SECOND ROUND
Chicago Fire Premier at Madison 56ers
Breese Stevens Field – Madison, Wis. – 8 p.m.
Broadcast: None | Preview: Wisconsin State Journal
THIRD ROUND
Chicago Fire Premier / Madison 56ers at Sporting Kansas City
June 28, 8:30 p.m. ET LIVESTRONG Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kan.
Madison 56ers
The Madison 56ers side that has been a member of the NPSL since 2005 is part of the larger club which was founded in 1956. The club has claimed four USASA Region II titles and the NPSL team has finished first in its division three times (2006, 07, 10) with its best postseason performance resulting in a trip to the final in 2006.
Path to Open Cup: Automatic entrant – was the only club to enter.
First Round: Madison 56ers (NPSL) 4:0 AAC Eagles (USASA)
The 56ers were in First Round stalemate with Chicago’s AAC Eagles before running off four goals in 14 minutes in the second half. Tenzin Rampa opened the scoring in the 67th before Jed Hohlbein scored two back-to-back. Adam Lysak finished it off in the 81st. Recap [+]
League form: Madison traveled in league play Saturday to face Milwaukee Bavarians, falling 2-1 on a late strike after defender Aaron Nichols had equalized. The team is 3-2-2 in the NPSL Midwest Division.
Open Cup History: The club is making its return to the tournament for the first time since debuting in the Open Cup with four straight appearances from 1988-91. The club was knocked out in the Region II semifinals by eventual champion St Louis Busch Seniors. The following year they knocked out by St Louis Michelob in the Regional Round. The club was again ousted in the regional semifinals, this time by AAC Eagles. They made it past the regional semis in 1991 with a 1-0 win over St Louis Scott Gallagher and narrowly missed the Open Cup semifinals with a 7-6 penalty kick loss to RWB Adria after a 4-4 draw.
PRO ERA RECORD: 1-0-0 overall
Chicago Fire Premier
Founded in 2001, the team was the second PDL club (Boulder Rapids Reserve) directly affiliated with an MLS team. It has been one of the most successful clubs in the league, finishing first in the division seven times and finished below second last year (fourth) for the first time in 10 seasons, missing the playoffs for the first time. The Fire hold the best record in the PDL over their time in the league. The club has reached the league final on two occasions (2003, 2009).
Path to Open Cup: Of the nine PDL entrants, the club was one of two that finished the qualifying campaign with a loss. The team’s 3-0 start clinched the berth as the other clubs in the division knocked one another out. The club opened with a pair of 2-0 victories, winning the opener in Akron on goals from Chris Estridge and Josey Portillo and taking the second at home against Cincinnati with Estridge finding the net again. A 90th minute strike from Estridge in the third match against River City clinched the berth as David Meves posted his third shutout for the 1-0 win. The late winner denied the charging Michigan Bucks a chance to snare the spot, settling with a 2-0 win over the Fire in the finale.
First Round: Chicago Fire Premier (PDL) 1:0 Iowa Menace (USASA)
It looked as though the two PDL rivals, although the Menace qualified through the USASA, were going to see overtime in the First Round Tuesday as they went into the final stages of regulation in a scoreless deadlock until Chris Estridge struck in the 87th for the dramatic road win. Recap [+]
League form: The Fire Premier returned immediately to league action, falling 2-1 Thursday to River City Rovers on the road. Trailing on two first half goals, Hunter Gorskie tallied in the 63rd, but they could not find an equalizer. Chicago rebounded in their second league match Saturday in Cincinnati for a 3-0 victory on goals from Josey Portillo, Paulo Vaz and Harrison Petts. The club is 5-2-1 in the PDL Great Lakes Division.
Open Cup History: Perhaps taking after its four-time champion parent club in MLS, the team has had some success in its three previous appearances. In its 2004 debut, the PDL side opened with a 5-1 win over USASA side SAC Wisla before knocking off third division professional side New Hampshire Phantoms by the same, surprising, 5-1 scoreline. They would be eliminated in the Third Round, 1-0, by the second division Rochester Rhinos. A year later, the club downed city rival AAC Eagles of the USASA 4-1 before falling, 2-1, to the second division Minnesota Thunder. In 2009, they downed Bavarian SC (USASA) 3-1 before being eliminated once again by the Thunder, this time 4-0.
PRO ERA RECORDS: 5-3-0 overall | 4-0-0 vs. Amateur Teams
Sporting KC
How They Qualified: Back-up netminder Eric Kronberg and CJ Sapong were the stars in qualifying for Kansas City, which was seeded third and started in the second round of the eastern bracket in MLS qualifying. Sapong netted an overtime game-winner in the 92nd minute of a 1-0 decision against the Dynamo in Houston April 6 in their opening game. Kronberg earned the first of two shutouts, registering the second in the bracket finale May 25 against the New England Revolution, who brought a squad of nearly all reserves. Chance Myers scored the first two goals in the 5-0 win with Sapong adding two more to secure the berth.
This Month in MLS: In a busy month for the club, Kansas City travels to Philadelphia Wednesday to face the Union in its fifth match of the month June 22 and plays once more at home against the Vancouver Whitecaps June 25 before playing in the Third Round. The opened June with a scoreless draw in Toronto and repeated the result June 9 against the Chicago Fire in the debut of LiveStrong Sporting Park. Eric Kronberg recorded the shutout in the first and relieved starter Jimmy Nielsen in the 67th minute of the second following a red card.
Last Five: W-W-D-D-D | Season Record: 3-6-4 (1-0-1 Home), 9th (last) in Eastern Conference, 18th (last) overall
FIRST ROUND
AAC Eagles (USASA-IL) 0:4 Madison 56ers (NPSL)
Breese Stevens Field – Madison, Wis. – 8 p.m.
Full Recap [+]
Chicago Fire Premier (PDL) 1:0 Iowa Menace (USASA-IA)
Valley Stadium – West Des Moines, Iowa – 8:30 p.m.
Full Recap [+]
ELIMINATED TEAMS
AAC Eagles
Originally known as the PAAC Eagles (Polish American Athletic Club), the Chicago side was founded in 1940. The club currently plays in the Metropolitan Soccer League, where they have won 11 Major Division championships. | Meet the USASA Feature [+]
Path to Open Cup: In a unique six-team format for Region II in which the winner of the opening round by the greatest goal differential earned the first US Open Cup berth, AAC Eagles came up short with its 7-2 victory against FC Indiana as the Iowa Menace were 7-1 winners against a Kansas City Athletics squad that started and played with only 10 men. The Eagles opened with the first five goals, three from Jakub Piotrowski, who would later add a fourth. In the all-Chicago showdown between the other two First Round winners, the Eagles rallied against their city rivals for a 4-1 win against RWB Adria. RWB opened the scoring in the seventh minute with Piotr Kolasinski equalizing seven minutes later. Mark Golik made it 2-1 in the 38th and Kolasinski added two more in the second half to advance to the Open Cup.
June News Updates: Fell 5-0 in league play June 5 to Schwaben, who jumped ahead into second by one point and leaving AAC six points back with three to play.
Open Cup History: The USASA side is among the current clubs that has one of the oldest records in the Open Cup, making its debut in 1948 and reaching the tournament in six decades. The team reached the western quarterfinals in its debut with a trip to the western final the following year, falling 4-3 on aggregate to Morgan SC, who defeated the eastern winner Philadelphia Nationals 4-3 on aggregate in the championship. In 1950, the club was knocked out 5-0 on aggregate by St Louis side Simpkins-Ford in the opening quarterfinal round. The team returned to the tournament in 1989, advancing to the semifinals, and won the Open Cup championship in 1990, downing Brooklyn Italians 2-1. They opened the tournament that year with a 1-0 win over the Madison 56ers in the Region II semifinals. The team fell in the opening rounds of the 1994 and 1995 tournaments before a six-year absence. The team advanced to the tournament in 2002, 2005 and 2008, but failed to advance from the opening round.
PRO ERA RECORDS: 0-4-0 overall | 0-1-0 vs. Amateur Teams (0-0-0 vs. NPSL)
Iowa Menace
A second team of the Des Moines Menace soccer club that plays in the PDL, the side will be made up largely of the PDL team in the Open Cup. The PDL side has long been one of the best in the league on and off the field, leading in attendance and reaching the league semifinals on four occasions with a championship in 2005. Last year was, surprisingly, the third time in four years it failed to make the playoffs.
Path to Open Cup: In a unique six-team format for Region II in which the winner of the opening round by the greatest goal differential earned the first US Open Cup berth, the Menace were fortunate that host Kansas City Athletics only had 10 players for its match. The Menace dominated with a 7-1 victory that gave them the Open Cup berth by one goal as AAC Eagles won their match 7-2. Surprisingly, the hosts got the opening tally in the 31st minute, but it was all Menace after that with Bryan Perez scoring twice as the Menace took a 3-1 lead to the break. John Sosa and Jarrett Hamilton each scored twice in the second half.
June News Updates (PDL): The Menace completed their four-game Canadian trip with a second straight loss to Thunder Bay, falling 3-0 June 11… On the third game of its Canadian trek June 10, the Menace fell 2-0 in Thunder Bay… Nabbed a second win in as many nights June 8 in Winnipeg, downing WSA 4-3 in a back-and-forth match in which four difference players scored… Posted a 2-0 shutout at Winnipeg June 7 on goals from Matt Lagrassa and Bryan Perez as Phil Boerger recorded the clean sheet… Opened the month with a 5-2 win at Kansas City June 1 with Deshorn Brown tallying two goals and assist.
Open Cup History: This is the first time the USASA version of the Des Moines Menace has qualified for the US Open Cup
However, since the club is basically the PDL team, here is their history:
Despite being one of the top clubs in the PDL, the team did not make the first of its five previous appearances until 2002. It marked the run of four trips in five years for the Menace, who returned to the Open Cup last year, falling in the first round, 1-0, to second division AC St Louis. The club’s debut was a symbol of the future as they downed third division New Jersey Stallions 3-1 before falling 3-2 in overtime to the second division Rochester Rhinos in the second round. A surprise exit, 2-1 in overtime, came at the hands of Bavarian SC (USASA) in the opening round of 2003. Two years later, the Menace were back on the upset track, however. They opened with a penalty kick decision over third division Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a 1-1 draw before eliminating a pair of second division clubs. They topped the Charleston Battery, 3-2, in the second round and the Atlanta Silverbacks on the road in a stunning 5-1 scoreline in the Third Round before being knocked out by MLS side Kansas City, 6-1. After eliminating two USASA sides (Croatian Eagles, Dallas Mustang Legends), the team collected another second division upset in 2006, edging the Minnesota Thunder 1-0 before being knocked out again by Kansas City, this time 2-1 in the Third Round.
PRO ERA RECORDS: 6-5-1 (1-0 in PKs) overall | 2-1-0 vs. Amateur Teams (0-0-0 vs. PDL)
