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Mass United FC

2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Amateur Cup to decide USASA Region I entry for first time

April 21, 2014 by Martin Whiteley

USASA Region I logo

USASA Region I logoThe opening round of the 2014 USASA Region I Amateur Cup took place on on April 13 with four teams moving one step closer to qualifying for the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Region I announced last fall that, for the first time in tournament history, the winner of the Amateur Cup will represent the region in the US Open Cup.

Vereinigung Erzgebirge from Eastern Pennsylvania traveled to the Maryland Soccerplex to face 2009 Amateur Cup champion Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks from Metro DC/Virginia. In the closest of the four first round games the teams ended play locked at 3-3. A Greg Shertzer goal in the 29th minute gave VE a 1-0 halftime lead, but after Andre Nunes equalized just after halftime for the Hawks, a 60th minute penalty kick by Artie Taylor gave VE the lead again. Aegean Hawks veteran Watson Prather tied the game in the 78th minute off a free kick but the scoring wasn’t done. Five minutes later, Drexel University product Malcolm LeBourne put VE ahead again.

“Malcolm thought the third goal was the finisher, allowing him to get home in time for ‘Game of Thrones,'” said VE’s Paul Dudley after the game.

Unfortunately, LeBourne’s favorite show would have to wait as Prather scored a stoppage time penalty kick for the Hawks to send the game into extra time.

After 30 minutes of scoreless soccer, a place in the semifinals came down to penalty kicks and VE, who have been playing soccer since 1969, emerged victorious 4-3. The Philadelphia area club earned a spot in the Amateur Cup regional semifinals for the first time since 1997 and are looking to qualify for the Open Cup for the first time since 2002.

“This was a complete team win,” said VE’s Brian Madden. “We are playing some of the best soccer I’ve seen in the 9 years I’ve been on the team.”

In other action, Danbury United from Connecticut played host to New Hampshire’s Manzanillol Deportivo at Immaculate High School. Danbury, who last qualified for the Open Cup in 2007, won a one-sided contest by the score of 6-0.

At Montclair State University, the home side FC Motown of New Jersey entertained the Maryland Bays. The Bays, who are also competing in the Region I Open Cup semifinals on May 4, came out comfortable 6-1 winners.

Another home side to struggle was Mass United FC, who lost 5-0 at Manning Stadium against 4-time US Open Cup champion New York Greek American Atlas. Keith Detelj scored two goals in the first 15 minutes, then completed his hat-trick 11 minutes into the second-half. Stephan Barea scored after 69 minutes and the scoring was completed 10 minutes from time. New York is attempting to qualify for the Open Cup for the second year in a row. They have been awarded a spot in the 2014 tournament as the 2013 Region I Amateur Cup champion.

The Amateur Cup semifinals will see Danbury United travel to New York to take on Greek American Atlas, while the Bays will play host to Vereinigung Erzgebirge. Both games are scheduled for May 11.

2014 USASA Region I Amateur Cup

First Round (April 13)
Danbury United (CT) 6:0 Manzanillol Deportivo (NH)
Maryland Bays (MD) 6:1 FC Motown (NJ)
NY Greek American Atlas 5:0 Mass United FC (MA)
Vereinigung Erzgebirge (East PA) 3:3 Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks (DC/VA)
VE advances 4-3 in penalty kicks

Semifinals (May 11)
Danbury United (CT) at NY Greek American Atlas SC (East NY)
Vereinigung Erzgebirge (East PA) at Maryland Bays (MD)

Final (June 15)

Danbury/NYGAA vs. VE/Maryland Bays
Winner qualifies for the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

Filed Under: Amateur Cup, US Open Cup, US Open Cup Qualifying Tagged With: 2015 US Open Cup qualifying, 2015 USASA qualifying, Aegean Hawks, Danbury United, FC Motown, Manzanillol Deportivo, Maryland Bays, Mass United FC, NY Greek American Atlas, USASA, Vereinigung Erzgebirge

2013 US Open Cup qualifying: Massachusetts final four set after high-scoring weekend

November 5, 2012 by Josh Hakala

There was no shortage of scoring in the opening round of the Massachusetts US Open Cup qualifying tournament as the Commonwealth attempts to send their best to regionals in hopes of the state’s first Open Cup berth since 2009.

East Providence Sports (LUSA) and Mass Premier Soccer (BSSL) combined for a dozen goals in their respective first round matches on Sunday to join Saturday winner Battery Park Gunners and Strela Negra, who received a bye, in the state semifinals.

In the Modern Professional Era (1995-present), only two clubs from the Bay State have qualified for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (Emigrantes Das Ilhas in 2009, Boston Olympiakos in 2008)

It was a beautiful New England fall day to watch the beautiful game at Clemente Park in Boston. With the Boston skyline in the background, Boston Olympiakos and Mass Premier Soccer took to the pitch for a 2 p.m. start.

MPS were the aggressors from the first whistle led by their player/coach Dan MacGregor, a tough two-way central midfielder. MPS’s continued pressure paid off in the 24th minute when Tyler MacNee took advantage of the keeper coming 25 yards off his line only to mishandle the ball, allowing MacNee to skillfully tap in the half volley off the turf. Olympiakos settled down after that and were keeping possession but that didn’t last long. Five minutes before the half MacGregor’s hustle paid off finishing off a deflection on a free kick right in front of the net. Nicholas Christman added another a minute later off a long cross as MPS went into the half up 3-0.

At the start of the second half, Olympiakos looked the part of a beaten club. The two Mac’s came out firing, first MacGregor scored in the 48th minute, and soon after MacNee added his second from the left wing as he fired a shot from distance over the outstretched keeper.

MPS were firing on all cylinders the back line of Edwards, Brill, O’Relly were a organized trio who frustrated the lone striker for Boston, Yusuf Wahab, all day. The speedy Wahib already sitting on a yellow lost the plot late in the game as he came crashing into goalkeeper Jeff Newman and was shown his second yellow for dissent. MPS continued the pressure after that. TJ Thompson capped off the scoring finishing off a three-on-one break to finish the scoring at 6-0.

The only thing left to do was to keep the shutout and Newman made sure of that stopping the few shots that made it by the MPS backline. As the sun was setting on the Boston skyline so did Olympiakos’ dreams of advancing next round of the Open Cup.

With the win, Mass Premier, who was the state runner-up last year, moves on to the semifinals where they will face Strela Negra (NELASA), who were given a first-round bye, on Nov. 18.

In Dorchester, East Providence grabbed a 6-1 win over Middlesex FC (BSSL) at Dorchester High School. The LUSA Cup champions earned a 2-1 halftime lead before opening it up with four goals in the second frame. Jimmy Hernandez and Nick Tavares each bagged a brace, while Armando Gomes and Kyle Teixeira each added a goal for the Red and White.

The victory puts East Providence into the semis against the defending Massachusetts Open Cup champion Battery Park Gunners, who defeated Mass United FC, 2-1, the day before with first half goals from Ben Shuleva and Joe Annese.

2013 Massachusetts Open Cup tournament schedule

First Round
Battery Park Gunners 2:1 Mass United FC
Boston Olympiakos 0:6 Mass Premier Soccer
Middlesex FC 1:6 East Providence Sports
Strela Negra (BYE)

Semifinals
Mass Premier Soccer vs. Strela Negra
Sunday, Nov. 18
Citizens Bank Park Field – Lancaster, MA – 11 a.m.

Battery Park Gunners vs. East Providence Sports
Saturday, Nov. 17
Madison Park High School – Roxbury, MA – 12 p.m.

Final (Sunday, Dec. 9)

Recent Massachusetts Open Cup champions
2013: TBD
2012: Battery Park Gunners
2011: Mass Premier Soccer
2010: Emigrantes Das Ilhas
2009: Emigrantes Das Ilhas*
2008: Boston Olympiakos*
2007: Lowell Revolution
2006: Green Briar Rebels
2005: Green Briar Rebels
2004: Boston Olympiakos
2003: Green Briar Rebels
2002: Hellas United

*Qualified for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2013 US Open Cup qualifying, Battery Park Gunners, Boston Olympiakos, East Providence Sports, Mass Premier Soccer, Mass United FC, Massachusetts, Middlesex FC, Strela Negra

2012 US Open Cup qualifying: Mass Premier edge Mass United, will face Battery Park Gunners in MA final

December 11, 2011 by J.T. Alwin

Mass Premier Soccer continued its run in the Massachusetts U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Tournament, picking up a 1-0 win against Mass United FC. MPS snuck a goal in on a free kick by Nick Figueiredo late in the game.

The Battery Park Gunners defeated Boston Olympiakos 2-0 in the other semifinal to punch their own ticket to the championship game.

MPS had the lion’s share of the chances in the first half, but could not find the net, as MUFC keeper Steven Liechti was able to handle the shots that were on target. After a very sluggish start, United finally picked up some steam on the counterattack, but were equally as unsuccessful with scoring chances. Possession and chances were more even in the second half, as Untied switched to a 4-4-1-1 formation, and Premier kept firing away. MPS caught a huge break around the 85th minute, when MUFC midfielder Christopher Sharpe was sent off for a hard challenge on Figueiredo in front of the box. Figueiredo took the kick himself, and sent it past Liechti to finally break through. Short on time and short a man, United was unable to mount any serious challenge to equalize, leaving MPS the victors.

The other semifinal featured a pair of champions as the Battery Park Gunners from the Bay State Soccer League (BSSL) and Boston Olympiakos from the Massachusetts State Soccer League (MSSL) squared off. The difference in the game was a pair of first half goals by Joe Annese and Jesse Milling. The first came in the 26th minute when the Olympiakos goalkeeper, Renato Paivo Barbosa, picked up a back pass from one of his teammates, giving the Gunners an indirect kick from about eight yards out. Ben Shuleva touched the ball to Annese, who found a gap in the wall, and put Battery Park up, 1-0.

Just two minutes later, the Gunners added a second when Mark Parshley attacked from the right wing and found the head of Milling who nodded it into the back of the net to double the lead.

Battery Park, one of the top defensive teams in the BSSL (allowed 10 goals in their last 21 matches in all competitions), had to hold off the pressure put on by Boston as they tried to get back in the game. In the 40th minute, Denivaldo Da Silva connected on a bicycle kick which rattled off the post. In the 75th minute, the Gunners watched another Olympiakos shot strike the post, but their defense, led by goalkeeper Phil Nelson, kept the clean sheet and emerged victorious, 2-0.  The two teams will meet again, in the Massachusetts Amateur Cup final on Sunday, Dec. 18.

MPS will play the Gunners in the Final which will be scheduled at a date to be determined. The two clubs met in the BSSL regular season, where they split the series at a game a piece. The Gunners were victorious in the second game, which clinched the league championship for them in the season finale. The winner of that game will advance to play in the USASA Region I Open Cup Qualifying Tournament, to be held in the Spring of 2012. Both clubs are trying to qualify for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time.

Battery Park Gunners 2:0 Boston Olympiakos

SCORING SUMMARY:

BPG: Joe Annese (Ben Shuleva) – 26th minute
BPG: Jesse Milling (Mike Parshley) – 28th minute

LINEUPS:

BPG: Phil Nelson (GK), Joe Annese, Jason Pan, Steve Hepburn, Myles Gerraty, Jesse Milling (James Begen 88th), Ben Shuleva, Greg O’Neil, Mike Parshley, Aaron O’Neal (Bobby Linaberry 60th), Joe Vitale (Kevin Griffith 70th)

BOS: Renato Paiva Barbosa (GK), Queivon Correia, Russell Guidici, Allen Ashenfelter, Thomas Smith, Jessey Fernandez, Baffour Boateng, Geoffrey Walker, Admilson Miranda, Alenca Ventura, Denivaldo Da Silva

Mass Premier Soccer 1:0 Mass United FC

SCORING SUMMARY:
MPS: Nick Figueiredo (Unassisted) – 86th minute

LINEUPS:

MUFC:
Steven Liechti; Christopher Sharpe, Daniel Antonio Jr., Adrian Kawuba, Anton DaSilva; Christopher Bedi, Bruno (James Grant 1st), Rafael Santos, Enco Lika (Gerry Munani 2nd), Victor Costa (Austin Reed 2nd); John Bavota

MPS: Jeff Newman; Nick Christman, Matt Cross, Sam Brill (Pumele Maqubela 2nd), Matt Handy; Desmond Mitchell, Harris Smriko, Matt Lemire, Derek Nobrega (Mariano Arrua 2nd); Nick Figueiredo, Matt Hoff

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2012 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, 2012 US Open Cup, Battery Park Gunners, Boston Olympiakos, Mass Premier Soccer, Mass United FC, USASA Region I

2012 US Open Cup qualifying: Mass Premier Soccer thriller highlights opening round of Massachusetts tournament

December 8, 2011 by Josh Hakala

Four teams have advanced to the semifinals of the Massachusetts Open Cup qualifying tournament, with the goal of moving on to regionals.

Boston Olympiakos needed overtime, while Mass Premier Soccer survived an eight-goal thriller that required penalty kicks to punch their ticket to the final four. Meanwhile, Battery Park Gunners had no trouble with Strela Negra, hammering them 7-0, while Mass United FC got a free pass when CF Canon Sportif were unable to field a full squad and forfeited.

Olympiakos faced a stingy defense in Boston Cambridge Somerville Eleven (BCS XI), but they came away with a 1-0 extra time victory. According to the Olympiakos website, they launched 73 shots at the BCS XI goalkeeper with 32 of them on goal, and only one found the back of the net. The breakthrough came in the 8th minute of extra time when Quievon Correia served a cross into the penalty area and found Samuel Appiah for the game-winning goal.

Boston Olympiakos  are looking to return to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the first time since 2008. Last year, they won the Massachusetts Open Cup championship, but lost to Danbury United (Connecticut) 2-1 in the opening round of the Region I tournament. The year before, they lost to Emigrantes Das Ilhas in the Massachusetts Open Cup final. In 2008, they qualified for the Open Cup but lost to the Western Pass Pioneers (USL-2 , Third Division professional) 2-0 in the First Round.

Olympiakos will face off with the Battery Park Gunners in the semifinals, a team that cruised through their opening round match with Strela Negra, 7-0.  The two will play at Madison Park High School in Roxbury, Mass. at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 with a spot in the state championship game on the line.

The other semifinal will take place at the same field and on the same day at 11:30 a.m. It will feature Mass United FC, the beneficiaries of a first round forfeit by CF Canon Sportif, and Mass Premier Soccer.

Mass Premier Soccer: 2011 Massachusetts Open Cup champions
Mass Premier Soccer won last year's Massachusetts Open Cup championship

Mass Premier Soccer reached the final four in thrilling fashion, defeating East Providence Sports in the eighth round of penalty kicks, 7-6, after finishing extra time tied at 4-4. The contest was a rematch of last year’s Region I opening round contest in which MPS advanced, 4-1, to the semifinals. East Providence advanced to the regionals a year ago as the lone entry from Rhode Island, but were placed into the Massachusetts qualifying tournament this year due to the club’s participation in a league based in the neighboring state.

Most of the action took place in back-and-forth seven-goal second half after the first 45 minutes finished with MPS clinging to a 1-0 lead. Matt Hoff scored the lone first half goal on a bending ball from the left wing.

That lead didn’t last long as East Providence countered a couple of minutes into the second half by sending a ball across the box to the onrushing Anthony Petrarca. The former Cape Cod Crusader (PDL) and Western Mass Pioneers (USL-2) midfielder tracked it down and volleyed it into the back of the net with an acrobatic scissor kick. Shortly after, Hoff gave MPS the lead once again when his low cross was redirected by a defender and ended up beating his goalkeeper for an own goal. About 10 minutes later, East Providence leveled the match when MPS defender Derek Nobrega took down Kyle Teixeira in the penalty area and the spot kick was awarded. Teixeira, another former USL-2 Pioneer, converted the penalty kick to make it 2-2.

For the remaining 30 minutes of the match, East Providence pushed several players into the attack, trying to go for the win, but the MPS defense held strong and the game went into overtime. Key in the effort was goalkeeper Nick Armington, who made a fantastic diving save in the final minutes of regulation.

As if the opening 90 did not have enough drama, the visitors from Rhode Island amped up tension with a strike two minutes into extra time. Teixeira schooled the MPS defenders, popping the ball over the midfield before touching it around the centerback and firing a volley past Armington.

Approximately eight minutes later Nick Christman put the match on level terms again when he drew a penalty created by an excellent individual effort when he snared the ball while speeding by a defender attempting to shield the ball out of play. Christman would have to wait for the celebration as the East Providence goalkeeper made a dramatic save, but followed up the attempt and put in the rebound.  Three minutes later, Yoshio Kaneko picked up the ball at the top of the box and sent a floating cross to the back post where Nick Figueredo buried a volley for a 4-3 MPS advantage two minutes before the two clubs switched sides for the final 15.

With both sides exhausted, MPS was looking to keep East Providence from creating more fireworks. But the December evening continued to resemble the Fourth of July. With five minutes remaining, hearts skipped a beat on the MPS bench when a shot rang off Armington’s post. Two minutes later, however, another mistake proved costly as Teixeira got another crack from the spot when Pumelele Magubela took down an East Providence striker dribbling through the box. Teixeira completed his hat-trick by slamming the ball into the roof of the net, sending the contest onto penalties.

Neither goalkeeper had much luck in the early stages of the tiebreaker, though Nobrega’s attempt went in off the underside of the crossbar in the fourth round and Cross’ shot trickled in over the netminder’s hand in the fifth. Still tied, Magubela was first up for MPS in sudden death, but his chance at redemption went horribly wrong when he attempted an unusual stutter-step attempt and missed the goal three yards wide. East Providence, however, failed to take advantage as the next shooter missed high.

With both converting in the seventh round and Bedig tallying for MPS in the eighth, Armington made the final statement of the night with his head, literally, as his save sent the ball ricocheting off his head and away from the goal.

Filed Under: US Open Cup Tagged With: 2012 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, 2012 US Open Cup, 2012 US Open Cup qualifying, 2012 USASA Qualifying, Battery Park Gunners, Boston Olympiakos, East Providence Sports, Mass Premier Soccer, Mass United FC, Massachusetts, Strela Negra

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