didn’t perform like a first-time entry. They were able to mitigate any danger from its foe, who included in their lineup former Sacramento Republic FC forward Adnan Gabeljic.

However, Aguiluchos featured experience of their own in Afghanistan international Ahmad Hatifie, who was instrumental in running the show for the visitors on the night along with Santiago.

After Santiago set up Rawsley’s 62nd minute goal, the clever attacker scored a highlight-reel goal of his own, curling home a free kick three minutes before time.

Matheus then ended any hopes of a comeback in stoppage time by chipping the goalkeeper to end the scoring in a wide-open second half.

With the loss, SF City FC dropped to 0-2 in its Open Cup history, having lost to Cal FC in the Preliminary Round in 2015.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2016 First Round, 2016 US Open Cup, CD Aguiluchos USA, San Francisco City FC

2016 Meet the Underdogs: Supporter-owned San Francisco City stepping up with reinforcements in US Open Cup

May 9, 2016 by Evan Ream

San Francisco City supporters cheer on their club during an exhibition game against San Francisco State. Photo: Caiti Franscell
San Francisco City supporters cheer on their club during an exhibition game against San Francisco State. Photo: Caiti Franscell

After nearly a decade of absences, San Francisco will provide a team in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the second consecutive year with supporter-owned San Francisco City Football Club.

The city, which has provided three different champions to the tournament, had seen a dearth of squads qualify for the Open Cup since the demise of the California Victory in 2007.

Last year’s qualification for SF City brought the tournament back to the bay, where it lost 2-1 in controversial fashion at Kezar Stadium in the preliminary round in front of a record 1,419 fans.

This year, City are back, but amid much different circumstances.

After qualifying in 2015 as the lone representative of US Club Soccer by winning the NorCal Adult Premier League, SF City moved to the Premier Development League, considered as the strongest of the unsanctioned fourth divisions in the US.

“It’s definitely gonna be a step up in quality and we’ll be traveling a lot,” said president and CEO Jacques Pelham. “It’s gonna be a whole different experience than what we had this year for sure.”

Part of that extra travel— the club’s longest trip in the NorCal APL was roughly 70 miles northeast to Davis – included a weekend trip to Las Vegas where City was expected to open its season before bad weather resulted in a postponement.

Wednesday’s Open Cup game against CD Aguiluchos USA at the Beach Chalet Soccer Complex will mark the first time San Francisco fans will see their squad in action.

San Francisco City FC Previously, the club featured mostly former college players working full time in the city.

Now City will have the fitness of current college players, mostly drawn from around the area.

“There’s a core group of guys that are staying on from last year’s team, 10-to-12 of them, and then the remainder will be guys that we’ve recruited, a lot of guys from local colleges: University of San Francisco, San Francisco State, Stanford, Cal,” Pelham said. “We’ll be taking, basically the core group that played last year, and then complimenting them with some top level college guys from around the Bay Area, but also around the whole nation.”

In addition to the college players and club favorites like Johannes Dimarzi, whose winning goal against Davis punched City’s ticket to the Open Cup in a 4-3 thriller, the City roster was fortified this offseason by the signing of a player familiar to Northern California and Open Cup fans in Adnan Gabeljic.

The former Sacramento Republic FC striker, who scored a hat trick in a 7-3 Third Round Republic win in 2015, elected to not return to professional soccer after a trial with Atlas of Mexico early this year.

Though the Republic wanted him to return, the towering Bosnian elected to pursue a career in engineering in San Francisco.

Ironically, the winner of the City-Aguiluchos game will advance to take on the Republic at Bonney Field in Sacramento, giving Gabeljic a possible chance to knock out his former employer.

Also gone from the club are the Gardner brothers, Andrew and Jordan, who previously served as the head coach and general manager, respectively, of San Fran City.

While Andrew left soccer, Jordan took the reigns as the president of PDL rival Burlingame Dragons, who play just 15 miles south.

San Francisco City celebrate their 4-3 extra time win over Davis Legacy in the 2016 US Open Cup qualifying tournament. Photo: Instagram @SFCityFC
San Francisco City celebrate their 4-3 extra time win over Davis Legacy in the 2016 US Open Cup qualifying tournament. Photo: Instagram @SFCityFC

Replacing Andrew is USSF B License holder Paddy Coyne, a native of Ireland.

The club lists no official general manager on its website.

Off the field though, City are in somewhat of a transitional phase as the NASL recently announced the addition of a San Francisco-based club, the Deltas, which signed an agreement to play at the same home venue as SF City in Kezar Stadium.

Instead of looking at the NASL club as competition, Pelham sees the Deltas as a good thing for Bay Area soccer, aspiring to turn his club professional as well.

“From our perspective, first, we are playing to be at the professional level in one to two years time,” Pelham said. “We think that’s still on track. In terms of the Deltas, when they start in 2017, it will be good for soccer in general across San Francisco and the Bay Area. If all things go to plan, we’ll be playing professionally in 2017, 2018 as well. It will be exciting for everybody.”

Though he was mum on what league that would be, MLS seems out of reach and the NASL is already occupied, leaving the USL as the most likely candidate.

For now though, the club which is owned 51 percent by fans who buy memberships instead of tickets, Pelham and City are happy to ride the wave that is the Open Cup.

“I think our story is pretty cool,” he said. “Even where we were at last year and now PDL and potentially being professional within a year or two after making the jump to PDL, it will be an exciting time for us this year, it will be an exciting time for soccer in general in the Bay Area with everything going on with the Copa America and everything.”

Filed Under: Meet the Underdogs, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Qualifying Tagged With: California, Meet the Underdogs, San Francisco City FC, US Club Soccer

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