Complete U.S. Open Cup Coverage

2013 Semifinals

2013 US Open Cup Semifinals: Joe Willis’ big saves for DC United earn him Player of the Round honors

by

In a misery-filled season for last-place DC United featuring just three league wins out of 27, plaudits have understandably come few and far between. Goalkeeper Joe Willis earned one of those bright spots by winning TheCup.us Player of the Round honors for his role in a 2-0 Semifinal victory over the Chicago Fire.

Willis becomes the second DC player to win Player of Round in this year’s tournament. Dwayne De Rosario won the award, which is voted on by staff at TheCup.us and a select panel from the North American Soccer Reporters, in the Fourth Round.

Taking home nearly two-thirds of the 1st-place votes, Willis became the first goalkeeper to win the award since Richmond Kickers net-minder Ronnie Pascale did it in the Quarterfinals of the 2011 edition of the tournament against Sporting Kansas City.

Willis made six saves against the Fire in a 2-0 victory. De Rosario and Nick DeLeon scored on either side of halftime to give DC the lead, and Willis and his backline absorbed a slew of Chicago pressure to hand the Fire its first-ever home loss in the competition.

United will attempt to salvage their season on oct. 1 in the championship game against Real Salt Lake, in the first-ever Open Cup Final held in Utah. Willis, or DC United’s other keeper Bill Hamid, will most likely have to turn in another Player of the Round-quality performance to bring DC their third Open Cup title. Along with winning a trophy, the victor will also earn a place in the 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League and a $250,000 prize.

2013 TheCup.us Player of the Round Honors

Final: Bill Hamid (DC United)
Semifinals: Joe Willis (DC United)
Quarterfinals: Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers)
Fourth Round: Dwayne De Rosario (DC United)
Third Round: Frederic Piquionne (Portland Timbers)
Second Round: Brandon Fricke (Des Moines Menace)
First Round: David Geno (Seattle Sounders U23)
Preliminary Round: Gustavo Villalobos (FC Hasental)

2013 US Open Cup Semifinals: DC United shuts out Chicago Fire 2-0 to reach Final as Wigan-like run continues (video)

by

DC United earned their first road win of the season, 2-0 over the Chicago Fire to punch their ticket to the 2013 US Open Cup Final. Photo: Chicago Fire

DC United, desperate to salvage what has been a nightmare regular season, traveled to Toyota Park and did something they had not done this year in any competition: Win a game on the road.

United punched their ticket to their fifth US Open Cup Final with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire, handing the four-time champions their first-ever home loss in US Open Cup play. DC return to the championship game for the first time since 2009 when they failed to repeat as champions, losing to the Seattle Sounders, 2-1.

Dwayne De Rosario took advantage of a mishandled ball by goalkeeper Sean Johnson just before halftime to score his tournament-leading fifth goal, and on the other side of the break, Nick DeLeon gave United a two-goal advantage that they would not relinquish.

Much like Wigan of the English Premier League, DC United is attempting to win the tournament despite a bottom-of-the-table performance in league play. Wigan upset the mighty Manchester City in the FA Cup Final and became the first club to win the tournament and be relegated in the same season. Fortunately for United, Major League Soccer teams do not get relegated.

DC United will need to win one more road game to lift the trophy for the third time (1996, 2008) as the championship game will be hosted by Real Salt Lake on Oct. 1 at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL defeated the Portland Timbers 2-1 in the other Semifinal. The winner will book an automatic place in the 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League and win $250,000 in prize money.

The two teams canceled each other out for the majority of the first half, with each team taking turns controlling possession. The best chance for Chicago in the first half came from Dilly Duka in the 19th minute. He found space on the left wing and sent a cross into the box that was deflected. The ball redirected to the far post where it found Patrick Nyarko who tried to volley it in from a tight angle but was unable to put it on target. In the 27th minute, Alex headed a Nyarko cross on frame, but it went right into the arms of DC goalkeeper Joe Willis.

A few minutes later, a Chicago cross came in from the right wing and found Mike Magee on the left side of the box but his volley went wide.

The later part of the half belonged to United starting with a counter attack in the 37th minute as De Rosario received a cross in the box but hit it wide of the goal.

De Rosario would put DC on the scoreboard just before the halftime break when Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson leaped to deal with a ball that deflected up into the air in the penalty area. He was unable to hang on as the ball spilled to the ground and De Rosario was there to dribble away from Johnson and fire it into the net despite the sliding attempt of Fire defender Austin Berry. It was De Rosario’s ninth career Open Cup goal, tying him for 8th on the Modern Pro Era’s goalscoring list with Tomas Boltnar (Des Moines Menace), Matthew Delicate (Richmond Kickers/Rochester Rhinos), Randi Patterson (Charleston Battery/Carolina Dynamo) and Carlos Ruiz (FC Dallas/Los Angeles Galaxy).

The fans were barely settled back into their seats after halftime when the visitors struck again. In the 48th minute, Nick DeLeon received a pass from James Riley who beat Johnson to put United up 2-0. In the 60th minute, Johnson kept his team in the game with a save off a breakaway by Conor Doyle.

After that, the Fire pushed forward to try to cut the lead in half, but the United defense held on. In the 76th minute, a ball fell out to the top of the box where Alex’s well-struck volley was headed toward the back of the net but it was deflected out of danger by the traffic in front of goal. Two minutes later, Berry moved into the box to contribute to the offense and nearly scored when he got a touch to the ball and saw it rolling slowly toward the lower left corner of the net, but Perry Kitchen cleared it off the line for United.

Duka sent a cross into the box in the 84th minute and took a deflection and nearly got behind Willis, but he was able to recover and clear the ball. The Fire retrieved the ball and sent it back into the box for Duka who received the ball with his back to goal near the 6-yard box. His attempt to juggle the ball, back in and volley it was thwarted by Willis who smothered the ball just outside of his goal.

Duka had another shot attempt from outside the box in the final minutes of regulation, but Willis was there to make one of his six saves as the DC defense held on for their second clean sheet of the tournament.

Highlights

Post-game reaction

Semifinal: DC United 2-0 Chicago Fire
August 7 | Toyota Park – Bridgeview, IL | Attendance: 11,036
Scoring Summary
DC: Dwayne De Rosario (unassisted) 44th
DC: Nick DeLeon (James Riley) 48th
Lineups
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Jalil Anibaba, Austin Berry, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares (Quincy Amarikwa 74’); Patrick Nyarko (Joel Lindpere 36’), Jeff Larentowicz ©, Alex, Dilly Duka; Mike Magee, Chris Rolfe (Juan Luis Anangono 57’) – Substitutes not used: Paolo Tornaghi, Hunter Jumper, Logan Pause, Daniel Paladini
DC United: Joe Willis; James Riley, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Chris Korb; John Thorrington, Luis Silva (Conor Doyle 57’), Perry Kitchen, Nick DeLeon (Chris Pontius 74’), Kyle Porter; Dwayne De Rosario © – Substitutes not used: Bill Hamid, Taylor Kemp, Ethan White, Jared Jeffrey, Sainey Nyassi
Disciplinary Summary
None
Referees: Jair Marrufo, Eric Boria, Mike Rottersman, Jose Carlos Rivero
#USOC100

2013 US Open Cup Semifinals: Real Salt Lake tops Portland Timbers 2-1 for first trip to Final

by

With a 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake will host the 100th US Open Cup Final on Oct. 1 against DC United. Photo: Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake has won an MLS Cup and played for the CONCACAF Champions League title. Now the nine-year-old Utah club will play in its first Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final.

Alvaro Saborio scored in the seventh minute and set up substitute Joao Plata for what proved to be a vital insurance goal in the 78th as Real Salt Lake held off the Portland Timbers 2-1 Wednesday night in front of 14,742 fans at Rio Tinto Stadium – a record attendance for a semifinal in the tournament’s Modern Pro Era.

RSL will play host to DC United in the 100th US Open Cup final October 1 at Rio Tinto. The winning team will claim a berth in next season’s CONCACAF Champions League and a $250,000 prize in addition to the trophy.

While things certainly could change over the next eight weeks, Real Salt Lake currently is tied for the most points in Major League Soccer, while DC United has the fewest. However, two-time Open Cup champion DC United won the only league meeting between the sides 1-0 back on March 9 in the nation’s capital.

Both Portland and RSL fielded strong sides in the first match of the season between the Western Conference rivals, who also will meet in league play August 21 and 30 and October 19.

RSL welcomed back starting outside backs Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert, but had Ned Grabavoy at the top of its diamond midfield with Javier Morales limited to the bench because of an adductor injury suffered in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with the Colorado Rapids in MLS play. The Timbers’ starting XI was highlighted by midfielder Will Johnson’s return to Salt Lake, where he played for five seasons before being traded to Portland last offseason.

Saborio gave the home team the early lead, heading in a cross from Kyle Beckerman. After a corner kick, Beckerman got the ball on the right flank, created some space around Rodney Wallace and played a cross to the far post that Saborio headed over Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and into the right side of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Each side enjoyed stretches of extended possession, but Portland had two great chances to pull level before halftime.

First, Darlington Nagbe found center back Andrew Jean-Baptiste somewhat surprisingly cruising free down the right side in the 40th. Baptiste carried the ball into the box and squared it for Will Johnson, who hit the skipping ball first-time. RSL keeper Nick Rimando made a fine save, flipping the ball up and over the crossbar for a corner kick.

This US Open Cup Semifinal match featured two teams that have never reached the final four, aiming for their first Open Cup title. Photo: Real Salt Lake

Then in first-half stoppage time, Diego Valeri served in a corner kick from the right side that Ryan Johnson got to at the far post. He headed the ball from a tough angle and it hit Beltran – replays indicated the ball might have hit the left back’s arm or shoulder, but whatever the case, referee Mark Geiger didn’t blow his whistle.

The visitors had the better of play for the opening 10 minutes of the second half, too, but didn’t really threaten the goal in that time. Will Johnson received a nice ovation from the RSL fans when he was subbed out with an apparent right arm injury in the 63rd.

Portland had a golden chance to equalize in the 72nd. The RSL back line lost track of Valeri, who was left all alone and got his head on a pinpoint cross from left back Ryan Miller, but the ball flashed wide of the left post.

Six minutes later, the combination of Saborio and Plata teamed up to double Real Salt Lake’s lead.

Plata played the ball ahead to Saborio near the top of the box, and he laid it back for his strike partner. The 5-foot-3 Ecuadorian promptly ripped a shot from 25 yards out that zipped past Ricketts into the left side of the goal, giving RSL a 2-0 lead in the 78th.

The second goal proved to be integral as Valeri did get the Timbers on the board in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. He worked past both Beltran and Borchers and let loose with a shot that Rimando was able to save, but the Argentinian stayed with the ball and headed it in to cut the lead in half. It was the first goal surrendered by RSL in Open Cup play in 282 minutes dating to their 5-2 win over USL Pro’s Charleston Battery in the fourth round.

Semifinal: Portland Timbers 1-2 Real Salt Lake

August 7 | Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy UT | Attendance: 14,742

Scoring Summary

RSL: Alvaro Saborio (Kyle Beckerman) 7

RSL: Joao Plata (Alvaro Saborio) 78

POR: Diego Valeri 91+

Lineups

Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Carlos Salcedo, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert; Luis Gil (Yordany Alvarez 88), Kyle Beckerman, Ned Grabavoy, Khari Stephenson (Javier Morales 80); Alvaro Saborio, Robbie Findley (Joao Plata 61). Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella (GK), Lovel Palmer, Sebastian Velasquez, Olmes Garcia.

Portland Timbers: Donovan Ricketts; Ryan Miller (Alvas Powell 77), Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Pa-Modou Kah, Michael Harrington; Will Johnson (Jose Adolfo Valencia 63), Diego Chara, Diego Valeri; Rodney Wallace, Ryan Johnson (Kalif Alhassan 63), Darlington Nagbe. Substitutes not used: Jake Gleeson (GK), Jack Jewsbury, Rauwshan McKenzie, Ben Zemanski.

Disciplinary Summary

RSL: Carlos Salcedo (caution) 42

POR: Ryan Johnson (caution) 42, Pa-Modou Kah (caution) 94+

Statistics

Saves: RSL (Rimando) 5, POR (Ricketts) 2. Shots: RSL 9, POR 13. Corner kicks: RSL 4, POR 8. Fouls: RSL 11, P 12. Offsides: RSL 2, POR 3.

#USOC100

Copyright © 2025 • Built by Jacob Martella Web Development