The Cleveland City Stars overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the Michigan Bucks 2-1, and move on to the Second Round. The game was played in the Bucks’ new indoor soccer stadium in Pontiac, Mich. but Cleveland eliminated the home team in the opening round for only the second time in eight tournament appearances.
2008 First Round
2008 First Round: Tarley’s brace helps Thunder tame St. Louis Lions, 4-1
Melvin Tarley opened the scoring and then squelched any hopes of a comeback by the St. Louis Lions, as the Thunder beat the PDL side 4-1 in Blaine, Minn.
With the Thunder up 2-0 after Ricardo Sanchez’s 57th minute goal, Tommy Heinemann got the Lions on the board and sliced the lead to 2-1 in the 79th minute. But a minute later, the lead was back to two thanks to Tarley, who scored his seventh and eighth career Open Cup goals.
2008 First Round: Miami FC (finally) earns first Open Cup win vs. Bradenton
Miami F.C. finally shook the Open Cup monkey off their back, earning their first win in three tries with a 4-2 victory over the PDL’s Bradenton Academics. They were not only trying to avoid their third straight Open Cup loss, but their third loss to an amateur club. In 2006, they famously were beaten by Dallas Roma F.C. of the USASA and last year the PDL’s El Paso Patriots eliminated them in a penalty kick shootout.
2008 First Round: Richmond disarms the Fredericksburg Gunners, 3-0
The Fredericksburg Gunners’ first Open Cup run was cut short by the Richmond Kickers, who are making their 10th trip to the tournament. Kickers score a trio of first half goals to beat the Gunners 3-0.
Richmond scored all of its goals in the first 25 minutes, starting with midfielder Eliot Paschalis’ tally in the 11th.
2008 First Round: Pioneers survive Greek charge, top Olympiakos 2-0
In an ugly game hampered by the oppressive heat, the Western Mass Pioneers edged their USASA opponents from the eastern part of the state, Boston Olympiakos, by a 2-0 scoreline.
The Pioneers played the match with a heavy heart, as head coach Lesznek Wrona returned to his native Poland to attend his mother’s funeral.
2008 First Round: Riverhounds get first win of year vs. AAC Eagles
Twos were wild for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Tuesday night. The ’Hounds got two first-half goals and two more in the closing stages of the match as they posted a 4-0 win over USASA Region II side AAC Eagles in Lisle, Ill. Pittsburgh got goals from four different players, in all, eight players got on the scoresheet for the Riverhounds, who are in last place in the USL Second Division with a 0-6-3 record.
2008 First Round: Silverbacks equalize twice, win PK shootout vs. Aztex U23s
The Atlanta Silverbacks came from a goal behind twice, once to force extra time and again to force penalty kicks, to sneak past the Austin Aztex U23s in a PK shootout after a 2-2 draw.
After facing several good scoring opportunities from the Silverbacks, it was the PDL Aztex who held the lead at halftime.
2008 First Round: Charlotte Eagles soar past Galactics after delay
Two goals apiece from Robert Ssejjemba and Dustin Swinehart saw the Charlotte Eagles advance over the Clearwater Galactics 5-2 in the First Round of the US Open Cup. The amateur club from the USASA’s Region III put up a fight on the road, leading the Second Division Eagles at the halftime break, but in the end the hosts proved to be too much.