Virginia Beach City FC

NPSL Mid-Atlantic Conference currently ineligible for 2020 US Open Cup

May 13, 2019 by Jake Sillick

A scene from the first half of the First Round match between West Chester United and FC Baltimore Christos in the 2019 US Open Cup. Photo: @finchamphoto

The National Premier Soccer League’s (NPSL) Mid-Atlantic Conference is not playing enough games this season to be eligible for the 2020 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. All five teams in that conference will not be able to enter next year’s US Open Cup as the schedule currently stands.

The five teams in the conference include 2018 entry FC Baltimore Christos, Northern Virginia United, Virginia Beach City FC, FC Frederick, and Charlottesville Alliance FC. They would have to add more matches to the schedule in order to become eligible.

To enter the US Open Cup, clubs must be part of a sanctioned league by US Soccer or an affiliate organization. US Soccer defines a league as having at least 4 teams and each team playing a schedule of at least 10 matches. This is fully defined in Section 202 (a) of the US Open Cup policy.

To enter the Open Cup, a team must be an outdoor soccer team based in the United States and a regular playing member in good standing competing in an ongoing league competition of an Organization Member of the Federation, with said league competition and Organization Member also in good standing with the Federation. Such league competition must be regularly scheduled (i.e. not infrequent) each year and formatted such that member teams play games against fellow members, with only these results (i.e. league matches) used to determine a set of standings or ranking table. The league competition must consist of at least four (4) teams, with each playing at least ten (10) league matches (excluding any pre-season and/or post-season playoff or cup matches) each calendar year.

As of publication, the current schedule consists of eight matches for each of the five teams in the Mid-Atlantic Conference.

The NPSL Mid-Atlantic Conference decided on a balanced, double round robin schedule for each of its teams. A balanced schedule is not required by US Soccer or the NPSL. There are three conferences that play an unbalanced schedule in the NPSL. The other ten conferences play a balanced, double round robin schedule.

NPSL Conferences not playing a double round robin schedule:

Northwest Conference (5 teams, 10 matches per team, 2 opponents twice, 2 opponents three times)
Keystone Conference (9 teams, 10 matches per team, 6 opponents once, 2 opponents twice)
Golden Gate Conference (8 teams, 11 matches per team, 3 opponents once, 4 opponents twice)

NPSL was reached for comment on this and released the following statement:

“The 2019 Mid-Atlantic Conference schedule is not yet finalized. The NPSL is aware of the U.S. Open Cup rules, and will abide by them so the teams are eligible for the 2020 tournament.”

According to the NPSL, the schedules are in the process of being altered and an announcement will be made when it’s finalized. A league spokesman told TheCup.us that the process of altering a schedule once the season is already under way is rare, but not unprecedented.

As long as each team in that conference plays two more games in the regular season, they will be eligible for the 2020 US Open Cup.

2015 US Open Cup Round 2: Richmond Kickers win in-state battle, 2-0 over Virginia Beach City

May 20, 2015 by Scott Wyant

Richmond Kickers celebrate a goal against Virginia Beach City FC in the US Open Cup Second Round. Photo: James Loving | Richmond Kickers

Two second-half goals pushed the Richmond Kickers past Virginia Beach City FC and into the US Open Cup’s Third Round Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory.

Nate Shiffman and Jason Yeisley each scored to advance the Kickers as they will host Jacksonville Armada FC on May 27.

After successfully defending six corner kicks in the first half, Virginia Beach City FC couldn’t clear the first corner of the second half.

Fred Owusu Sekyere’s kick bounced around the six-yard box’s near post and Shiffman was able to put the ball in.

“We talked about working on that near post,” Owusu Sekyere said. “ Yomby out-jumped the keeper and deflected perfectly into Nate’s path and he was able to knock it over the line.”

Added Shiffman: “I was just in the right place at the right time. Yomby headed it down and I was a yard out so I just flicked it, and it deflected off one of the defenders and it went in the side netting.”

With Virginia Beach City FC poised to defend in the first half, the Kickers found it tough to attack the visitors’ goal. The hosts found their chances taking long strikes and threatening on corner kicks.

As the first half progressed the Kickers began to open up the Virginia Beach City defense with quick passes. In the 45th minute the best opportunity came for the Kickers as Brian Ownby raced down the left hand side and cut into the box. The midfielder threaded a pass into Shiffman but Virginia Beach City FC goalkeeper Sean Stowe was able to push the shot away to keep the score 0-0 at the half.

“I felt we played pretty well in the first half, we just didn’t test the keeper enough,” said Richmond coach Leigh Cowlishaw. “In the last 20 minutes of the half we felt a goal was going to come but we blew a couple chances.”

In the first half Richmond held the edge in shots (7-1) and corner kicks (6-1).
Virginia Beach FC’s lone shot on goal came halfway through the second half as Chris Albiston took a shot just outside the box. The shot went directly into the hands of Ryan Taylor who made the easy save.

The Kickers nearly doubled their lead in the 72nd minute as second-half substitute George Davis IV lined up a shot just outside the box. The attempt went past the sprawled Sean Stowe and out of play.

An Owusu Sekyere cross in the 89th minute found a diving Yeisley who buried the shot in the net to put the hosts up 2-0.

The Kickers bested Virginia Beach City FC in both shots (15-3) and corners (9-8) in the win.
With the victory, the Richmond Kickers have now won six straight US Open Cup openers.

“We have a good team we’re used to winning,” Cowlishaw said. “There’s a lot of guys who are winners on the team and we take it very seriously. We want to bring an MLS team to Richmond. It’s our second goal, we want to win a regular season championship and we want to bring an MLS team to Richmond.”

With a win next week, Cowlishaw and company would get that chance.

2015 US Open Cup Round 1: Virginia Beach City earns first victory with late winner over AC Connecticut

May 18, 2015 by Ryan Dolan

With a backdrop of oaks and pines, AC Connecticut was felled by NPSL expansion darling Virginia Beach City FC 3-2 in the First Round of the US Open Cup.

An ineffectual clearance attempt in the penalty area that was hastily put away by Pat Thompson in the 87th minute sealed the deal for Virginia Beach which will return to Old Dominion to face natural foes, the Richmond Kickers. It was the first Open Cup win by City, but the first by a team from Virginia Beach in nearly a decade. Back in 2006, the Virginia Beach Mariners traveled all the way to Phoenix to win their opening match, 1-0 over the Arizona Sahuaros (USASA).

The first twenty minutes of the contest were fast and furious, with coordinated, short passes leading to opportunities, including Geoffrey Hill’s opener for a VBC lead in the 7th minute.

The players made the artificial turf of Westview look like wall-to-wall carpeting with crisp, but heavy passes. Many through balls were left without a recipient in the middle part of the first half. In the 34th minute, AC Connecticut emerged with space on the flank as a cross was played to the penalty area, which would not have been a big deal except for bad timing, allowing AC to equalize.

Both teams would continue to press, only to be spurned away by defenders at the edge of the 18 for the remainder of the half.

AC’s Zach Zurita was brought in to shore up the midfield defensively, and he did as he capitalized on a loose rebound to give them a 2-1 advantage.

To respond, VBC brought on two subs: Amir Shihata for JerJer Gibson and Thompson for Peter Pearson. Virginia Beach had new-found speed and began to press AC Connecticut accordingly.

In the 72nd minute, a ball made its way toward the AC goal as goalkeeper Stephen Sasso couldn’t stop the ball, he instead got the man and Tyler Cyrus converted the penalty kick to draw level at 2-2.

By the 80th minute it seemed as if both teams were contrite with their efforts. Perhaps they weren’t as fast as last season. Perhaps this field was just too quick. Unless your name is Pat Thompson. As the clock struck 88, No. 8 was able to put the ball away after a missed clearance.

2015 US Open Cup: Detroit City FC, Virginia Beach City, Fort Pitt Regiment, Western winners complete NPSL entries

March 22, 2015 by Josh Hakala

Detroit City FC (and its fans) are back in the US Open Cup for the second year in a row.

More than a month after the United States Soccer Federation announced the format for the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) has decided their remaining entries for the 102nd running of the tournament. Detroit City FC, Virginia Beach City FC and Fort Pitt Regiment complete the amateur league’s 12 awarded spots in the competition, with all clubs beginning play the week of May 13 in Round 1.

When the initial announcement was made, the NPSL only revealed seven of their 12 spots. On Feb. 5, TheCup.us confirmed the NPSL Western Conference qualifying tournament would account for two of those spots, and a little more than a month later, Virginia Beach City FC and Fort Pitt Regiment were confirmed on March 10. Finally, on March 20, the league’s 12 teams were complete as Detroit City FC were revealed to be the final entry into the 2015 US Open Cup as the highest remaining team in the Midwest Region after Minnesota United Reserves declined an invitation.

Virginia Beach City FC made the NPSL playoffs in their inaugural campaign last year, finishing 6-1-3 which was good enough for second place in the Mid-Atlantic Conference behind DC United Academy U23. DC United left the league, so Virginia Beach stepped in to take that Open Cup spot. City becomes the first team from the Virginia Beach area to take part in the US Open Cup since 2006 when the Virginia Beach Mariners (USL First Division) and the first-year franchise Virginia Beach Submariners (PDL) both competed.

Fort Pitt Regiment is another first-year club that had success in their maiden voyage. The Regiment finished 6-5-3 and won the four-team Great Lakes East Division, edging the Erie Admirals by a single point. After upsetting Quad City FC, the Midwest Region’s top team in the playoffs, they would fall in the NPSL Regional Finals to fellow Open Cup qualifier Lansing United. Fort Pitt are the first amateur club from Western Pennsylvania to compete in the US Open Cup since 1992 when the Bradling Terriers lost their opening round game to the United German Hungarians (East PA).

Detroit City FC will be making its second straight US Open Cup appearance after being named as the 12th and final NPSL team into the tournament. The club was 8-3-3 in 2014 and finished in second place, just one point behind Lansing United. Le Rouge were eliminated in their first-ever Open Cup game last year, falling to Chicago’s RWB Adria (USASA) 3-1 in penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw. Detroit City can thank the Minnesota United Reserves for the opportunity as Minnesota was offered the final spot, but decided not to enter. Detroit were awarded the spot as the highest-ranking team from the Midwest Region from last year based on points-per-game (Minnesota had a 2.0 while Detroit had a 1.93).

The other nine National Premier Soccer League entries for the 2015 US Open Cup include:

Brooklyn Italians: The two-time US Open Cup champions (1979, 1991) finished second behind eventual NPSL champions New York Red Bulls U23s, but since the Red Bulls left to join the PDL, the Italians are stepping in to make its sixth straight US Open Cup appearance. Last year, they defeated Jersey Express (PDL) 4-2 before falling 2-0 to the New York Cosmos (NASL).

Chattanooga FC: The Southeast Conference champions will make a fourth appearance in five years and made history with the club’s first-ever Open Cup win. When Chattanooga upset USL PRO (Division 3) side Wilmington Hammerheads 3-1, it was the first time an NPSL team defeated a professional opponent in 22 tries.

Greater Binghamton Thunder: The Keystone Conference champions were 9-1-2 in league play last year and made its first-ever Open Cup appearance, falling to the PDL’s Reading United 5-2.

Lansing United: Last year’s expansion team had an impressive inaugural campaign by going 8-2-4 and winning the Great Lakes West Conference and reaching the NPSL semifinals. They are rewarded with the club’s first Open Cup berth while becoming the first Michigan club outside of Metro Detroit or Saginaw (Michigan Bucks were based in Saginaw, Mich. before moving to Metro Detroit) in more than two decades.

Miami United: The Sunshine Conference champions were undefeated in league play last year (7-0-3) in its first year in the NPSL. The club’s head coach is former MLS star Diego Serna who has seven career US Open Cup goals between the Miami Fusion and Miami FC (now Ft. Lauderdale Strikers) and finished runner-up with the Fusion in the 2000 tournament.

Tulsa Athletics: The Athletics have accomplished a lot in the club’s first two seasons. Last year they won a second straight South-Central Conference title while participating in the US Open Cup for the first time. They made quite a showing in a losing effort, falling 2-0 to the Oklahoma City Energy (USL PRO) in front of a home crowd of 3,834.

Upward Stars: Another first-time Open Cup entry, the Stars were 7-3-0 in their inaugural season, winning the South Atlantic Conference by seven points in a 10-game season. They are the first amateur club from South Carolina to qualify for the Open Cup since 1994 (Charleston Trident).

Sonoma County Sol: The Sol are back in the Open Cup for the first time since 2010 and the fifth time in franchise history (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010) after a dramatic 2-1 win over CD Aguiluchos in the championship game of the Golden Gate Conference qualifying tournament. The Sol are full of veterans (many with Open Cup experience), and aren’t dependant on college players and could be a tough out in Round 1.

FC Tacoma 253: The 12th and final NPSL spot in the 2015 US Open Cup was awarded to expansion team FC Tacoma 253, who defeated the San Diego Flash 6-1 on Sunday, Mar. 22 in Seattle.