On what was a cold night in the West Texas town of El Paso, Southwest FC emerged victorious by a score of 3-0 over San Juan FC of Utah in the Open Division Local Qualifying tournament for the 2019 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. SWFC’s captain, David Lopez, set the tone with a goal and an assist from his left back position and the team’s ability to convert timely chances, if not all of their chances, put the result beyond doubt. The win could mean SWFC’s first Open Cup berth, but that celebration will be on hold for just a bit.
It is unclear, as of now, whether a Fourth Round, which is tentatively scheduled for March of 2019, will take place. Every professional team in the United States is automatically entered into the US Open Cup, and with the addition of an entirely new professional league with USL League One (Div. 3), and a number of expansion teams in the USL Championship (Div. 2), the format of next year’s tournament has yet to be finalized. Without a finalized format, it’s unclear how many Open Division teams (National Premier Soccer League, USL League Two — formerly Premier Development League — , and all of the Open Division Local teams) will be granted entry into the competition. It’s possible that ASC will have to play a Fourth Round qualifying match, but they won’t find out until January.
If Southwest FC ultimately does qualify, they would be just the third El Paso club (El Paso Patriots, El Paso Indios USA) to qualify for the tournament, but they would be the first one that wasn’t a part of the PDL or the NPSL.
Southwest FC got off to a lightning fast start for the second straight Open Cup game, opening the scoring after just two minutes through a combination of high pressure, quick passing, and a clinical finish at the end. It was Cesar Sosa, playing up top for SWFC who supplied the cool, left-footed finish.
The approach looked familiar, with their first goal against Sporting AZ in the Second Qualifying Round coming from similar early pressure.
“I think every game is different and we prepare for each differently … but the approach of Sporting and San Juan were similar so we saw it might work,” said SWFC manager Endy Gonzalez.
San Juan followed with a quick chance off a long throw, with Elias Dandi striking the post with a glancing header that nearly caught SWFC out. From there, the strategy for SWFC shifted, opting for control and looking for their opportunities to get forward and attack San Juan, who had chosen to sit back for much of the first half.
This led to a period of about 25 minutes where chances were hard to come by for either team. However, SWFC struck again in the 35th minute. A break down the right hand side eventually fed Sosa again, who was able to find David Lopez at the far post. Lopez made no mistake, smashing the ball into the upper left-hand corner and sending SWFC into the break with a two-goal advantage.
The break served San Juan well and they came out snarling in the second half. The visitors from Utah were the better side after the interval and threatened to dent SWFC’s lead.
Still it was the El Paso side that threatened first, with Alexis Gomez forcing a save from San Juan’s Juan Parente with a curling effort from the right side of the area. San Juan maintained pressure though and Dandi struck the post with the visitors best chance of the game.
As the game entered its final half hour, both teams made a few substitutions. SWFC won the tactical battle, as they earned a free kick on the left wing. The captain Lopez stepped up to take and delivered a free kick that evaded the defense and recent sub Mario Ramirez powered home the finish to give SWFC the 3-0 lead and put the game out of reach for San Juan.
The Utah club did not go quietly, as they tested Daniel Medina in the SWFC goal a number of times. The last 10 minutes was mainly San Juan knocking on the SWFC goal and then being immediately countered by the fresh substitutes down either flank. This sequence of punches and counterpunches saw the clock run to ninety minutes and SWFC claimed the well-deserved victory.
The US Open Cup has many instances where teams who are not familiar with each other have to adapt. This particular matchup was the first between these teams and SWFC was able to grab that early advantage that sent San Juan searching for solutions. This adaptability could serve SWFC well as they progress further in the competition.
In the second half, it was a battle as both teams got physical and had many chances but couldn’t convert. In the 80th minute, Soda City midfielder, Graham Jermstad, had a free kick opportunity but he hit it straight at the keeper. Later, in stoppage time, Soda City was given a corner kick but their shot attempt went wide as they were inches from tying the match.
Both teams continued to create chances and both back lines weathered dangerous storms. On a counter attack, the Omens’ Smriko sent a cross in to Defregger, who had a well-placed flick-on header to Jake Johnson. Johnson, who dominated field coverage as a defender, placed a shot deep to the far corner. Safira keeper Vilela dove, making a great save to deflect the ball off frame for a GPS corner. Just minutes later, GPS was able to slot the ball through two Safira defenders leaving GPS’ Derek Stenquist with a one-on-one opportunity. But Vilela was able to come up with a big save to keep Safira in the game.
These two Bay State Soccer League rivals found themselves opposing each other for the third time in 10 days and it was GPS Omens who prevailed, winning 1-0 to advance to Round 3. With about 20 minutes left in the game, Patrick Murray got on the end of a free kick to score the game’s only goal to avenge the loss by the Omens last year’s Second Round qualifier, won by the Wanderers in a penalty kick shootout. With this year’s win, GPS moves a step closer to qualifying for the US Open Cup for the fifth time in the last seven years.
Christos FC (USASA – Maryland Major Soccer League – Elkridge, MD)
Hurricane FC continued its great form in dominating Sporting Orlando SC in the Second Round of the 2019 US Open Cup qualifying tournament with a 4-0 win at Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, Fla. Hurricane FC came into the match having won four of their last five games in the 2018 UPSL Fall Season. In the 10th minute, Sporting Orlando SC was awarded a penalty kick but goalkeeper Leonardo Cid made a huge save to keep the score at 0-0. In the 35th minute, Fabricio Astudillo got the first goal of the match for Hurricane FC, capitalizing on a rebound to give his team the lead. Sporting kept pushing for the next 10 minutes but was still empty-handed at halftime. In the 59th minute, Edmar De Lacerda got a goal to give Hurricane FC a 2-0 lead. Orlando continued to push for goals which wore them down, opening up more space for the Hurricane FC strikers to attack. In the 71st minute, De Lacerda got his second goal of the night to give Hurricane FC a 3-0 lead. Fabricio scored his second goal in the 80th minute to seal the victory for Hurricane FC, their first-ever win in three entries into the competition. The club had lost their opening round game in each of the last two years, though they received a bye into Round 2. (Report by Joshua Taylor)
Soda City FC Sorinex (USASA – Central League – Lexington, SC)
FC Denver (USSSA – Colorado Premier League – Aurora, CO)
Santa Ana Winds earned a second consecutive qualifying round clean sheet with a 5-0 win over Lionside FC to advance to Round 3. Carlos Torres and Javier Corona gave the Winds a 2-0 lead but each team finished the first half with 10 men after each received a red card. In the second half, the game opened up with Ezequiel Estrada and Wilton Quintero adding to the scoresheet, with Estrada adding his second of the night late in the game to seal the game. The Winds are attempting to qualify for the second year in a row. 
Cal United’s Gustavo Villalobos broke away from defenders in the 72nd minute, after a scrappy play in the midfield that resulted in the assisted pass, charging the net and blasting a left-footed shot to put things at 2-0. Minutes later, CUFC II was awarded a penalty kick that Paolo Cardozo sent sailing over the cross bar, on a left-footed shot.
The New York Pancyprian Freedoms traveled down to New Jersey and pushed the Jackson Lions FC to its limits during regulation, but with a 0-0 scoreline after 120 minutes the visitors needed a penalty shootout to advance. The Freedoms won the shootout, 3-1, to eliminate the sole Garden State team left in the 2019 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup qualifying tournament for Open Division local teams.
The early start seemed to affect both sides’ backlines the most. Within the first five minutes, each team’s goalkeeper was forced to leave the penalty box to intervene and clear early through balls that beat their respective backlines. Neither team looked willing to put too much effort into winning the ball back early on either. The game’s first foul didn’t come until the 19th minute as the two sides traded possession. Rayados ultimately settled in and controlled possession for the rest of the first half, but Leon had actually registered more shots attempted up until Salas’ goal just before half.
