USL Pro

2013 US Open Cup Second Round: Savage puts Charleston Battery past Timbers U23s 1-0

May 22, 2013 by Michael Orr

The Charleston Battery needed an hour to find a goal against the Portland Timbers U23s, but Austin Savage’s header on Tuesday night at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland was enough to send the USL Pro side on to the Third Round. On a night when four other PDL teams upset higher-seeded opponents, the Timbers U23s simply could not find the form that saw them into the Second Round last week against Sacramento Gold.

To say Savage’s goal was against the run of play would not be fair to Charleston, but the Timbers certainly had the better of the play and chances to start the second half. Mark Sherrod, Reinaldo Brenes and Gabriel Conelian applied the pressure on the Battery goal for several opportunities in the first part of the second half.

Yet a quick counter and a looping cross from Jose Cuevas in the 60^th minute found Savage’s head in the six. The former Battery academy player positioned himself perfectly as Cuevas’ ball drifted just over Bryan Gallego’s head and allowed Savage to surprise Timbers goalkeeper David Meves with a strong header to the far post.

Meves looked like the hero for Portland when his 38^th minute save kept the Timbers U23s in the game after Charleston’s Dane Kelly got on the end of a long ball in the box. Meves came off his line and denied Kelly just outside the six-yard box when it looked certain that the Battery would take a deserved lead. The save buoyed the Timbers through halftime and up to the hour mark when Savage finally scored.

Cuevas was the most dangerous player on the field throughout the game as Portland’s attackers could not do much with their limited chances. Cuevas, the 2012 USL Pro Rookie of the Year and Championship MVP, nearly opened scoring in the 17^th minute but smashed his shot off the crossbar. Meves got a slight touch, denying the 23-year old and forcing the visiting Battery to wait until the hour for the lead.

The Battery move on to the Third Round where they are scheduled to host the San Jose Earthquakes at Blackbaud Stadium on Tuesday, May 28. They’ll host Rochester Rhinos on Saturday May 25 in league play as a prelude to the next round.

Scoring:

CHB: Austin Savage (Jose Cuevas), 60

Misconduct:

CHB: Zach Prince (caution), 11

CHB: Jarad van Schaik (caution), 20

POR: Mitch Lurie (caution), 55

CHB: Nicki Paterson (caution), 90

Line-ups:

POR: POR: GK David Meves, D Saad Abdul-Salam, D Mitch Lurie (Nick Palodichuk, 75), D Bryan Gallego, D Will Semore, M Eric Miller, M Zach Barnes, M Gabriel Conelian, F Zack Foxhoven (Jose Ribas, 62), F Reinaldo Brenes (Jaime Velasco, 73), F Mark Sherrod

Subs not used: GK Blake Hylen, D Travis Brent, D J.J. Greer, D Anthony Hobbs

CHB: GK Kevin Klasila, D Shawn Ferguson, D Colin Falvey, D Cody Ellison, D John Wilson, M Jarad van Schaik, M Zach Prince (Emmanuel Adjetey, 70), M Nicki Paterson, F Austin Savage (Taylor Mueller, 66), F Jose Cuevas, F Dane Kelly

Subs not used: GK Odisnel Cooper, D Mark Wiltse, F Heviel Cordoves

2013 US Open Cup First Round: Not quite a high mark for Riverhounds who escape loss to RWB Adria in penalties

May 15, 2013 by Ben Cole

Highmark Stadium held its first Open Cup game on Tuesday and it did not hold back on the dramatics as the USL Pro’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds defeated amateur side RWB Adria 5-4 in penalty kicks after ending regulation tied at 1-1.

Riverhounds goalkeeper Greg Blum – who last faced a shootout in college at Slippery Rock University – was shaky, never making a stop. Matthew Dallman put Pittsburgh ahead and Kevin Kerr clinched the victory after Adria’s fourth shooter, Johnny Morris, hit the crossbar.

“The win doesn’t feel as good as I thought it was going to feel,” said Pittsburgh coach Justin Evans. “We still have a few things to look at.”

A group of 1,400 people saw Pittsburgh stay unbeaten through four matches this season, the last two being victories at home. The Riverhounds are currently 10th in the USL Pro table, with a 1-4-3 record. The Riverhounds move on to play the Ocean City Nor’easters in the second round on May 21.

Adria took an early lead, with a goal from Carlos Munoz as he slipped through the Riverhounds defense to catch them off guard and to go up 1-0 in the 17th minute. Despite the lead, Pittsburgh leaded in shots (5) and corners (4) at the break.

Pittsburgh found an equalizer in the second half.

Seth C’deBaca scored from the top of the 18-yard box on a play that started from a Rob Vincent corner in the 53rd minute. After a redirect and an assist from Mike Green, C’deBaca notched his first of the season.

“It’s something I’ve needed,” he said about the goal.

The rest of regulation was very back and forth as fatigue started to settle in for both sides. That led to a few injury stoppages and cautions from the referee. All the yellow cards came in the second half and beyond, with Adria totaling four and to Pittsburgh three, all of which were labeled as unnessecary behavior.

Extra time is where the Riverhounds almost took the victory. They registered five shots in the overtime periods, with three of them coming from forward Jose Angulo.

It was also some impressive goalkeeping from Adria’s Igor Dimov that kept the Chicago-based side in through the tail end of the game.

SHOTS: Pittsburgh: 17, RWB Adria: 4

SAVES: Pittsburgh: 2, RWB Adria: 6

CORNERS: Pittsburgh: 15, RWB Adria: 2

FOULS: Pittsburgh: 19, RWB Adria: 19

OFFSIDES: Pittsburgh: 3, RWB Adria: 6

2011 USOC team allocations, dates set

February 17, 2011 by Josh Hakala

The United States Soccer Federation’s US Open Cup committee has finalized the dates and the team allocations for the 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The 98th edition of the tournament will begin on June 14 with 40 teams entering and will wrap up with the championship game on October 4.

The only professional entries in this year’s tournament will be eight Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs and all 11 USL Pro teams (Third Division). With 16 U.S.-based MLS teams eligible, it’s clear that MLS qualifying will return, in some form, for the fifth year in a row.

Aside from the US Soccer Federation’s exclusion of the five U.S.-based NASL (Second Division) teams, which was announced on Monday, the most notable changes to the 2011 edition of the Open Cup is on the amateur side of the competition. For the first time since the league began play in 2003, the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) will have four slots set aside for the competition. In the past, the Fourth-Division amateur league has had to qualify for the Open Cup through the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), which retains the eight spots that it has held since 2004. The Premier Development League (PDL) will get an extra team into the tournament this year, giving the league nine entries, the most they have ever had.

CONCACAF’s official twitter account recently confirmed what most people assumed, which is that the 2011 US Open Cup champion will still qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

The two-time defending champion Seattle Sounders FC will earn an automatic bid to the Open Cup, and have the chance to be the first team in over 40 years to win three consecutive Open Cups. The last team to achieve that feat was the New York Greek-Americans (1967-69). Only three teams in the history if the tournament have won three straight championships.

The Sounders will be joined by five other automatic qualifiers, based on the MLS league standings from 2010. The Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, New York Red Bulls, Real Salt Lake and the Supporters’ Shield winning Los Angeles Galaxy will all enter the tournament in the third round. The 10 remaining U.S.-based MLS clubs (Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, DC United, Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City) will battle for the remaining two slots.

seattle-sounders-2010-us-open-cup-final — Can the Sounders become only the second team in the tournament's 98-year history to win three straight US Open Cup titles? Photo: Seattle Sounders FC

Each league chooses how their teams will qualify, and will announce their criteria at a later date. Since 2007, MLS has held a play-in tournament, with the last two years having the games separate from the regular season schedule. 2007 and 2008 saw regular season games double as Open Cup qualifiers.

While it is unknown which format MLS will take for play-in games this year, the play-in games from the last two years have struggled to spark fan interest. In 2009, the qualifying games, which were separate from the regular season schedule, drew less than 5,000 fans per game, and last year, the average fell to less than 2,500.

The PDL will keep a similar format with each U.S.-based team having four regular season games selected (usually two home, two away) to double as Open Cup qualifiers. The top team from each of the nine divisions will earn a berth into the First Round.

The USASA will keep the same qualifying format they have had for the last seven years where each of the four regions submits both finalists in their US Open Cup tournament.

MLS (8 teams – First Division): Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, Los Angeles Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC + 2 qualifying teams
USL Pro (11 teams – Third Division): Charleston Battery, Charlotte Eagles, Dayton Dutch Lions, FC New York, Harrisburg City Islanders, Los Angeles Blues, Orlando City, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Rhinos, Wilmington Hammerheads
PDL (9 teams – Amateur): Teams to be determined
USASA (8 teams – Amateur): Two finalists from each of the four regional tournaments
NPSL (4 teams – Amateur): Teams to be determined

The prize money also remains the same as last year with the winner of the tournament earning $100,000, the runner-up getting $50,000 and the Third Division (USL Pro) and Amateur team that advances the furthest gets $10,000.

Much like recent Open Cup tournaments, games are scheduled to take place on Tuesdays and the first three rounds will be played in consecutive weeks with the remaining games spaced out over the rest of the season until the October 4 final.

The dates for each round are as follows and are subject to change:

May 30: Qualification Deadline
Tuesday, June 14: First Round
Tuesday, June 21: Second Round
Tuesday, June 28: Third Round
Tuesday, July 12: Fourth Round
Tuesday, August 30: Semifinals
Tuesday, October 4: Final