Graham Zusi

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)

2012 US Open Cup Quarterfinals: Sporting Kansas City ends Dayton Dutch Lions run with 3-0 victory

June 27, 2012 by Tavio Palazzolo

Sporting Kansas City struck early and held on, tacking on a couple more as the Cinderella run for the until-recently-winless Dayton Dutch Lions ended in a 3-0 win for the hosts at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Kansas City wasted no time in taking control of the game, dominating possession early. It paid off in only the fifth minute as Seth Sinovic took a long shot from outside the box. It took a deflection off of CJ Sapong near the six and ended in the net past Dutch Lions goalkeeper Matt Williams.

Dayton wouldn’t really get a clear chance on net until the 16th minute when the Dutch Lions earned a corner kick. Gibson Bardsley’s corner would be cleared away by Graham Zusi. It wouldn’t get very far, though, and landed at the feet of Nelson Dias, who took a shot that sailed well wide of the net.

The Dutch Lions’ best chance of the match came in the 26th minute. Eli Garner sent a cross into the box, where Dias hit it one time. He forced Sporting goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen into making a fantastic save, tipping the ball over the bar. It, however, would result in a goal kick after a Dayton player was called offside.

Kansas City wouldn’t let up the pressure in the match, even taking some chances. In the 40th minute, Zusi stole the ball in the Kansas City backfield, saw the keeper off his line, and fired from 60-70 yards away. It was sent wide right of the net.

Sporting would have one last good chance before halftime. Jacob Peterson turned with the ball in midfield and played a give-and-go with Sapong, carrying the ball inside the box and rifling a shot off the near post.

Dayton came out motivated in the second half, flying out of the gate at the kickoff. Bardsley sent a long lob pass to Garner, who sent a shot over the crossbar.

Sporting Kansas City would slowly take back control of the match, starting in the 50th minute with a failed counter attack. A minute later, Soony Saad turned and fired from around 25 yards out, but hit the shot wide of the net.

They kept pushing in the 54th when Sapong came in streaking on the left side past the Dayton defense and hit a shot, forcing Matt Williams to make a solid save.

Kansas City would finally break through for a second in the 56th, and it was all Zusi. After a pass from Peterson, he found himself at the top of the box with room to shoot, and shoot he did. His shot curled in to the corner to double Sporting’s lead to 2-0.

Just three minutes later, that two goal lead would change to three. A corner kick from Saad found Sapong in the center of the box, fighting off a Dayton defender. He rose over him just enough to head it home to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead from which they would never look back.

Dayton spent the rest of the match pushing for any opportunity they could find, which became more scarce as the game went on. This stretched out their defense, which Sporting almost took advantage of on multiple occasions. Shots from both Sinovic and substitute Teal Bunbury fell wide of the net during the late stretch.

Bunbury got one last chance to add a goal of his own in the 83rd minute. He took a shot from the six yard box, which Williams slid in to make a save, denying him a place on the scoresheet.

With the win by Sporting Kansas City, they now move on to play the Philadelphia Union in the Semifinals. That game will be on Wednesday, July 11 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, at 7:30 PM.

Sporting Kansas City 3:0 Dayton Dutch Lions
LIVESTRONG Sporting Park – Kansas City, Kansas

Scoring Summary:
KC – C.J. Sapong (Seth Sinovic) 5
KC – Graham Zusi (Jacob Peterson) 56
KC – C.J. Sapong (Soony Saad) 59

Misconduct Summary:
NONE

Lineups
Sporting Kansas City: Jimmy Nielsen©; Michael Harrington, Lawrence Olum, Matt Besler (Konrad Warzycha 68), Seth Sinovic; Peterson Joseph, Michael Thomas, Graham Zusi (Roger Espinoza 59); Jacob Peterson, C.J. Sapong (Teal Bunbury 74), Soony Saad

Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Chance Myers, Kei Kamara, Dom Dwyer

Dayton Dutch Lions: Matt Williams; Shane Smith, Mettin Copier (Daniel Holowaty 64), Nixon Dias, Gregory Preciado; Joel DeLass, Bret Jones, Mikael McNamara (Akeem Priestley 60); Eli Garner, Gerrit Bartels, Gibson Bardsley (Kyle Knotek 56)

Subs not used: Jeff DeGroot, Eric Kissinger, Toric Robinson, Corey Whisenhunt

STATS
KC: Shots 20, SOG 6, Saves 0, Fouls 7, Offside 1, Corners 3
DAY: Shots 4, SOG 0, Saves 3, Fouls 6, Offside 3, Corners 1

Attendance: 15,167
Weather: Sunny and 91 degrees