Brian Rowland

2009 First Round: Ocean City Barons fly by Crystal Palace Baltimore again; first PDL upset of 2009

June 10, 2009 by

WEDNESDAY, June 10, 2009 (Postponed from June 9 due to field conditions)
Carey Stadium – Ocean City, N.J. | 7 p.m.
Match Reports: Ocean City | Press of Atlantic City
Video Highlights (Courtesy: NBC40 – Best with IE)
Twitter: @oceancitybarons

	3	FT	0
Byron Carmichael (Melchionni) 9’ Byron Carmichael (Swetra) 34’ JT Noone (Richter) 78’

The Ocean City Barons became the first PDL team to beat a USL professional squad in the 2009 tournament, winning a 3-0 decision over Crystal Palace Baltimore of the USL Second Division. Baltimore was attempting to avenge a 1-0 upset in the First Round of the 2007 tournament at the hands of the Barons. That game two years ago was also played at “The Beach House” in Ocean City and for the Barons, it was their third upset of a pro team in franchise history.

Byron Carmichael opened the scoring in the 9th minute, with an assist from Neal Melchionni. Carmichael struck again in the 34th minute on a feed from William Swetra give the Barons a 2-0 halftime lead. The game had been postponed on Tuesday due to a flooded field from heavy overnight storms.

With 12 minutes remaining, JT Noone left no doubt as to who the winners were with a Ryan Richter-assisted goal in the 78th minute. Ocean City will host the Real Maryland Monarchs next Tuesday in the Second Round with a date with DC United of Major League Soccer on the line.

2008 Quarterfinals: Second string Revolution avoid upset, edge Baltimore in PK shootout

July 8, 2008 by

Sergio Flores of Crystal Palace Baltimore reacts after being shown a red card in the 119th minute after a tackle on Pat Phelan of the New England Revolution. Photo: Art Donahue | Revolution Recap

The New England Revolution’s defense of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup was nearly ended in New Britain, Conn. at the hands of a resolute Crystal Palace Baltimore team on Tuesday night. Following 120 minutes of even soccer, the Revs pushed past Palace 5-3 on penalty kicks, with Mauricio Castro slotting home the final shot for New England.

Baltimore, who already claimed the $10,000 prize money as the USL-2 team that advanced the furthest, was attempting to become the first third division club to advance to the Semifinals since the San Francisco Bay Seals made the final four in 1997.

In a very similar lineup from their Third Round match against the Richmond Kickers (USL-2), the Revolution started Taylor Twellman, Kenny Mansally, Khano Smith along with a collection of players who, up until this point in the season, have not seen very much first team action.

Sergio Flores of Crystal Palace Baltimore was shown red in the 119th minute after a foul on New England’s Pat Phelan, leaving Palace one less player to choose from for the penalty kick shootout.

The defending champs would get on the scoreboard first after just six minutes with Kenny Mansally running onto a Brandon Tyler pass and putting it past Palace goalkeeper Brian Rowland. Baltimore would equalize in the 20th minute on a Dan Lader tally after he buried a shot from the top of the box after it pinballed off a couple of players in front.

After Sergio Flores was sent off, Palace with just ten men from which to select its five for the shootout. Chase Hilgenbrinck (NER) opened with a goal, followed by Shintaro Harada (CPB), Kheli Dube (NER), Bryan Harkin (CPB), Chris Tierney (NER), and Matthew Mbuta (CPB). Amaechi Igwe put the Revs ahead 4-3 with his score, but Val Teixeira had his attempt saved by Doug Warren, setting up Castro to be the hero.

The Revolution will hit the road for their Semifinal encounter, traveling to RFK Stadium to take on DC United on August 12.

2008 First Round: Pat Healey’s double puts much-traveled Crystal Palace past LA Legends

June 10, 2008 by

Crystal Palace Baltimore goalkeeper Brian Rowland prepares to dive for a shot by Ian Etherington of the Los Angeles Legends. Photo: Amy Walz

Midfielder Pat Healey’s second goal of the night, a low strike inside the right post in the 88th minute, lifted Crystal Palace Baltimore to a 2-1 victory over the 10-man Los Angeles Legends in Azusa, Calif.

Healey opened the scoring for the USL Second Division side in the 43rd minute, connecting on a volley from the back post. The Legends were reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute as Ross Schunk drew a straight red card for a tackle. Three minutes later, though, the homestanding PDL club equalized through Kevin Gallagher.

Healey, though, made Palace’s 2,500-mile trip worth the while in the waning moments, matching his season goal total coming in with his second of the night and sending his club back to the East Coast for a Second Round meeting at the Harrisburg City Islanders.

2007 US Open Cup Round 1: Barons defense fuels upset of 10-man Crystal Palace Baltimore

June 12, 2007 by Josh Hakala

Carey Stadium, “The Beach House” in Ocean City, NJ. Home of the Ocean City Barons. File Photo: Ocean City Barons

The Ocean City Barons advanced to the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 1-0 upset of the USL Second Division’s Crystal Palace Baltimore. Byron Carmichael scored the lone goal just before halftime on an assist by Sean Boyle while Adam Edwards made eight saves for his fifth straight shutout in all competitions.

The Barons will host a Second Round match against the Harrisburg City Islanders from the USL Second Division on June 26 at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that match will play a team from Major League Soccer in Round 3.

Very little separated the two sides in the opening twenty minutes of a match that would get more physical as the night went on. In the 12th minute, Adam Sternberger missed a golden chance on a cross that landed at his feet, but he wasn’t able to get any power behind the shot and it was saved by Palace goalkeeper Brian Rowland.

The match completely changed in the 22nd minute when Harold Urquijo, Baltimore’s Colombian youth international, was shown a straight red card after delivering an elbow to the head of Barons defender Adam Ennis. Down a man, Crystal Palace continued to put pressure on the Barons’ defense, which has only allowed one goal in their first six league matches.

It looked as though Palace were going to get through the first half unscathed until Boyle delivered a pass to Carmichael at the top of the 18-yard box. The veteran striker turned quickly and toe-poked the ball past a diving Rowland to give the Barons a 1-0 lead in the 45th minute.

Crystal Palace continued to press, and rarely looked like a team playing with 10 men. Their best chance came in the 73rd minute when second-half sub Larry Mark streaked down the right wing and found space to cross the ball. The cross found the feet of Sergio Flores at the 6-yard box at the center of the goal, but he mishit the ball and sent it wide.

Another substitute provided a spark for Baltimore as Andrew Herman battled in the penalty area with Ryan Heins, and eventually broke free and raced up the touchline. He made a move back to his left foot to avoid another defender and fired a shot at point blank range, but it found only the side netting.

The physical play in the second half reached a boiling point in stoppage time when Flores attacked Ocean City’s Neil Holloway and was sent off.

Holloway, the team’s general manager who laces up his boots on occasion, played the last 15 minutes and helped preserve the win.

“It was a very professional performance by the Barons tonight,” Holloway said. “The Open Cup is a very special competition for us, and we’re hoping that the magic of the Cup is on our side this year. Now we’re just 90 minutes away from playing an MLS team.”

Seven yellow cards were shown to Ocean City players, compared to a pair of red cards and two yellow cards for the visitors.