2015 Fourth Round

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: Colorado Rapids win inaugural Centennial State battle over Colorado Springs Switchbacks

June 17, 2015 by Robert Wilson

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that the Houston Dynamo will host the Colorado Rapids in the next round.

In the first ever US Open Cup meeting between two professional teams from the Centennial State, the Colorado Rapids cruised to a 4-1 victory over visiting Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

The Rapids, often criticized for fielding weaker lineups in the Open Cup, ran out a starting eleven comprised of mostly reserves players and players returning United Soccer League loans or US youth team call-ups, but the team showed no signs of struggling against the visitors from the USL.

In the end, Colorado advanced to the fifth round behind goals from Dominique Badji, Joseph Greenspan and a brace from Dillon Serna.

Serna, making his first start of the year for the Rapids, also notched an assist. Greenspan scored in his professional debut, just weeks after finishing his spring semester at the US Naval Academy.

Colorado Springs started off the game with a vicious attack, looking for an early goal. Led by forward Aaron King and midfielder Shintaro Harada, the visitors pushed the ball up in dangerous areas but could not get past an impressive centerback pairing of Greenspan and Shane O’Neill.

The Switchbacks’ best chances came early in the first half, as they forced Rapids goalkeeper Zac MacMath to make three saves.

The Rapids were more effective with their chances and quickly took control of the game. The scoring began in the 26th minute when rookie Badji, held onside by right-back Jordan Burt, snuck behind the Switchbacks backline and redirected a Sam Cronin through-ball into the back of the net.

Minutes later, the 6-foot-6 Greenspan rose above the backline and headed in the second goal off a Serna free kick.

In the second half, the Rapids took control after frustration eventually got the best of Colorado Springs defender Josh Phillips, who earned a 62nd minute red card for a reckless tackle on Badji.

With a replacement centerback waiting to enter the game, Serna weaved his way through the depleted Switchbacks backline and scored the third Rapids goal.

Colorado Springs got on the board in extra time when substitute Luke Vercollone slipped away from his defender on a Switchbacks’ counterattack, but the Rapids restored their three-goal advantage about two minutes later.

Argentine imports Luis Solignac and Lucas Pittinari tore apart the undermanned Colorado Springs defense, with Solignac passing the ball across the open face of goal for Serna to tap in.

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: Quincy Amarikwa rescues Chicago Fire in OT win over Louisville City (video)

June 17, 2015 by Jeff Engelhardt

Quincy Amarikwa scored the game-winning goal in the 116th minute. Photo: Chicago Fire

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that the Chicago Fire will host the Charlotte Independence (USL) in the next round.

A Quincy Amarikwa header in the 116th minute gave the Chicago Fire a 1-0 victory after a strong challenge from Louisville City FC in its first-ever game against an MLS side.

The Fire, who are now 25-1-1 in Open Cup games in Illinois, looked in danger of dropping only their second tournament game in Illinois as they couldn’t crack a difficult and stingy Louisville City FC side until late in extra time at Toyota Park. The deciding goal came after second-half substitute Guly do Prado fired a shot toward the top right corner of the goal. Amarikwa saw the shot and quickly threw his head in front for a bang-bang deflection goal.

Amarikwa had missed roughly three quality chances in the second half and struggled to find the frame in the first as well. Despite his struggles, the forward kept his work rate up and said after the game it was that kind of effort from all his teammates that led to winning the hard fought match.

“That’s what happens in these Open Cup games,” said Amarikwa who now has four career US Open Cup goals. “They’re scrappy, the other team is looking for something to prove and it makes it hard to break down. We knew that all we had to do was keep going.”

The Fire threatened a few times in the second half after a more evenly matched first half. Dynamic midfielder Harry Shipp set up a pair of chances within five minutes as roughly 15 minutes remained in the second half. One service to Amarikwa was shot wide on an attempt from the top of the box while another ball to Prado could not be headed on target.

Chicago had a flurry of corner kick opportunities in the second half, but the consistent presence near the final third opened up a couple counter attack opportunities for Louisville. The USL side looked primed to score in the 85th minute.

Former Fire striker and MLS veteran Matt Fondy found Naill McCabe streaking down the left side. McCabe, who was alone entering the box and sizing up Sean Johnson, was unexpectedly cut off by Adailton who tackled the ball away at the last second.

That attempt followed a lesser threat in the 73rd minute from Charlie Adams who sent a shot over the crossbar.

Fire coach Frank Yallop said while it was not the prettiest of performances, it was an important win to gain confidence in the team’s aspirations of winning a record-tying fifth Open Cup title and turning around their fortunes in league play where they have lost three straight.

“It wasn’t pretty … but what I will say is we kept going, we won the game and we’re into the next round. We kept fighting. We kept pushing,” Yallop said.

Louisville City FC gave the Fire all they could handle in the first half, limiting dangerous chances and coming up with one of their own.

The best chance of the game came in the 22nd minute when a failed clearance in the box fell to Louisville’s Magnus Rasmussen near the top of the 18-yard box. Rasmussen connected, but the shot deflected off the crossbar, missing by inches.

The Fire had the better of the possession and consistently attacked the right side of the Louisville defense. Fire left back Greg Cochrane and midfielder Michael Stephens were looked to often, but the best chance for the Fire came in the 31st minute when Jason Johnson forced a turnover at the top of Louisville’s box. The ball deflected to Amarikwa who was all alone in the center of the box, but he sent his rushed shot just wide on an onrushing Scott Goodwin.

The Fire had one last surge in the 43rd minute when a Greg Cochrane cross was grazed by a diving header effort from Johnson. Louisville cleared the ball to the top of the box where Matt Watson had a clean shot that went wide of the net.

Louisville’s Fondy forced a diving save from Sean Johnson in the 11th minute for the Fire keeper’s only save of the half.

FULL MATCH REPLAY: LOUISVILLE CITY AT CHICAGO FIRE

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: FC Dallas ignores league form, dominates Oklahoma City Energy 4-1

June 16, 2015 by Adam Uthe

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that Sporting Kansas City will host FC Dallas in the next round.

A wise man once said “Form is fallacy.”

That particular saying held true in Tuesday night’s Fourth Round US Open Cup matchup between Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas and United Soccer League side Oklahoma City Energy FC.

OKC was riding a seven-game winning streak, five of which were clean sheets, while Dallas hadn’t won a league game since early May.

No one told Dallas’ Colombian playmaker Michael Barrios though. He scored twice in a span of three minutes in the first half to help Dallas defeat OKC 4-1 in a “home” game on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja was relieved to see his team earn the win and advance.

“Obviously, it’s great to see the boys smile again and get a victory,” Pareja said.

The first half was an even affair through the first 10 minutes with both sides exchanging half-chances and Dallas holding a slight edge in possession. Then in the 20th minute, the floodgates opened for Dallas when Fabian Castillo weaved his way down the end line before cutting back to a wide open David Texeira for the opening goal.

Barrios scored twice before the break for FC Dallas to put the game out of reach.

Although Barrios stood out, OKC head coach Jimmy Nielsen was impressed with Barrios’ countryman Castillo, who was arguably the most dangerous player on the field in the first half.

“He was sharp. He was unstoppable,” Nielsen said.

Barrios scored his first goal in the 33rd minute off a rebound from a shot by Dallas midfielder Alex Zendejas. Barrios needed just three minutes to add his second to make it 3-0.

Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz gobbled up an OKC corner and then quickly got the ball up to Barrios, who turned on the jets and finished nicely at the other end just moments later.

Although it was probably little consolation to his team, Nielsen was pleased with the way his players came out for the second half with their heads held high against a quality MLS side.

“We played a respectable second half,” said Nielsen.

Indeed, OKC created some dangerous chances throughout the second half and earned a handful of corners before Danni Konig finally got the visitors on the board in the 81st minute.

That offset FC Dallas’ goal earlier in the second half, when Barrios set up Texeira for his second goal of the night in the 51st minute.

With the win, FC Dallas advances to the fifth round, which will take place June 30-July 1.

The draw to determine their opponent will take place on Thursday, June 18.

FC Dallas will return to league play when it host in-state rivals Houston Dynamo on Friday.

OKC will travel to California to take on Sacramento Republic in USL action on Saturday.

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: Full-strength New York Red Bulls cruise past Atlanta Silverbacks, 3-0 (video)

June 16, 2015 by Romulo Vieira

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that the New York Red Bulls will host the New York Cosmos in the next round.

On Tuesday night the Atlanta Silverbacks traveled all the way to New Jersey to face the New York Red Bulls in the Fourth Round of the US Open Cup. With both teams coming off a loss in their respective leagues, a win was crucial to boost team moral. As promised, Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch fielded a team full of starters like Bradley Wright-Philips and Lloyd Sam. With their starters, the Red Bulls proved to be too much for the Silverbacks and won the game with a comfortable 3-0 score line.

The Red Bulls dominated the first half and kept control of play. The Silverbacks looked disorganized at times in the back. The Red Bulls team were playing well together and were able to create chances. New York opened up the scoring in the 7th minute when Lloyd Sam received a pass from Wright-Phillips in the box and was able to put the ball past Silverbacks goalkeeper Steward Ceus.

After the goal, the Red Bulls continued to do a great job controlling the ball in the midfield and not allowing the Silverbacks any chance of creating a threat to their goal. The Red Bulls were rewarded with another goal in the 15th minute when Ronald Zubar was able to put away a rebound from the goalkeeper after Sacha Klejstan hit the initial shot.

The Red Bulls could’ve gone into the half with a couple of more goals, but they missed many chances. Their best chance for a third goal in the half came in the 37th minute when Dax McCarty passed the ball to Wright-Phillips in the box, but MLS’ top goalscorer from last year couldn’t keep the ball down and it went over the bar.

After the halftime interval the game continued to be played in the same rhythm. While Atlanta was able to take more shots, they only had one shot on target throughout the entire game.

Wright-Phillips put another ball over the bar after a pass from Richards in the box.

The Red Bulls sealed their ticket to the fifth round in the 70th minute after a beautiful play between Wright-Phillips, Mike Grellla and Sean Davis. Wright-Phillips started the play by passing the ball to Mike Grella. Grella, feeling the pressure of two defenders approaching, played a beautiful back heel pass to Davis who was able to shoot the ball past Ceus.

After their third goal the Red Bulls continued to dominate the game without receiving any threatening chances from Atlanta. It was an easy night for the Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles.

After the game, Wright-Phillips assured everyone in the tournament that the Red Bulls are taking the tournament seriously this year and hope to win the Open Cup for the first time.

“It is one of our targets this season,” he said. “Jesse (Marsch) made it clear that we want to win this cup. You can see from the team he put out that he means business.”

The Red Bulls will now have to wait and see whom they’ll face in the next round. The draw for the fifth round will be this Thursday morning.

FULL MATCH REPLAY: ATLANTA SILVERBACKS AT NY RED BULLS

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: Sporting KC wins I-70 battle with Saint Louis FC thanks to Graham Zusi winner (video)

June 16, 2015 by Matthew De Witt

Graham Zusi celebrates his go-ahead goal for Sporting KC against Saint Louis FC. Photo: Gary Rohman | Sporting KC

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that Sporting Kansas City will host FC Dallas in the next round.

The Interstate 70 rivalry was one for the books.

On a record night, a noisy home crowd pushed Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City to a 1-0 win over United Soccer League side Saint Louis FC.

Graham Zusi was the difference, as he and his United States Men’s National Team teammate Benny Feilhaber combined often in the attacking half. Any touch from either player was met with a loud roar from the Sporting Park crowd.

Those supporters were rewarded in the 70th minute.

Feilhaber took a pass from defender Saad Abdul-Salaam and found a streaking Zusi from the right wing. Zusi nodded in the lofted cross under Saint Louis goalkeeper Mark Pais’ right glove.

“We didn’t go away from our game plan,” Zusi said. “We were very patient. Saad recognized he didn’t have the numbers, so he pulled the back to Benny.

“It allowed more of us to get in the box and a better chance for one of us to get on the end of it.”

The game featured the hosts in attack-mode for all 90 minutes. Sporting, the 2004 and 2012 Open Cup champion, nearly opened the scoring in the first half, but Saint Louis’ Mike Ambersley made two goal-line saves to deny the hosts.

Zusi got on the end of cross from Amadou Dia in the penalty area, but Ambersley bested the USMNT veteran. The midfielder trekked back to the goal line to deny Zusi’s header with his foot, and then a rocket from Dom Dwyer smacked Ambersley’s knee.

“Bottom line: You’ve just got to win and move on in these types of situations,” Feilhaber said. “You knew it was going to happen.

“Obviously, they put a lot of guys behind the ball, it makes it tough.”

The announced crowd of 19,298 fans, mostly decked out in Sporting blue, was loud from start to finish. The attendance set a new fourth round-record for the Open Cup in the modern era.

The previous record of 15,981 fans was set by the same MLS side in 2013, when Sporting played its USL affiliate, Orlando City SC.

“It was our crowd,” Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes. “I think I heard something over in the corner a few times, but there were a few people over there.”

In the recent weeks, both teams had talked about a rivalry between the squads, which are located a mere three hours’ drive from each other. This was the first game between the two clubs, and some of the MLS players are interested in keeping the series going.

“If Saint Louis does eventually come to the league, it’ll be good for both organizations,” Feilhaber said. “I’ve never thought of Chicago as our rival. I think we have better rivals in the west.”

Sporting marches on in the 2015 Open Cup. Its opponent is still up in the air, as the draw for the fifth round will take place on June 18. Game has a set date for June 30 or July 1, at a venue yet to be determined.

FULL MATCH REPLAY: SAINT LOUIS FC AT SPORTING KC

2015 US Open Cup Round 4: John McCarthy helps Philadelphia Union survive PK shootout with Rochester Rhinos (video)

June 16, 2015 by Michael Berton

John McCarthy of the Philadelphia Union celebrates a penalty kick save against the Rochester Rhinos. Photo: Greg Carroccio | Philadelphia Union

UPDATE: The Round of 16 draw was conducted by the US Soccer Federation and it was determined that the Philadelphia Union will host DC United in the next round.

It took 120 minutes before the Philadelphia Union and Rochester Rhinos could score some goals. The teams needed a penalty kick shootout to decide things after a scoreless draw in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Fourth Round.

In the end, Union goalkeeper John McCarthy, a former Rochester Rhinos player, was the hero, saving three penalty kicks to win his team the tiebreaker. Philadelphia scored three penalties to take the shootout 3-1.

“ made some big saves for us in the PKs,” Union coach Jim Curtin said. “The second of three saves was special. He stepped up and bailed us out.”

It did not always look like McCarthy was going to be the hero, however. Several times in the second half and in extra time, he came way out of his penalty box to try to stop plays. Twice he made errors; on the first Raymon Gaddis saved the ball of the line, and on the second, a Rochester goal was disallowed due to a foul.

“I yelled at him for coming out for a couple balls he shouldn’t have,” said Curtin.

Other than a dominating opening 20 minutes for the MLS side, the match was pretty even. Rochester, which won the Open Cup in 1999, put more shots on goal than the Union (5-4), and frustrated the Union defensively. The USL outfit came into the match at 8-0-4 in league play, giving up just four goals.

The Rhinos’ best chance came in the 83rd minute. After a corner taken by Jonny Mendoza, the ball found its way to Julian Ringhof. The defender chested the ball and volleyed it, only to produce a spectacular double save by McCarthy.

“I thought they outplayed us in the second half. Credit to Rochester. That’s a tough team to break down,” Curtin said.

With neither team able to capitalize on chances in extra time, the match came down to penalty kicks. It was McCarthy making three saves—two to his right and the final to his left—to give the Union the victory.

With the win, the Philadelphia Union, last year’s runner-up, advance to the Fifth Round, winning their opening game for the fourth year in a row. The draw for the Fifth Round will occur on Thursday at 10 a.m.

FULL MATCH REPLAY: ROCHESTER AT PHILADELPHIA