Danny Barrera

Osvaldo Alonso of Seattle Sounders, Danny Barrera of Cal FC take TheCup.us Player of the Tournament honors

August 28, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

osvaldo-alonso-pk-vs-cal-fc — Osvaldo Alonso of the Seattle Sounders finished with four goals and two assists as he reached a record fifth straight US Open Cup Final. Photo: Seattle Sounders FC

In an open vote that saw six different players names selected on ballots for the TheCup.us Player of the Tournament, it was five-time finalist Osvaldo Alonso of the Seattle Sounders that received the honor while Cal FC’s Danny Barrera was an overwhelming choice as TheCup.us Lower Division Player of the Tournament as well as runner-up behind Alonso.

TheCup.us Player of the Tournament: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders)

Alonso, who was named the Player of the Round for last year’s Open Cup Final, was the main offensive reason that the Sounders returned to their fourth straight Final, a Modern Professional Era record fifth straight personally dating back to being a member of the 2008 Charleston Battery.

Alonso scored four goals, which tied for second in the 2012 tournament, and dished out two assists in four games before falling in the Final via a penalty kick tiebreaker where his miss in the shootout was perhaps his only blemish in another fantastic campaign. Alonso had a goal and an assist in their 5-1 Third Round win over the Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL), and also had a pair of goals in their 5-0 rout of Cal FC in the Fourth Round, including one from the penalty spot.

The Cuban defensive midfielder did not play in the team’s 1-0 Quarterfinal win at San Jose, but returned to the lineup in the Semifinals to assist on Eddie Johnson’s opening goal before adding another penalty kick to defeat Chivas USA, 4-1. His performance earned him his second career TheCup.us Player of the Round honor.

TheCup.us Lower Division Player of the Tournament: Danny Barrera (Cal FC)

In the debut of the honor, there was little debate as Barrera’s performance for the USASA entrant Cal FC was impressive. He also finished second to Alonso in the POTT voting, coming close to becoming the first lower division player to earn the honor since Chris Eylander won the award for leading the USL-1 Sounders to the Semifinals in 2008.

cal-fc-vs-psa-elite-2012-region-4 — Danny Barrera's journey to the US Open Cup Fourth Round began in the USASA Region IV tournament (with Chicago Fire jerseys), shown here playing PSA Elite in the Final. Photo: PSA Elite

Cal FC became the story of the 2012 tournament thanks to the play of Barrera. The Southern California club managed by former US international Eric Wynalda played every one of their games on the road and made a run all the way to the Fourth Round, becoming just the sixth amateur club and second from USASA to reach Round 4 in the Modern Pro Era.

The journey began when Barrera scored two goals in a 3-1 win against last year’s PDL champion the Kitsap Pumas. That performance earned Barrera TheCup.us Player of the Round recognition for the opening round. He would earn the honor again after traveling across the country and handing USL Pro’s Wilmington Hammerheads a stunning 4-0 drubbing. Barrera scored two goals in the game en route to repeating as TheCup.us Player of the Round, something no one else from a lower division team has done dating back to the debut of the honor in 2006.

The only previous repeat honorees were Pat Noonan, who was recognized following the Semifinals and Final of the New England Revolution’s run to the 2007 title, and Nate Jaqua, who was honored for the Seattle Sounders in the 2010 Quarterfinal and Semifinal wins en route to the team’s second championship. Both MLS players also went on to be named TheCup.us Player of the Tournament.

The personal recognition ended there for Barrera, but Cal FC’s headlines did not as they pulled off a shocking upset, knocking out Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers, 1-0, with Barrera leading the way once again. He delivered the game-winning assist to Artur Aghasyan in the 95th minute of extra time in the Rose City before the Cinderella run came to an end in Tukwila, WA as the Seattle Sounders dispatched Cal FC 5-0 in a game that Barrera played the full 90.

Danny sounders2-goalwa — TheCup.us Player of the Tournament Osvaldo Alonso of the Seattle Sounders knocks Danny Barrera of Cal FC, the Lower Division Player of the Tournament, off the ball during their Round 4 meeting.Photo: Wilson Tsoi | GoalWa.net

Barrera went on to sign with the Atlanta Silverbacks of the second division NASL in July during Wynalda’s interim management of the club, but has played only 181 minutes since, spending some time on trials overseas.

Voting

The award is voted on by the staff of TheCup.us and a select panel of members from the North American Soccer Reporters.

Other receiving votes for TheCup.us Player of the Tournament behind Alonso and Barrera were the duo of Jimmy Nielsen and Graham Zusi of tournament champion Sporting Kansas City. The list was rounded out by Seattle’s Zach Scott and Brian Ombiji of the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Though Barrera was the runaway winner of TheCup.us Lower Division Player of the Tournament honors, also receiving votes were Ombiji and Clint Irwin, goalkeeper of the Charlotte Eagles. Lower Division players are eligible to win both awards. The striker is the first to receive the newly-created award.

“We began discussing the idea of adding a Lower Division honor a year ago because we felt there were a number of players from clubs below MLS that had quality tournament performances that were being overlooked because their team did not win the championship,” said TheCup.us senior editor Josh Hakala. “It is natural to look at the tournament finalists when it comes time to vote for the event’s best player, but with those being almost entirely MLS clubs, that leaves outstanding play in the first three or four rounds when teams are playing opposition from higher flights out of the equation.”

Since the second-division Rochester Rhinos won the tournament championship in 1999, only the 2008 Charleston Battery have reached the US Open Cup Final from the lower ranks.

2012 TheCup.us Tournament Honors

Player of the Tournament: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders)
Lower Division Player of the Tournament: Danny Barrera (Cal FC)
Championship Player of the Round: Matt Besler (Sporting KC)
Semifinals Player of the Round: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders)
Quarterfinals Player of the Round: Jose Correa (Chivas USA)
Fourth Round Player of the Round: Sainey Touray (Harrisburg City Islanders)
Third Round Player of the Round: Artur Aghasyan (Cal FC)
Second Round Player of the Round: Danny Barrera (Cal FC)
First Round Player of the Round: Danny Barrera (Cal FC)

Past winners of TheCup.us Player of the Tournament

2012: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders)
2011: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders)
2010: Nate Jaqua (Seattle Sounders)
2009: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders)
2008: Chris Eylander (Seattle Sounders)
2007: Pat Noonan (New England Revolution)
2006: Andy Herron (Chicago Fire)

Finalists for the 2012 TheCup.us Player of the Tournament awards unveiled

August 22, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

After three amazing years of the Seattle Sounders as US Open Cup champions, there are new kings of the tournament. In that theme, TheCup.us embarks on a new era for the post-tournament awards, unveiling for the first time finalists for TheCup.us Player of the Tournament as well as the newly-created Lower Division Player of the Tournament honor.

Since the second-division Rochester Rhinos won the tournament championship in 1999, only the 2008 Charleston Battery have reached the US Open Cup Final from the lower ranks.

The following players, in alphabetical order, are the top vote-getters for both honors among the ballots received from select members of North American Soccer Reporters as well as TheCup.us staff. Lower Division players are eligible to win both awards. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders – MLS)
The main offensive reason that the Sounders returned to their fourth straight Open Cup Final, a Modern Professional Era record fifth straight dating back to being a member of the 2008 Charleston Battery. Alonso scored four goals (tied for 2nd in the 2012 tournament) and dished out two assists in four games before losing the Final in PKs. Alonso had a goal and an assist in their 5-1 Round 3 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL), and also had a pair of goals in their 5-0 rout of Cal FC in Round 4 (one from the penalty spot). He did not play in the team’s 1-0 Quarterfinal win at San Jose, but returned in the Semifinals to assist on Eddie Johnson’s opening goal and added another penalty kick to defeat Chivas USA, 4-1. In the Final, he played a solid game for 120 minutes, but launched his penalty kick attempt in the shootout high over the bar.

Danny Barrera (Cal FC – USASA)
Apologies to the Michigan Bucks who also upset an MLS team, but amateur side Cal FC became the story of the 2012 tournament thanks to the play of Danny Barrera. The Southern California club managed by Eric Wynalda played every one of their games on the road and made a run all the way to the Fourth Round (just the 6th amateur club and 2nd USASA club to reach Round 4 in the Modern Pro Era). The journey began when Barrera scored two goals in a 3-1 win against last year’s PDL champions the Kitsap Pumas. That performance earned Barrera TheCup.us Player of the Round award and he would earn the award again by traveling all the way to the East Coast to defeat the USL Pro’s Wilmington Hammerheads 4-0. Barrera scored two goals in that game as he was named the Player of the Round for the second round in a row, something no one else has done. In Round 3, Cal FC pulled off a shocking upset, knocking off Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers 1-0 and Barrera was involved once again. He delivered the game-winning assist to Artur Aghasyan in the 95th minute of extra time. The Cinderella run came to an end in Tukwila, WA as the Seattle Sounders dispatched Cal FC 5-0 in a game that Barrera played the full 90.

Clint Irwin (Charlotte Eagles – USL Pro)
The goalkeeper for USL Pro’s Charlotte Eagles carried his team to the Quarterfinals despite the Eagles’ offense struggling to score goals. The run began in Round 2 with a 1-0 shutout on the road against the El Paso Patriots in a game decided by an own goal in the 72nd minute. In the following game, Irwin made 10 saves and shutout FC Dallas of MLS 2-0 to help the Eagles advance beyond the Third Round for the first time in franchise history (Est. 1993). In Round 4, Irwin made eight saves in a 2-1 extra time win at San Antonio Scorpions of the NASL, but the Eagles’ first-ever run to the Quarterfinals would come to an end with a 2-1 loss at Chivas USA of MLS with Irwin making four saves.

Jimmy Nielsen (Sporting Kansas City – MLS) The captain of Sporting Kansas City led his team to the 2012 US Open Cup title while also posting a personal 356-minute shutout streak from the Fourth Round to the Final (4th best personal streak in the Modern Pro Era). As he will be the first to tell you, he didn’t achieve all of this on his own as he was only forced to make four saves in the four matches his played in. His three straight shutouts included a 2-0 home win over the Colorado Rapids (MLS) where he made two saves, followed by a 3-0 home win over USL Pro’s Dayton Dutch Lions where he didn’t have to make a single save and a 2-0 road win over the Philadelphia Union (MLS) in the Semifinals (1 save). In the championship game, he only faced two shots. One was a save on an Eddie Johnson header in the first half and the other was a goal off a header by Zach Scott off a free kick in the 86th minute to level the match at 1-1. In the penalty kick shootout for the Final, he made one save (two attempts missed high) as Kansas City won 3-2.

Brian Ombiji (Harrisburg City Islanders – USL Pro)
Ombiji is the main reason why the City Islanders made yet another run in the US Open Cup. The USL Pro side (Div. 3) advanced to the Quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last six years and it started in Round 2 with a 2-0 home win over the Long Island Rough Riders of the PDL. Ombiji scored the goal that put the game away in the 77th minute. In Round 3, the City Islanders eliminated another MLS club with an overtime comeback for the ages. After going into extra time scoreless, the New England Revolution scored three goals in the opening 15 minutes to start sending fans to their cars, but those that stuck around saw Harrisburg score three goals in the final nine minutes (Ombiji scored the second in the 117th minute) and advanced to the Fourth Round on penalty kicks. The City Islanders eliminated their second straight MLS opponent, defeating the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in extra time with Ombiji assisting on Harrisburg’s opening goal. Ombiji’s goal at Philadelphia in the Quarterfinal started a rally that saw Harrisburg cut the Union lead to 3-2, but a pair of late goals by the home team put their Open Cup run to rest.

Who do YOU think deserves to be the Player of the Tournament? Which non-MLS player should win the lower division honor?

2012 TheCup.us Player of the Round: Cal FC’s Danny Barrera repeats with Round 2 honor

May 29, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

It is not often that clubs or players representing the USASA are involved with making history in the US Open Cup. On Tuesday night Cal FC will be 90 minutes away from immortalizing their 2012 tournament appearance, and it comes courtesy of Danny Barrera, who became only the third player in TheCup.us history to repeat as Player of the Round, and the first to do so in the first few rounds of the event.

The Player of the Round award is voted on by the staff of the definitive US Open Cup site TheCup.us and a selected panel of members of the North American Soccer Reporters, which also selects the MLS Player of the Week.

After knocking off the Premier Development League’s only professional side, Kitsap Pumas, with a pair of goals in a 3-1 win, Barrera led Cal FC in a stunning effort in the Second Round. He scored two goals, on assists from his brother Diego, in a shocking 4-0 victory on the opposite of the side of the country against USL Pro club Wilmington Hammerheads.

The four-goal win was the largest margin of victory in the Modern Pro Era (1995-present) by a USASA club against a team from a professional league, and it marked only the 10th time a team from the organization advanced against such opposition. Only two other matches previously were decided by two goals. In 2002, CASL Elite set the mark at three with a 5-2 win against the then third division Carolina Dynamo. In 2005, the Reggae Boyz of Indianapolis downed the third division Cincinnati Kings, 4-2.

The Cal FC victory set up a Third Round match with the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, marking only the fifth time in the Modern Pro Era in which a USASA club will play against an MLS side. Only once in the previous four matches has the amateur club advanced. Dallas Roma stunned Chivas USA in 2006 by taking Chivas USA all the way to penalties in a scoreless Third Round stalemate before prevailing in the tiebreaker. They were eliminated, 2-0, by the LA Galaxy in the Fourth Round. Uruguay SC of Florida is the only other club to have played MLS sides, falling to Tampa Bay Mutiny, 1-0 in golden goal overtime, in the 2000 Second Round and getting blanked by the Miami Fusion, 4-0, in the Second Round a year later.

Being on the doorstep of history is quite an achievement for Barrera and Cal FC, a club formed over the course of the past year, in part, by former US international striker and Fox Sports television star Eric Wynalda, the club’s coach.

The ‘second chance’ club is certainly doing just that for Barrera. The Second Round honor makes him just the third player since TheCup.us began recognizing players to earn Player of the Round honors in back-to-back rounds. Even rarer, he is the first to do so for the first two rounds of the tournament, a feat that is extremely improbable due to the number of games and teams involved.

He is in fine company with the other two repeat honorees being Pat Noonan of the New England Revolution and Nate Jaqua of the Seattle Sounders. Noonan was recognized in the 2007 Semifinals and Final while Jaqua was selected for the award in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the 2010 tournament. Both won tournament championships those years.

USASA Advancements vs Pro League Clubs

Bavarian SC 2000: 1-0 vs Reading Rage (third division – USL)
Bavarian SC 2007: 1-0 vs Cincinnati Kings (third division – USL)
Bridgeport Italians 1997: 3-2 vs Rhode Island Stingrays (third division – USL)
Cal FC 2012: 4-0 vs Wilmington Hammerheads (third division – USL)
CASL Elite 2002: 5-2 vs Carolina Dynamo (third division – USL)
Dallas Roma 2006: 1-0 vs Miami FC (second division – USL)
Dallas Roma 2006: 0-0 (4-2 pk) vs Chivas USA (first division – MLS)
Reggae Boyz 2005: 4-2 vs Cincinnati Kings (third division – USL)
San Jose Oaks 1996: 3-2 vs California Jaguars (third division – USL)
United German Hungarians 1999: 2-1 vs New Jersey Stallions (third division – USL)

TheCup.us Player of the Round: Cal FC’s Danny Barrera downs PDL champs to earn Round 1 honor

May 20, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

The 22-year-old Danny Barrera may be looking for a second chance. There is probably no better place to look for an example than the very team his two goals helped beat in the First Round, earning him TheCup.us Player of the Round honors for Cal FC’s 3-1 road win against the reigning PDL champion Kitsap Pumas.

The Player of the Round award is voted on by the staff of the definitive US Open Cup site TheCup.us and a select panel of members of the North American Soccer Reporters, which also selects the MLS Player of the Week.

Barrera scored the club’s first two goals in the contest, firing a low shot that the goalkeeper was unable to handle and ended up putting it into his own net trying to collect it. This gave the visitors the advantage a minute before the break.. The second goal came in the 66th minute when he twisted past a defender to double the advantage with what proved to be the game-winner.

Over the last five years Barrera has flirted with breaking through to the next level, playing for the United States at the 2007 Pan-American Games as well as briefly being a member of the U17 and U18 National Teams in the residency program. After finishing school at UC Santa Barbara, where he helped the Gauchos win the 2006 NCAA title, he went to Europe, signing with Serbian first division club FK Spartak Zlatibor Voda.

After playing in just one game, however, Barrera is looking for a second chance via a club built in the past year by former US National Team star Eric Wynalda, a team made for unknown players needing to be seen or players who deserve a second chance.

One great story of getting a second chance this past year, which actually made headlines these past few weeks, came through Kitsap, a team Barrera knows well. As a member of the PDL Ventura County Fusion, he helped lead the California club to the league championship in 2009 with a 2-1 win over the Pumas in the conference final, tallying an assist on the opening goal in the match held in Laredo, Texas.

That story is of goalkeeper Bryan Meredith, who stayed in the Seattle area after being drafted by the Sounders but going unsigned. He guided Kitsap to the PDL championship with an 11-1-3 record, nine shutouts and .535 goals-against average in goal. When the Sounders lost a back-up to injury last year, they added Meredith to the squad. He proved himself in training and at the beginning of the month when starter Michael Gspurning came out at halftime with a hip injury, Meredith made his MLS debut to finish the match for a shutout win against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He then went on to shutout Philadelphia and Dallas in the next two games.

With three professional clubs in the greater Los Angeles area and the contacts of Eric Wynalda, it not unreasonable to think a similar opportunity is within reach for Barrera.

HIGHLIGHTS: Cal FC vs. Kitsap Pumas

2012 US Open Cup First Round: Cal FC knocks out PDL champ Kitsap Pumas, 3-1

May 16, 2012 by Gerald Barnhart

The reigning champions of the USL Premier Development League crashed out of the 99th edition of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Tuesday evening at the hands of Cal FC, a one-year-old side built and managed by former US international striker Eric Wynalda. Former US youth international Danny Barrera scored twice for the California club in a 3-1 victory.

Cal FC becomes just the second USASA club from Southern California to win a US Open Cup game, joining Hollywood United, who memorably upset the Portland Timbers (then a 2nd Division pro club) in 2008. It was Kitsap’s first opening round loss since 2009, and the first time they have been defeated by an amateur club (2-1-1) in tournament play.

The visitors, managed by Nick Webster with Wynalda following from Germany on assignment for Fox Soccer, held the better of the play for much of the early going through a slow pace dictated by the heat. Kitsap would not find an opportunity until 24 minutes in only to see the ball cleared out from the six in the midst of a scramble.

At the half-hour mark Artur Aghasyan sent Cal FC’s best chance of the game toward goal, forcing a great save from Dustin Brim.

Barrera finally put one past Brim, firing a low shot on goal, forcing the goalkeeper to dive to his left. Brim was able to get a touch on it, but in the end, put it into his own net while trying to gather it. This gave the visitors the advantage a minute before the break.

Seven minutes into the second half Barrera nearly set Aghasyan up to double the advantage with a through ball only to see his effort lobbed over Brim from 23 yards clang off the crossbar.

Two minutes after entering the match, Samaniego scuffed a chance from four yards out in the 64th minute, but continued to liven up the contest. Just two minutes later Barrera twisted past defender Justin Robbins to notch his second of the evening.

With 18 minutes remaining the Pumas began to rally with Truax connecting with Friesen to cut the deficit in half.

The comeback, however, was crippled significantly in the 80th minute when Danny Medina was sent off for apparently stomping on Aghasyan.

Aghasyan would make no doubt of the outcome, chipping past Brim in the 86th minute to restore the two-goal advantage.

The US Adult Soccer Association’s Region IV runners-up advance to face USL Pro’s Wilmington Hammerheads, traveling to North Carolina for the Second Round contest next Tuesday. The pairing for the potential Third Round opponent from Major League Soccer is expected to be announced in the next two days by the US Soccer Federation.

Highlights

Cal FC 3:1 Kitsap Pumas
Bremerton Memorial Stadium – Bremerton, Wash.

CAL: Danny Barrera 44
CAL: Danny Barrera 66
KIT: Matt Friesen (Ben Truax) 72
CAL: Artur Aghasyan 86

Discipline:
KIT: Danny Medina – caution 50, Zack Sampson – caution 56, Medina – ejection 80

Lineups:
CAL FC: Carrillo; Espinoza Gonzalez, Navarro, Randolph, Arreola (Caceres 46), Danny Barrera (cap), Diego Barrera, Cruz (Samaniego 62), Manjivar, Aghasyan

KITSAP: Dustyn Brim; Danny Medina, Justin Robbins, Stephen Mohn, Matt Friesen, Christopher Bettencourt, Kyle Johnson, Ben Truax, Greg Miley, Daniel MacLeod (Daniel Fabian 46), Zack Sampson