2010 USASA Qualifying

2010 Qualifying: Phoenix knocks off their Ukrainian rivals, advance to Eastern PA semis

November 9, 2009 by

With unseasonable 70 degree weather in Feasterville, Pa., Phoenix SC and the Ukrainian Nationals met in the latest edition of a long-standing rivalry. In one of four Eastern Pennsylvania Open Cup games played that day, Phoenix got the best of their Ukrainian rivals, beating them 3-0 to advance to the Third Round of the tournament.

While the Ukies have tasted success in the Open Cup in recent seasons, Phoenix came out hoping to win the club’s first state Open Cup title having won two United League and two state Amateur Cup titles in the past three seasons.

Phoenix SC (Eastern PA)

Phoenix started the game well, maintaining possession and putting the Ukies under pressure. That pressure finally paid off after 20 minutes when Daniel Murtagh put a 25-yard bending ball past the Ukies goalie after a pass from Greg Mangels. Five minutes later, Phoenix had the chance to go up 2-0 from the penalty spot, but goalkeeper Jason Sherman made a diving save to his left on Bobby Francis. Phoenix did not allow the momentum to change after the saved penalty and quickly scored their second goal when Steve Mellor lashed a shot to the far corner from the right side of the 18 after a driving run and feed by Ryan Soroka.

Wanting to avoid a let down after the halftime break, Phoenix came out and scored the third and final goal when halftime substitute Kamara Freebolle struck a 25-yard thunderbolt off a pass from Ben Castor. For the rest of the half, Phoenix dominated possession while the Ukies were not able capitalize on their opportunities.

Phoenix progresses to the Semifinals where they will host Danubia, who thrashed Hunter Inazu 7-0 in their Second Round match.

Phoenix lineup
Tony Pratico
Greg Mangels
Pat Dillon (Mark Scaccia-70)
Jack Poccoroba
Matt Lapish
Ben Castor
Steve Mellor
Bobby Francis
Daniel Murtagh (Brian McKinney-65)
Ryan Soroka
Virgis Anusauskas (Kamara Freebolle 45)

Unused Sub
Matt Rominger

The scores of the Eastern PA tournament are listed below. If you have any details to pass along, contact us.

Second Round
(Home teams listed on the right)

Ukrainian National Tryzub 0:3 Phoenix Majors
Scoring Summary: Daniel Murtagh, Steve Mellor, Kamara Freebolle
Danubia 7:0 Hunter Inazu
United German Hungarians Majors 2:1 Intare FC
Fishtown 1:4 Vereinigung Erzgebirge Majors

The Semifinals of the Eastern PA tournament is scheduled for November 22.
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First Round Results
(Home teams listed on the right)

Ukrainian National Tryzub 2:1 (aet) United German Hungarians Ultra
Danubia 2:1 Plymouth Ultra
Wallace FC 1:5 Hunter Inazu
Keystone Pride 1:2 Intare FC
Quakertown 1:4 Fishtown

2010 Qualifying: AAC Eagles end RWB Adria’s reign over Illinois

November 6, 2009 by Josh Hakala

The AAC Eagles of the National Soccer League pose for a team photo after winning the 2010 Illinois Open Cup Final. Their first Open Cup title since 2003. Photo: Judith McLean | Illinois SSA

Perennial rivals AAC Eagles and RWB Adria squared off in the 2010 Illinois Open Cup Final to determine who would take the next step toward qualifying for next year’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. It was a battle of the Eagles, a Polish club from the Metropolitan Soccer League against RWB, a Croatian club from the National Soccer League, with a spot in the USASA Region II Finals hanging in the balance.

The AAC Eagles, the 1990 US Open Cup champions, were victorious, 2-0 over RWB, ending a streak of three straight years of the Croatian club representing the state at the Region II Finals. After several years of domination by Adria it was the Eagles’ turn to excel and for most of the game they did exactly that.

AAC Eagles: 1990 Open Cup champions

In a game played at Carbajal Field in Hawthorn Park in the western Chicago suburb of Cicero, Ill., the Eagles opened the scoring early in the first half. A scramble at the Adria 6-yard box resulted in the first Eagles goal awarded to Rafal Popko in the 18th minute.

Midway through the same half, an excellent strike by Adria was thwarted by goalkeeper Marek Los and instead of celebrating an equalizer, Adria succumbed to a second goal a few minutes later. Jakub Piotrowski’s solid strike put the Eagles up 2-0 in the 37th minute.

Going into the second half with a two-goal lead, the Eagles sat back and defended, allowing Adria back into the game. For a while, it was the Eagles who were under siege, but time and again either the Eagles’ defense held tough or Adria missed the target. There were chances at both ends as the game came to a close and at the final whistle, Adria graciously accepted defeat and the Polish side celebrated their first Illinois Open Cup title since 2003.

With the win, the AAC Eagles will play in the Region II Finals which will be held next spring with the champions and representatives of the other Midwestern states.

If the format remains the same from recent years, the two teams reaching the Region II championship game will clinch a berth in the 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Eagles will attempt to qualify for the national tournament for the second time in three years and add to an already-impressive resume that includes six appearances and one championship in the last 20 years (1989, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2008).

TheCup.us would like to thank Judith McLean of the Illinois State Soccer Association (ISSA) for her contributions to this story. You can find more information about the ISSA on their official website at www.illinoissoccer.org.

Lineups

AAC Eagles (Metropolitan Soccer League)
1 Marek Los
4 Darek Szewczyk
5 Miroslaw Modzelewski
6 Piotr Kolasinski
8 David Otachel
9 Jacek Zezhowski
10 Rafal Popko
11 Jakub Piotrowski
14 Adrian Skital
15 Marcin Pieniazek
16 Matthew Kochowwicz

Subs
7 Mariusz Misiaszek
17 Kamil Szczepanski
21 Marcin Simson
3 Christopher Gasiorek

Subs not used
19 Alekander Dianocki
13 Marek Golik
18 Pavel Polight

Coach: Joe Opiola

RWB Adria (National Soccer League)
0 Igor Dimov
4 Joey Carver
6 Eduardo Rodriguez
8 Admir Ljeljak
9 Elmedin Zukic
10 Semir Mesanovic
11 Igor Stjepic
14 Mark Merkowski
18 Mario Pinon
20 Awadallah Morad
23 Daniel Ayegbusi

Subs
7 Elfid Kovacevic
12 Eric Duda
99 Rafael Zaniol

Coach: Sinisa Alebic

2010 Qualifying: Pancyprian Freedoms among opening round Eastern NY winners

November 6, 2009 by

New York Pancyprian Freedoms: Three-time US Open Cup champions

The New York Pancyprian Freedoms got off on the right foot in US Open Cup qualifying, defeating the Barstonworth Rovers 2-0 in the opening round of the Eastern New York Open Cup tournament.

The three-time Open Cup champions (1980, 1982, 1983) took an early lead in the 15th minute when Pete Halkidis found Tasso Polydefkis at the top of the penalty area, and Polydefkis fired it past the Rovers goalkeeper.

In the 28th minute, Polydefkis helped the Freedoms add to their lead when his corner kick found the head of Puerto Rican international Chris Megaloudis who found the back of the net.

The Freedoms controlled the majority of play on a damp night, but the Rovers continued to fight back with counter attacks. In the 55th minute, Barstonworth had a chance to cut the lead in half with a penalty kick, but New York goalkeeper Chad Calderone dove to his right to make the save to keep the clean sheet.

The Freedoms have pretty much the same team as they had from last year’s team that won the 2008 US Open Amateur Cup (USASA). They will move on to take on New York Athletic Club, who had no trouble with their opening round matchup, beating Stade Breton New York by a score of 7-0. The date has not been confirmed as of yet.

New York returns to league play in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League where they are in first place in the East group with a 3-1-2 record.

NY Pancyprian Freedoms lineup
Coach: Lukas Lukovic

Chad Calderone, Jon Simos, Chris Zisimatos, Matia Damiani, Peter Pavlakos, Stelios Andreou, Julio Cesar DoSantos (Tommy Vlahos 75th min.), Jeffrey Matteo, Pete Halkidis (Peter Antoniades 70th min.), Chris Megaloudis, Tasso Polydefkis

Fenerbahce USA 16:1 VV Nieuw Amsterdam

Fenerbahce USA scored a goal in the first five minutes of the match and never looked back in a 16-1 win over VV Nieuw Amsterdam. The term ‘mismatch’ might be a strong understatement as Fenerbahce’s Mohammad Mashriqi scored an unheard of 10 goals to send his club to the Semifinals of the Eastern New York Open Cup tournament. The score was 10-0 by the time the halftime whistle blew and their dominance continued from beginning to end in a game played at Bayville Soccer Stadium in Bayville, NY. Fenerbahce will likely be tested in their next match as they take on the New York Greek American Atlas.

Fenerbahce USA goalscorers: Mohamammed Mashriqi (10), Keith Ditell (2), Noorullah (2), Douglas Navarez (1), Ugur Kahveci (1).

Other Eastern New York First Round results:

New York Greek American Atlas 2:1 New York City Albanians
New York Athletic Club 7:0 Stade Breton NY

Eastern New York Semifinals schedule (Both games played at St. John’s University):

November 24: New York Athletic Club at New York Pancyprian Freedoms
November 25: New York Greek American Atlas at Fenerbahce USA

2010 Qualifying: Eastern Pennsylvania First Round results

October 28, 2009 by

Eastern Pennsylvania Open Cup has begun and the opening round is complete. See below for the results. Details of the games will be passed along as soon as they are made available. If you have any details to pass along, contact us.

First Round
(Home teams listed on the right)

Ukrainian National Tryzub 2:1 (aet) United German Hungarians Ultra
Danubia 2:1 Plymouth Ultra
Wallace FC 1:5 Hunter Inazu
Keystone Pride 1:2 Intare FC
Quakertown 1:4 Fishtown

Here are the matchups for the Second Round, which are scheduled to take place on November 8, 2009.

Ukrainian National Tryzub at Phoenix Majors
Danubia at Hunter Inazu
United German Hungarians Majors at Intare FC
Fishtown at Vereinigung Erzgebirge Majors

The Third Round of the Eastern PA tournament will be held on November 22.

2010 Qualifying: Ingold, Kickers boot Bavarian SC to win Wisconsin

October 22, 2009 by

Kyle Ingold scored with about 15 minutes remaining to snap a tie, then added an insurance goal by drawing and converting a last-minute penalty kick as the Milwaukee Kickers knocked off Bavarian SC 3-1 in the 2010 Wisconsin Open Cup final on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

With the win, the Kickers — who had lost to Bavarian SC in the state final each of the past three years — earned the state championship, plus a berth in next spring’s USASA Region II tournament, which also is a qualifier for the US Open Cup.

Nick Walls gave the Kickers (4-1-2 overall) the early lead on an odd play about 5 minutes into the match. A long throw-in sailed into the box and took a big bounce over the Bavarian SC goalkeeper, and the one-time Chicago Fire player beat a defender to the ball and fired home for a quick 1-0 advantage.

The Kickers were forced to use two of their four substitutes for injuries around the 35th minute, with two defenders coming off, and Bavarian SC seized control of the match.

The Bavarians, who have qualified for the U.S. Open Cup six times since 1995 — a record for an amateur team during the tournament’s “professional era” — got the equalizer about 5 minutes before halftime when Dave Treblinski made a good run to the far post and one-touched a volley into the net off a cross.

The teams, who played a 0-0 draw in a Wisconsin Adult Soccer Association Major League opener on Sept. 13, went back and forth with the score 1-1 until Ingold’s first goal. A corner kick was knocked around the box and popped out to Ingold, who half-volleyed in a shot from about 12 yards out to break the tie.

The Bavarians (2-4-1) responded by pushing numbers forward in search of another equalizer — “They put up a fierce attack,” Kickers manager John Sweeney said — but goalkeeper Nick Farrell was up to the task.

Ingold’s late penalty iced the match for the Kickers, who also beat Bavarian SC 2-1 in the 2006 Wisconsin Open Cup semifinals (held in fall 2005), but were eliminated by the Croatian Eagles 5-4 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie in the final.