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Floyd Franks

2008 Second Round: Cleveland’s Floyd Franks named Player of the Round

June 25, 2008 by

Floyd Franks scored two goals for the Cleveland City Stars in their 2-0 win against the USL First Division's Minnesota Thunder. Photo: Cleveland City Stars
Floyd Franks scored two goals for the Cleveland City Stars in their 2-0 win against the USL First Division’s Minnesota Thunder. Photo: Cleveland City Stars

Floyd Franks is a bit different than most professional players in the United States. A former Major League Soccer forward, he currently plays for the Cleveland City Stars of USL Second Division. His two extra time tallies against the Minnesota Thunder of USL First Division led Cleveland to a 2-0 victory and a date with the Chicago Fire of MLS in the Third Round on July 1 at Toyota Park.

As a result of that performance, the editorial staff of TheCup.us named Franks the Player of the Second Round for this year’s competition. Floyd sat down with TheCup.us to talk about his career, the Open Cup to date, and his thoughts of facing his former side (Franks was with the Fire in 2006 and 2007).

TheCup.us: You’re originally from Alabama, went to college in Charlotte, and played for the Chicago Fire. How did you end up in Cleveland?

Franks: Cleveland Coach Martin Rennie had seen me play and he called me last off season to see if I was available. I was still under contract with Chicago at the time but after my time was up in Chicago I remembered our conversation and I called Martin back and they welcomed me with open arms.

TheCup.us: Compare playing in MLS with playing in USL-2 and the cities as well. Is there any resentment toward the Fire and/or any extra excitement about facing them on Tuesday?Franks: The level is definitely higher in MLS but there is a lot of individual talent that has been passed over by MLS teams in the USL. The cities are different in the USL and with budgets we don’t get as much chance to stay. We usually drive right back after the game is over.

 

As far as the Fire, there is no resentment at all. I’m happy to be where I’m at. This is the right place for me right now. I’m looking forward to going back to Chicago because I have a lot of friends on the team and I think it will be fun to play against them and a good challenge for our club.

TheCup.us: The team has been on the road in each of the first two rounds playing teams with solid pedigrees in the US Open Cup. How has the team embraced their underdog status in the competition?Franks: We just tried to feed off that with our work ethic in the games. On the road it’s always tough so you know you have to go outwork the home team. Going into these games we are not overwhelmed by our competition at all and that’s one of the reasons we’ve been successful, we have a lot of self belief.

 

TheCup.us: With your past experience not to mention three of Cleveland’s four goals in the competition, you are definitely seen by outsiders as the go-to player for the City Stars.  Is that a role you relish?Franks: It’s always nice to have people feel that they can trust you and I’m happy to have earned my teammates’ trust. For me, my main thing is to go out there and work hard as a part of the team and not really as somebody who takes the onus on himself.

 

TheCup.us: What’s in the future for Floyd Franks?  Are you looking for another opportunity at MLS, hoping to catch on with a USL-1 side….looking at Europe?Franks: I definitely want to keep playing. My goal is to go to Europe, but if an MLS team were to call I would consider playing for New York because of how much I respect Coach Juan Carlos Osorio. I played for him in the past and I believe he’s one of, if not the, best coaches in the league and I would love to play for him again. All in all, I would like to go play in Europe just because it’s always been a dream of mine. If you were going to play soccer anywhere, it would be great to play where the game started.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2008 Second Round, Cleveland City Stars, Floyd Franks, Minnesota Thunder, Player of the Round

2008 Second Round: Cleveland’s Floyd Franks scores 2 in OT, leaves Minnesota seeing stars

June 24, 2008 by

The Cleveland City Stars booked a date next Tuesday with the Chicago Fire, thanks to a 2-0 extra-time victory over the Minnesota Thunder.

After the teams played the first 90 minutes to a scoreless draw, Cleveland finally opened the scoring near the end of the first 15-minute extra time period.

Anthony Stovall found Floyd Franks with a pass, and Franks chipped a shot past Minnesota goalkeeper Nic Platter for the 1-0 advantage. Just a few moments later, Stovall was sent off for striking the Thunder’s Ricardo Sanchez in the face. Sanchez spent several minutes on the ground before being helped off the field. After seeking medical attention, Sanchez was back on the pitch for the second half of extra time.

With the clock winding down in extra time, Cleveland got the goal to seal the victory. Ian Liebbrandt was taken down by Platter in the box, and Franks stepped to the spot and put away the penalty kick for the 2-0 win.

Cleveland will travel to Toyota Park to face the four-time Open Cup winners Chicago Fire, Franks’ former team.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2008 Second Round, Cleveland City Stars, Floyd Franks, Minnesota Thunder, Nic Platter

2008 First Round: City Stars overcome early blunder, knock out Michigan Bucks

June 10, 2008 by

The Cleveland City Stars overcame an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the Michigan Bucks 2-1, and move on to the Second Round. The game was played in the Bucks’ new indoor soccer stadium in Pontiac, Mich. but Cleveland eliminated the home team in the opening round for only the second time in eight tournament appearances.

In the 4th minute of play, a defensive mishap led to a Bucks goal. On a back pass to goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap, the ball took a funny bounce over Gilstrap’s foot, allowing Ty Shiplane to swoop in for the easy score.

Midway through the first half, Cleveland was able to equalize, as Floyd Franks scored off a pass from Neil Hlavaty. A few minutes later, the pair switched roles, as it was Hlavaty benefiting from a Franks cross to head home what would prove to be the game-winning goal.

One might assume that this would mark the first time that a US Open Cup match was ever played indoors. Actually, this was the second indoor match in the tournament’s history. In the Fourth Round of the 2004 Open Cup, the Minnesota Thunder hosted the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Metrodome in front of 5,505 fans. Minnesota won that match 1-0.

With the win, Cleveland has advanced to the Second Round in each of their first two seasons in franchise history. The Minnesota Thunder of the USL First Division await them in the next round.

SCORING SUMMARY
4th Minute #7 Shipalane (Unassisted) / Michigan
23rd Minute #23 Floyd Franks (Neil Hlavaty) / Cleveland
34th Minute #5 Neil Hlavaty (Floyd Franks) / Cleveland

                    Shots:     Saves:     Fouls:     Offsides:     Corners:
Cleveland          6            1           13             5                        4
Michigan           8            2           17             3                        5
 
CLEVELAND CITY STARS
#1   Hunter Gilstrap
#4   Jeremy Tolleson
#5   Neil Hlavaty
#8   Godfrey Tenoff
#10  Derek Potteiger
#11  Sallieu Bundu
#13  Mark Schulte
#14  Anthony Stovall
#18 Luke Williams (#25 Ryan Miller – 76th Minute)
#21 Adam Ruud (#7 Ian Leibbrandt – 72nd Minute)
#23  Floyd Franks

Subs not used:  #00 Eric Reed, #9 Adriano Sella, #15 Josh Westermann, #16 Dana McGregor, #24 Randolph Jerome
 
MICHIGAN BUCKS
#25  Steve Clark
#3    Mike Holody
#22   Ian Daniel
#5    Fabien Lewis
#15  Dave Hertel (#9 Mauro Fuzetti – 82nd Minute)
#17  Piotr Nowak (#6 Stefan St. Louis – 86th Minute)
#14  Alex Morisset (#18 Doug DeMartin – 54th Minute)
#13  Zac Scaffidi
#7   Ty Shipalane
#11  Bes Bega (#8 Nate Jafta – 54th Minute)
#10  Kenny Uzoigwe

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2008 First Round, Cleveland City Stars, Floyd Franks, Hunter Gilstrap, Michigan Bucks, Neil Hlavaty, Steve Clark, Ty Shiplane

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