CD Aguiluchos USA

2018 US Open Cup Round 1: San Francisco City heads across the Bay to find first USOC win

May 14, 2018 by Thomas Hodul

San Francisco City picked up a first-ever win in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with an impressive 4-0 thumping of the home side, CD Aguiluchos USA, the NPSL club based out of Oakland, Calif. While City deserved the victory in the end, the 4-0 score is a bit misleading as the Aguiluchos controlled long portions of the match and were never truly out of the match until the final 10 minutes.

“The Aguiluchos are a solid team, some really experienced players,” said SF City head coach Paddy Coyne. “And to come here and get a 4-0 result, I’m pretty happy.”

The Aguiluchos had some of the best chances early on in the match, including a few chances to star striker, Simon Rawnsley, who saw a left footed effort sail just over the bar in the 21st minute as well as two headed chances that just went over the bar in the 40th and 42nd minute.

The two best chances came for the Aguiluchos in back-to-back minutes when first Victor Ramirez hit the cross bar in the 31st minute, and then Jose Cabeza fired a volley right to the keeper a minute later.

City then went on to turn the game on its head late in the first half when Bengy Ruiz, the Aguiluchos defender, took down Sean Bowman in the box. This led to a penalty kick in the 44th minute. Aaron Lombardi stepped up for SF City only to see his shot saved. However, none of the Aguiluchos defenders followed up to help their keeper, and Lombardi buried the rebound to give SF City the 1-0 lead.

“I think the pressure we were building created that penalty, and Aaron has finished it off the rebound,” said Coyne about the opening goal.

Then just a minute later, former Phoenix Rising striker Matt Hurlow added a second goal for City with a brilliant left-footed volley from the top of the box.

“Next thing you know, we get another bouncing ball from Matt Hurlow, pulls a left foot on it, and it’s a goal,” said Coyne about his surprise of the second goal. “It’s always nice going into half time with a two nil buffer.”

The Aguiluchos went on to use up all three subs early in the second half as they searched for a way back into the match. They continued to create half chances much like in the first half before they went down two goals. Ross Middlemiss and Octavio Guzman started to give the SF City defense some problems, but it was never enough to cause any serious threats.

As the Aguiluchos pushed for a goal, they left themselves exposed at the back, including twice conceding goals that just barely got called back for offsides. Then, in the 80th minute, City eventually found a third goal to seal the match as Jordan Hughes chipped the keeper much to the delight of the traveling City supporters.

“We changed our formation in the second half. It really helped us out on the wings,” said Coyne about the team’s second half performance. “We made three subs and all of them came in and made a great impact.”

The final goal of the match was probably the best of the night and it came from one of those subs, Armand Bagramyan, who curled in a perfect free kick from the edge of the box to make the score 4-0 just before the ref blew the full time whistle.

SF City will travel south for a PDL double header this weekend before traveling north to play Sacramento Republic in the Second Round of the US Open Cup. This schedule will test the depth in the SF City squad early in the season.

Coach Coyne didn’t seem too concerned, saying confidently about his team: “We are deep. We have 35 on our roster, so we can call up lads to play any role in any system and they should be doing as well as the man who played the week before.”

Series of forfeits, teams with ineligible players overshadow 2016 US Open Cup

May 31, 2016 by Evan Ream

With dozens of amateur and professional teams battling for the United States’ true national championship, every Lamar Hunt US Open Cup creates numerous storylines.

Whether it’s the 1999 Rochester Rhinos doing the impossible of becoming the only lower division side to win the final since the introduction of MLS teams, or amateur teams Cal FC and the Michigan Bucks both upsetting MLS teams in 2012, every Cup is usually remembered for at least one or two moments.

The early part of the 2016 edition of the tournament has featured three disqualifications, the most of any competition in the Modern Era (1995-present). And those three disqualifications were just the ones that were caught in what appears to be a combination of spotty rule enforcement from the United States Soccer Federation and a lack of rule awareness by teams and players.

Section 203. Part (c) of the 2016 US Open Cup handbook is pretty clear:

“Any player who plays in any part of an Open Cup match for a team, including any match in any Open Division qualifying round, may not be included in the Open Cup roster or play for any other team in the Open Cup competition for that competition year.”

This rule is new for 2016 as the federation kicked off its inaugural open division qualifying tournament, a single-elimination competition made up of any amateur team that does not belong to the Premier Development League (PDL) or the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Prior to this year, players were only cup-tied if they played for a team in the Open Cup proper.

The reason for the ruling was to keep players from jumping from team to team. Occasionally players would play for one team during qualifying and if they got eliminated, sign with a team that qualified.

At publishing time, TheCup.us is aware of at least five teams who broke this rule by fielding or including on their roster cup-tied players in the first or second rounds of the tournament. However, only two of the teams were discovered in time to file a protest and have the result of the match overturned.

1. In their Second Round penalty kick upset victory over the Charleston Battery (USL), the Villages SC of the Premier Development League (PDL) started Paulo Vaz, who had previously played for Boca Raton FC in the open division qualifying tournament that took place last fall. The Battery discovered this after the game and immediately filed a successful protest which eliminated the PDL side and pushed Charleston into the next round.

“We were unaware of Paulo Vaz playing for another team in the qualifying rounds of the Cup,” said Alex Perez, a spokesperson for The Villages SC. “In all of his registration paperwork with us that we filed with the PDL, Paulo listed his last club as Floridians FC. It’s an unfortunate situation.”

Villages SC defeated Kraze United in Round 1 with that same ineligible player, which led Kraze United to file a protest after the Battery match in Round 2 was complete. The protest by Kraze United was denied due to the rule that states that “official match protests are required to be submitted by 5:00 p.m. CT the day following the match. (Section 306. Part (a) of the 2016 US Open Cup handbook.)

2. In a 3-1 First Round loss to the Sacramento Gold, the Burlingame Dragons started Gabe Silveira, who had taken part in the open division qualification tournament for San Francisco City FC.

According to the Dragons, they were told by US Soccer that Silveira was cleared to play. This was not discovered in time and no protest was filed.

3. In that same game, the Sacramento Gold included Andre Brown on their bench, who played for Davis Legacy in the qualifying tournament. While he didn’t appear in the match, just having him on the gameday roster is a potential violation. The USASA has disqualified teams for such a violation during qualifying, however, there is no precedent in the US Open Cup proper in the Modern Era.

4. CD Aguiluchos USA fielded ineligible players in both their first and second round matches. In their 3-0 Round 1 win over San Francisco City, substitute Ahmad Hatifie was cup-tied to Ballistic IFX. CDA also subbed on a cup-tied player in Arthur Bahr in their 5-0 loss to Sacramento Republic FC. Bahr played for San Francisco City in qualifying.

San Francisco, like Kraze United, submitted a protest, but it was also denied since it was filed long after the deadline.

5. Perhaps the most notable protest involved the Ventura County Fusion’s use of Gabe Gonzalez, who had played for Cal FC in qualification, in a 2-1 First Round victory over the LA Wolves FC.

According to the Fusion, the club was aware of Gonzalez’s participation in the qualifying rounds, but were told specifically by USSF that Gonzalez was cleared to play for the Fusion. How did the Wolves know he was ineligible? Because he played against them in qualifying for Cal FC. The Wolves edged Cal FC 2-1 to clinch their first-ever Open Cup berth.

The Wolves protested the decision and the Fusion were disqualified from the tournament.

“Rules are in place for a reason and they must be followed by all teams,” said Skwara. “The new rules for 2016 may not be perfect, but all teams still have to follow the rules or risk the repercussions.”

Ventura County then filed an appeal on the decision, which was denied by the USSF and the Wolves advanced to Round 2 to face the Orange County Blues of the USL.

According to Fusion media coordinator Polo Ascencio, the Fusion were never given a reason for the denial.

“The reply was a very simple, ‘your appeal was not successful,’ Ascencio told TheCup.us. “They just said, ‘no.’”

The federation has yet to confirm why the appeal was denied or if informing teams of the specifics of the decision are a common practice.

Ascencio said decisions like these only hurt the credibility of the tournament and the amateur teams participating in it.

“It needs to change,” Ascencio said of the roster rules. “The teams, the amateur teams, and you guys know this, in the lower levels, they take this very, very seriously for many reasons … it gives you exposure. it’s given us exposure that we didn’t want, not this way. It gives you exposure. It gives your players a chance to play against higher competition as you move on and on and on.”

With the forfeit, the Fusion’s Modern Era record streak of six consecutive First Round victories came to an end.

“We have really good, young talent looking forward for a chance and to have the chance taken away by a system that is broken,” Ascencio said. “But at the end, we did nothing wrong. We asked our players, the players that came forward didn’t play, we thought we were good. But obviously we were not good.

“We asked US Soccer for a list before the tournament started … of players who have played . Give us rosters of the teams that have played so we know,” he added. “To this day, it’s been already a couple of weeks since the started the first round, we don’t have any of those lists.

Ascencio believes the federation must have too much on its plate.

“Either they’re too busy doing something, MLS or Copa America-related, or the US Open Cup doesn’t really matter until you get the big teams in the Cup,” Ascencio said. “It’s a chance for our players to succeed, to put a spotlight on them. It’s a chance for our teams to bring our fans an experience that they might not get with our local, amateur team.

For the Fusion, Ascencio says its a missed opportunity for the team and the players.

“And obviously there’s money involved there,” he concluded. “The more you advance, the more money you can make. For some of these amateur teams … $15,000 could be a lot of money. It could be a couple year’s worth of attendance. It hurts for all the reasons, but at the end of the day it hurts because we won, but at the end, somebody said, ‘no you guys didn’t because you used a player that we said was okay to play. But, guess what, he’s not okay to play.”

Ascencio said that the Fusion plan to participate in future tournaments due to the opportunity it provides but maintains that the kinks need to be worked out.

“There has to be , there has to be,” Ascencio said. “Because if they’re not gonna change it, then things like this are going to keep happening and the teams that are going to be affected are going to be the amateur teams, not the professional teams. This is a cup that is made so that the amateur teams can flex their muscles or go on to face top competition. To have something like this happen, not only to us, but a few other teams around the nation…I feel bad for all those teams,”

None of the other teams involved in the situation that TheCup.us reached out to chose to comment on the record. The US Soccer Federation did not respond to a request for comment.

TheCup.us senior editor Josh Hakala also contributed to this report

2016 US Open Cup Round 2: Sacramento Republic adds another amateur blowout to its tournament resume

May 21, 2016 by Evan Ream

In what’s becoming an annual tradition, Sacramento Republic FC opened its Lamar Hunt US Open Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, defeating NPSL side CD Aguiluchos USA 5-0 Wednesday night at Bonney Field.

Oft-injured midfielder Max Alvarez proved the difference for the Republic, setting up three goals and scoring one for himself from dead balls to help Sacramento advance to a Third Round match-up against Kitsap Pumas of the PDL.

“We were very clinical from set plays, very clinical, right to the very end with Max’s goal,” said Republic head coach Paul Buckle. “We could have scored more, I wanted to score more goals. There were opportunities for our strikers to get more goals. They didn’t come, but I’m very pleased with the clean sheet.”

It took the Republic just 24 minutes to get the only goal it would need for the match, when midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan headed home an Alvarez corner kick past Aguiluchos keeper Kevin Gonzalez for a 1-0 lead.

Gonzalez had earlier saved a weak penalty from Tommy Stewart, giving the small traveling crowd hope for an upset.

Instead, the floodgates opened after Motagalvan’s goal.

In the 36th minute, Alvarez lined up on the left side of the field roughly 30 yards to goal and whipped in a free kick into the danger area of the box.

Though an Aguiluchos defender got a piece of it, the ball was never properly cleared, paving the way for Mackenzie Pridham to stab the ball home from close range.

Centerback Carlos Rodriguez, just 19-years-old and getting his first competitive minutes for the Republic, joined in on the fun in the 44th minute. The towering defender rifled a header into the back of the net off of yet another Alvarez set piece, this time a corner.

Prior to the game, Sacramento hadn’t scored a goal off of a corner kick since Sep. 13, 2014. Now they had two goals off such plays in a 20-minute period.

“It’s nice to have a couple ,” Alvarez said. “That’s something we’ve been working on. Guys are making better runs, something we’ve been working on as well. Everyone played their part in those goals. It was good to see a couple free kick goals for once. It’s been a long time.”

Stewart made up for his penalty miss in stoppage time, putting away the competitive aspect of the game with a finish off of a rebound from Gonzalez for a 4-0 lead.

Though Aguiluchos held their own for the majority of the second half, Alvarez stepped up to one final set piece in second half stoppage time to cap the night off.

From 25 yards out, the midfielder bent a left-footed free kick into the upper corner of the net to complete the 5-0 victory and send CD Aguiluchos USA home.

“To strike a football like that, into the top corner, if that was in the Premier League or La Liga, they’d be talking about that for weeks and weeks,” Buckle said.

With the victory, Sacramento improved to 5-0-0 in Open Cup play against fourth division sides, with 24 goals scored and just six allowed in those five games.

“It’s massive for us, we really do want to have a run in the Open Cup,” Buckle said. “In England, I had some wonderful times as head coach there, some incredible memories … this is my first game in the Open Cup. Five-nil is good. But my standards are very high. Our standards at the club are high. I know that in some cases tonight, we could have been a lot better.”

Leading up to the match, much of the conversation around the Internet involved the general dearth of online streams involving USL teams in the Second Round of the Open Cup.

The Republic were one such team that chose not to stream the match, so Aguiluchos chairman Roger Amaya took matters into his own hands, streaming the match live through his phone on the CD Facebook page.

However, the ability for fans of the team to actually watch the game didn’t help produce results on the field as the Oakland-based club dropped to 1-2 in all-time Open Cup play.

Evan Ream covers Sacramento Republic FC and soccer in Northern California for The Davis Enterprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanReam

2016 US Open Cup Round 1: CD Aguiluchos USA wins Bay Area battle with San Francisco City FC, 3-0

May 12, 2016 by Evan Ream

Three second half goals from three different players gave fourth-year NPSL club CD Aguiluchos USA its first-ever victory in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup competition.

Having lost in the first round to the Ventura County Fusion in their only other appearance in the competition, Aguiluchos downed fellow Bay Area side San Francisco City FC 3-0 at Beach Chalet No. 4 in San Francisco.

Simon Rawsley scored just after the half and Miguel Santiago and Matheus Freire each added goals in the dying moments of the game to move on to the second round of the tournament, where they will head northeast to take on Sacramento Republic FC at Bonney Field.

After qualifying as the 3rd place team in the NPSL’s Golden Gate Conference in 2015, Aguiluchos didn’t perform like a first-time entry. They were able to mitigate any danger from its foe, who included in their lineup former Sacramento Republic FC forward Adnan Gabeljic.

However, Aguiluchos featured experience of their own in Afghanistan international Ahmad Hatifie, who was instrumental in running the show for the visitors on the night along with Santiago.

After Santiago set up Rawsley’s 62nd minute goal, the clever attacker scored a highlight-reel goal of his own, curling home a free kick three minutes before time.

Matheus then ended any hopes of a comeback in stoppage time by chipping the goalkeeper to end the scoring in a wide-open second half.

With the loss, SF City FC dropped to 0-2 in its Open Cup history, having lost to Cal FC in the Preliminary Round in 2015.

2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Sonoma County Sol stun CD Aguiluchos USA 2-1 to return to US Open Cup

March 22, 2015 by Josh Hakala

The Sonoma County Sol are headed back to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup after a dramatic 2-1 win over CD Aguiluchos USA in the championship game of the NPSL’s Golden Gate Conference qualifying tournament. The Sol, playing in front of a home crowd at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, Calif., took a 1-0 lead into the 89th minute but CDA tied the game just before stoppage time. However, with less than a minute to go in stoppage time, Simon Wheatley sent the Sol to the US Open Cup for the first time since 2010 with a goal in the 93rd minute.

The Sol have qualified for the tournament for the fifth time in team history, having made the Open Cup in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010.

The Sol opened up the scoring just before halftime as Trevor Hurst sent a cross into the box that found Brandon Boone. Boone volleyed it home in the 44th minute.

Sonoma County managed to hold CD Aguiluchos in check for most of the second half and were mere minutes away from punching a ticket to the tournament when CDA found an equalizer. As CDA was throwing everything forward, a long ball was played from midfield into the penalty area. The goalkeeper stayed home to guard the net and a scrum ensued as players battled for the loose ball. Eventually the ball fell to CDA’s Matheus Freire who blasted it into the back of the net.

However, due to a lengthy injury stoppage earlier in the half, more time was added to the end of the game, giving the Sol five extra minutes to find a game-winning goal. A few minutes into stoppage time a ball was played in behind the defense and after the initial shot was saved a CDA defender attempted to clear the ball to safety. Unfortunately for CDA, a club seeking its second straight Open Cup berth, the defender’s clearance was a poor one and it fell to second half sub Wheatley who pounced on it and scored the game-winner.

Assistant coach Ben Zeimer, who was filling in for head coach Vince Cortezzo, was proud of his team’s effort.

“I think we were in control for most of the game,” said Zeimer, who guided the Sol to a pair of US Open Cup tournaments as head coach in 2009 and 2010. “Generally we dominated possession and as we tired a bit, they started to chase the game more and put us under pressure.”

Zeimer was particularly proud of how his defense held former Sol player, and 2013 NPSL player of the year Ross Middlemiss in check.

The NPSL’s final spot in the 2015 US Open Cup will be determined on Sunday night (Mar. 22) when FC Tacoma 253 hosts the San Diego Flash. The game will be played at Memorial Stadium in Seattle with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

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Sonoma County Sol lineup: Doeland (GK), Ferreira, Vardnadore, Bailey, Ortiz, Daly, Larson, Tyler Hurst, Trevor Hurst, Acevedo, Boone
Subs: Spann, Wheatley, Hernandez, Bamba, Amador, Paravicini, Rodd

CD Aguiluchos USA lineup: Majano (GK), Dodrill, Prieto, Leon, Gutierrez, Martinez, Sanchez, Helmy, Collins, Morales, Middlemass
Subs: Gomez, Dubose, Scafani, Guerua, Jauregui, Rawmsley, Freire

2015 US Open Cup qualifying: San Diego Flash need penalty kicks to join NPSL West’s final four (video)

March 16, 2015 by Evan Ream

After returning to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time in 13 years, the San Diego Flash had their run end before it began. Their first round opponent forfeited, and the Flash were forced to forfeit in Round 2 due to the lack of a suitable field. Now, San Diego are one win away from qualifying for the fifth time in team history (dating back to the Flash’s previous incarnation as a pro team from 1995-2001).

On Saturday, the Flash repeated as NPSL Southwest Conference tournament winners, moving them on to a one-game playoff against Northwest Conference champion FC Tacoma 253. The game will be played on Sunday, Mar. 22 at Memorial Stadium in Seattle with the winner qualifying for the 2015 US Open Cup.

Elsewhere, CD Aguiluchos and the Sonoma County Sol both advanced to the Golden Gate Conference final where another 2015 Open Cup berth will be determined next week (details below).

San Diego hosted Deportivo Coras USA of Riverside, Calif. at Balboa Stadium on the campus of San Diego High School, and came away with a wild 4-1 penalty kick victory after the two sides were deadlocked at 2-2 after extra time.

“If I could describe it in one word, it would be ‘entertaining,'” said Flash director of operations Robb Watson. “It was back and forth, both sides were very evenly paced. There were plenty of missed opportunities by both sides, it could have realistically ended in a 5-5 tie if it wasn’t a qualifier.”

While Flash goalkeeper James Stroud was able to save one of the Coras penalties in the shootout, the visitors missed the target on two of their other three attempts, letting forward Brandon Zuniga seal the victory by calmly sending the Deportivo goalkeeper the wrong way to book San Diego’s ticket up north.

Zuniga had earlier tied the game in the 19th minute with a header at the back post off an in-swinging ball from a set piece, 16 minutes after Francisco Hernandez had opened the scoring for Coras off a near post header on a corner kick.

The Flash would then take the lead through former Orange County Blues defender Duach Jock in the 27th minute before Coras leveled the game in the 39th on a Christian Zamora header.

When the second half and both periods of extra time ended scoreless, San Diego easily dispatched its first four penalties en route to victory.

When the Flash take on FC Tacoma on Sunday, it will just the second game in franchise history for their opponents. Tacoma defeated Portland Spartans FC 2-1 in the only game of the Northwest Conference tournament.

According to Watson, San Diego is looking for a long run in the tournament to honor former CEO Clent Alexander.

“It’s a starting point,” Watson said of the win Saturday. “It’s good for the players to have this opportunity to grow. Some of the guys on our team are, I’m not going to say old, but are getting to the point where they maybe aren’t going to have another opportunity to advance.

“With the recent loss of our CEO, who passed away, it would be nice to move as far along as we could in the cup should we beat Tacoma.”

San Diego Flash vs. Coras USA: Highlights

San Diego Flash vs. Coras USA: Penalty Kicks

Aguiluchos, Sol advance to Golden Gate Conference Final.

Defending Golden Gate Conference champions CD Aguiluchos USA opened 2015 in the most emphatic way possible, stomping the San Francisco Stompers 8-1 thanks, in large part, to 2013 NPSL National Player of the Year Ross Middlemiss.

The striker was able to bag four goals for Aguiluchos, who qualified for the tournament in 2014 by virtue of defeating Portland Spartans FC in a playoff.

This year, the winner of the Golden Gate Conference will qualify directly for the Open Cup.

Middlemiss’ former team, the Sonoma County Sol defeated Real San Jose 4-3 Sunday night in San Jose with goals from Brandon Boone, Carlos Hernandez, Tyler Hurst, and Taylor Varnadore to garner hosting rights for the final, which will be played Saturday at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, Calif.

The Sol are looking for their fifth Open Cup appearance after qualifying in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010. Their best results were second round runs in 2006, and in 2009 when they also were NPSL national champions.

2015 US Open Cup Qualifying (NPSL West)

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

First Round (March 7)
San Diego Flash 4:2 Temecula FC
FC Hasental 0:3 Deportivo Coras USA

Final (March 14)
San Diego Flash 2:2 (4:1 PKs) Deportivo Coras USA

NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

Final (Feb. 20)
SFC Spartans 1:2 FC Tacoma 253 [+] RECAP

WIN & YOU’RE IN

San Diego Flash at FC Tacoma 253
March 22 – 2 p.m. PT
Memorial Stadium – Seattle, WA
*Winner qualifies for 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

GOLDEN GATE CONFERENCE

First Round (March 7)
Real San Jose 2:1 Sacramento Gold [+]RECAP

Second Round (March 14)
Sonoma County Sol 4:3 Real San Jose
CD Aguiluchos 8:1 San Francisco Stompers

Final (March 21)
CD Aguiluchos at Sonoma County Sol
* Golden Gate winner qualifies for 2015 US Open Cup

Evan Ream covers Sacramento Republic FC for the Davis Enterprise. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanReam

2014 US Open Cup Round 1: Ventura County Fusion rallies to beat CD Aguiluchos to set amateur win record (video)

May 8, 2014 by Joe Curley

The Ventura County Fusion became the first Premier Development League team to win US Open Cup matches in four straight seasons Wednesday night with a 2-1 win over the NPSL’s CD Aguiluchos USA.

Kennedy Chongo and Peter Gregory scored second half goals as the Fusion reversed a 1-0 deficit before 200 fans at the Ventura College Sportsplex.

“If we’re making history, it’s because the organization is getting great leadership,” Fusion coach Rudy Ybarra. “That starts at the top with ownership. We’re seen as one of the best PDL teams in the country.”

Since falling on penalty kicks to the Arizona Suaharos (USASA) in 2010, the local Premier Development League has beaten Doxa Italia (USASA), Fullerton Rangers (NPSL), FC Hasental (NSPL) and Aguiluchos (NPSL) in consecutive years.

The Sacramento Republic, an expansion team in USL Pro that have five Fusion alumni on its roster, will visit Ventura in Wednesday’s second round.

The reunion was in jeopardy after the opening 45 minutes.

Two giveaways at the back within seconds of each other allowed Aquiluchos forward Jorge Ruiz to slot the opening goal into an empty net in just the fifth minute.

The Oakland-based National Premier Soccer League side put forth a starting XI that included striker Rudis Corrales, who had 77 appearances and 17 goals for El Salvador over the past decade. His resume includes a record five goals in a World Cup qualifier against Anguilla and a goal against the US national team in a 2010 friendly.

Aquiluchos’ solid first half forced Ybarra to use two of his three substitutes at the break.

Chongo and midfielder Steve Palacios opened the second half on the field, transforming the Fusion attack by combing with Gregory, winger James Kiffe and playmaker Johnny Lopez.

They earned the Fusion an equalizer in the 53rd minute as Chongo flicked a ball forward for an on-rushing Lopez. The ball was batted out of the air by the hand of a defender and Chongo slotted home the resulting penalty kick with ease.

Ventura County took the lead 12 minutes later, when Chongo’s rebound fell for Gregory to tap in at the near post.

Aquiluchos argued that the goal was offsides even more fervently than they did the earlier penalty decision. The visitors were even more unhappy when Francisco Mendoza’s potential equalizer was nullified by the offsides flag in the 70th minute.

Ybarra refused to render an opinion on the match’s controversies. But did argue that the Fusion proved to be the better team by creating more chances.

“You saw the difference in the second half,” Ybarra said. “We controlled the tempo. We had to withstand the little storm there, but the game should have been over prior to that. We created plenty of chances and that’s a good sign.”

Game highlights

Full game replay

2014 US Open Cup qualifying: NPSL’s San Diego Flash back after 13 years; CD Aguiluchos USA to debut in 2014

March 21, 2014 by Evan Ream

fc-hasental-vs-san-diego-flash-2014-qualifying — San Diego Flash and FC Hasental players battle for the ball in their 2014 US Open Cup qualifying final match. Photo: FC Hasental

Two west coast National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) teams have presumably qualified for the 2014 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with wins Saturday. While the US Soccer Federation has yet to announce the format for the 2014 edition of the tournament, the game between the San Diego Flash and FC Hasental and the match between CD Aguiluchos USA and Spartans Futbol Club were largely predicted as “Win & You’re In.” The Flash and Aguiluchos both won their games 2-1, and are now awaiting the final word from USSF.

For San Diego, if you include the club’s past history, it will mark the sixth time the Flash have qualified for the US Open Cup and the first time since 2001 when they were an A-League team (2nd Division). In fact, the last time the Flash qualified for the Open Cup, their head coach Warren Barton was still playing for Newcastle United in England.

Now, in their fourth season as an NPSL side, they have returned to the tournament by avenging last year’s qualifying tournament final loss to FC Hasental.

“We think is great for our city of San Diego,” Flash CEO Clent Alexander said. “It’s great for our players. We re-started the organization about four years ago. We’ve been knocking on the door. This means that we got through. It’s great for our players and staff. It’s great for our organization overall.”

The match, hosted by Hasental at Oak Park High School Stadium in Oak Park, Calif., started out slow but the home side finally took the lead with a penalty kick by Moises Orozco in first half stoppage time.

However, the scoreline was reversed early in the second half when Flash forward Justin Picou scored a pair of goals in the 58th and 63rd minutes to lead the Flash to victory.

“This loss stings considering we have to wait an entire year for another shot at qualifying,” Hasental head coach Eric Warner said after the match.

The last time the Flash qualified for the Open Cup, they were knocked out thanks to a brace by then-Chicago Fire forward Eric Wynalda at Milwaukee Sports Complex in Franklin, Mil.

Wynalda is now a part-owner of the club. That performance by Wynalda continued the trend of the San Diego club getting knocked out with a brace from a US National team star as they were also knocked out in 1999 thanks to a two-goal effort from Clint Mathis, then with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The farthest they have ever gone in the tournament was in 1999 and 2000 when they reached the third round before losing to the Galaxy both times.

“The last four years has been a magical ride, getting my partner Warren Barton involved,” Alexander said. “Warren Barton is here to put San Diego on the map in outdoor soccer. And ride with Cal FC a few years ago was special. If we can do anything like he did, we’d like to see our local media involved with what we do.”

Meanwhile, CD Aguiluchos USA of Oakland, Calif. continued their dream run towards qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup by defeating Spartans Futbol Club of Vancouver, Wash. Saturday night at Raimondi Park in Oakland.

Aguiluchos, the Golden Gate Conference Open Cup Qualifying tournament champion, faced the Spartans who won the qualifying tournament for the newly-formed Northwest Conference.

“ a big opportunity for all the fans that we have in the whole of the United States,” said Aguiluchos chairman Roger Amaya, who’s club is named as an homage to 15-time Salvadorian champion C.D. Aguila. “We have a lot of fans from Maryland, New Jersey and LA where there is a big concentration of Salvadorian people.”

“They’re watching us,” Amaya added. “We’re showing all the fans that we’re working hard to compete at a good level.”

The home side was the first to score when Jorge Ruiz collected a ball in the midfield, then dribbled the ball to the top of the box and unleashed a right-footed shot that caromed off of the post and into the net.

The Spartans then tied the match when defender Jordan Selland found forward Nino Ayala for the equalizing goal shortly before halftime.

Late in the match, Aguiluchos won a penalty and up stepped former Salvadorian international Rudis Corrales, who scored for El Salvador as recently as 2011.

The veteran converted the penalty to give Aguiluchos the win. CD Aguiluchos are now expected to take part in the US Open Cup for the first time in just their second season under head coach and former CD Aguila player Hugo Coria.

2014 US Open Cup qualifying: CD Aguiluchos edge Sonoma County Sol in PKs to win NPSL Golden Gate title (video)

March 12, 2014 by Evan Ream

Through a goal by Jorge Ruiz and four made penalties, CD Aguiluchos USA edged Sonoma County Sol to win the National Premier Soccer League’s Golden Gate Conference Open Cup qualifying tournament. They won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time Saturday night at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, Calif.

With the win, they put themselves in position to qualify for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time. At this time, the format for the 101st edition of the tournament has yet to be announced. However, according to the Seattle Sporting FC Facebook page, the winner of the Seattle-Spartans FC Northwest final will visit CDA on Saturday, March 15 in what is expected to be a “Win & You’re In” match.

Sonoma struck first through a goal from forward Ross Middlemiss before Salvadorian forward Jorge Ruiz took advantage of a Sol goalkeeping error to level the game in the first half.

The sides then played through a scoreless second half, and two scoreless extra time periods to set up a penalty kick shootout.

Ruiz, Kevin Sanchez, Francisco Mendoza and Rodis Rebera all scored for the Oakland-based team to take them to where they’ve never been before.

“We’re very excited because we represent the Salvadorian community,” Aguiluchos chairman Roger Amaya said. “This helps our marketing and support and is good for us because more people will come and believe in our team.”

Founded in 2012, CD Aguiluchos USA is named after 15-time Salvadorian champion CD Aguila similar to how Chivas USA is named after Guadelajara of Mexico, though no formal partnership exists between Aguiluchos and their namesake.

The team includes former Aguila and El Salvador striker Rudis Corrales, who played 77 times for his country of birth, scoring 17 goals.

“He made history in our culture,” Amaya said of Corrales. “And now he’s trying to help us.”

The team is made up mostly of Salvadorian and Mexican players, but does include former San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo forward Julian Nash. Prior to being drafted into Major League Soccer, Nash, an Oakland native, was the top scorer of the 2004 US Open Cup when he scored four goals for the Chicago Fire Reserves of the PDL.

Aguiluchos made their debut in the NPSL last year, finishing 4th in the old West-Northern Conference with a 3-6-3 record.
They are coached by former Aguila forward and manager Hugo Coria.

2014 US Open Cup qualifying (NPSL)

GOLDEN GATE CONFERENCE

First Round
Sacramento Gold 1:2 Sonoma County Sol

Semifinals (March 1)
Real San Jose 0:2 Sonoma County Sol
CD Aguiluchos USA 1:0 San Francisco Stompers

Final (March 8)
CD Aguiluchos USA 1:1 Sonoma County Sol
CDA wins 4-3 in penalty kicks

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

First Round (March 1)
FC Force 5:2 Temecula FC
Santa Clarita Storm 1:0 Del Ray City

Semifinals (March 9)
FC Force 0:3 San Diego Flash
Santa Clarita Storm 1:6 FC Hasental

Final (Mar. 15 – Win & You’re In)
San Diego Flash vs. FC Hasental

NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

First Round
Seattle Sporting 1:0 Inter United
Spartans FC 6:0 SO Samba

Final
Seattle Sporting at Spartans FC

NOTE: The 2014 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup format has not been officially announced by the US Soccer Federation yet, so this tournament is operating under the assumption that the number of teams awarded to the NPSL will not change from 2013.

2014 US Open Cup qualifying: Sonoma County Sol, three other NPSL clubs, advance in qualifying

March 5, 2014 by Ben Simmons

robbie-santa-clarita-vs-del-rey-city-2014 — Robbie Giuk (red) of the Santa Clarita Storm battles for the ball against Del Rey City in the opening round of the NPSL Southwest Conference's Open Cup qualifying tournament. The Storm won 1-0 on Giuk's 17th minute goal. Photo: Paul Sundie | Santa Clarita Storm

Second half strikes from Tyler Hurst and Taylor Varnadore lifted the Sonoma County Sol to a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Real San Jose Saturday night in the semifinals of the Golden Gate Conference US Open Cup qualifying tournament. The Sol are one of four National Premier Soccer League teams to take another step toward qualifying for the 2014 US Open Cup.

With the win, the Sol ensured they will play next weekend in the tournament final at Rancho Cotate High School, the site of Saturday night’s triumph. Their scheduled opposition, CD Aguiluchos USA, saw off the San Francisco Stompers 1-0 in the conference’s other tense semifinal. The deciding goal came in the 89th minute when Nestor Palacios came through with a 30-yard strike to send the club to the Golden Gate Conference’s championship game. The winner is expected to qualify for the 2014 US Open Cup, but the official format has yet to be announced by the US Soccer Federation.

Hurst, who netted his second goal in as many games, opened the scoring for Sonoma County in the 47th minute in opportunistic fashion. As a frantic scramble in the Real San Jose goalmouth cast doubt on the continuation of the scoreless stalemate, the ball fell perfectly into the path of the on-charging midfielder, who promptly fired the ball into the lower-left corner and the Sol into a lead they would not relinquish.

Reacting to the setback, Real San Jose opted to switch to a more attacking formation, pushing an extra player forwards and leaving just three back to defend. The move failed to spur the desired effect, though, as a skilled Sol side poured forward with even more gusto than before. The orange-clad Sonoma County squad were especially busy on the right flank, repeatedly testing the mettle of their reeling southern neighbors during a dominant stretch sandwiched between both goals.

The insurance the Sol craved finally arrived in the 71st minute and took the form of an extraordinary solo effort. Varnadore, who had been a prime culprit in terrorizing the San Jose defense, narrowly missed doubling the lead twice in the preceding exchanges—once with a downward header from a long throw that was well saved, and once with a close-range shot that appeared to skim the right post. But on this occasion, he left no doubt about the outcome.

In the undisputed highlight of the night, Varnadore stormed through the gap between Real San Jose’s defense and midfield and into the final third with the ball roped to his feet and then unleashed a left-footed stunner into the top-left corner to cap his splendid run and give the Sol a 2-0 cushion. The goal all but extinguished Real San Jose’s lingering hope of equalizing.

The remaining twenty minutes offered more of the same, as the Sol continued to assert their influence on the increasingly one-sided encounter. With the affair beginning to take on the air of an inevitable Sonoma County Sol victory, Brandon Boone very nearly added a third. As the Real San Jose keeper was sprawled on the ground, Boone latched onto a bouncing ball, but his effort from the penalty spot was deflected and fell agonizingly to the wrong side of the crossbar.

Then, as Real San Jose was forced to come to grips with their waning hopes in the latter stages, the yellow cards started to emerge from the referee’s pocket more frequently. Despite the frustration on both sides, none of the cautions turned a darker shade and both teams finished the game with their squads numerically intact.

As mentioned in the report of the Sol’s 2-1 first round victory against the Sacramento Gold last week, the Sonoma County side is bidding to make its first appearance in the US Open Cup since 2010, when the Californians fell in the opening round to the Portland Timbers. At the time, the Timbers were in their final season prior to joining Major League Soccer as an expansion club along with fellow Cascadia Cup contender Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The Sol have qualified for the Open Cup four times since 2005, tied for the most by any NPSL club with the Brooklyn Italians.

In other NPSL US Open Cup qualifying action Saturday in California, two teams advanced to the semifinals of the Southwest Conference. The Santa Clarita Storm only needed a 17th minute goal from Robbie Giuk and a stingy defense to keep Del Rey City at bay and advance by a slim 1-0 margin. According to the Storm, they limited their opponents to just three shots on goal for the entire game. The Storm move on to the conference final four where they will meet FC Hasental on Saturday. FC Hasental will host at Thousand Oaks High School in an attempt to qualify for the second year in a row.

In the other opening round game, FC Force defeated Temecula FC 5-2 to reach the semifinals. The 2014 expansion team will face a big test in the next round as they will travel to San Diego to take on the Flash, who have won two of the last three division titles.

The Golden Gate final will take place on Saturday, March 8 at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park, Calif., while the Southwest semifinals are scheduled for Sunday, March 9. Details are listed below.

2014 US Open Cup qualifying (NPSL)

GOLDEN GATE CONFERENCE

First Round
Sacramento Gold 1:2 Sonoma County Sol

Semifinals (Mar. 1)
Real San Jose 0:2 Sonoma County Sol
CD Aguiluchos USA 1:0 San Francisco Stompers

Final (March 8 – Win & You’re In)
CD Aguiluchos USA at Sonoma County Sol
Rancho Cotate HS; Rohnert Park, Calif. – 7 p.m. PT

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

First Round (Mar. 1)
FC Force 5:2 Temecula FC
Santa Clarita Storm 1:0 Del Ray City

Semifinals (Mar. 9)
FC Force at San Diego Flash
Mira Mesa HS; San Diego, Calif. – 6:30 p.m. PT
SC Storm at FC Hasental
Thousand Oaks HS; Thousand Oaks, Calif. – 7 p.m. PT

Final (Mar. 15 – Win & You’re In)
Site/Time TBD