US Open Cup History

In front of about 1,000 fans at Dudley Field in the 96-degree Rio Grande heat, it looked as if the El Paso Patriots’ Open Cup hopes were evaporating in the hot air in the opening ten minutes. For the remaining 80 minutes however, the visiting McCormick Kickers from St. Petersburg, Fla. cooled off and El Paso netted five unanswered goals the rest of the way for a 5-2 win in the First Round of the 1995 US Open Cup.

In the opening ten minutes, a pair of veterans gave the Kickers an early lead. Two of the team’s main offensive threats were Greg Bowden and Peter Ward, who made name for himself in England primarily with Brighton & Hove Albion (and also played for Nottingham Forest). Each player scored less than a minute apart to give the 1989 US Open Cup champs a 2-0 lead.

“I think we expected more of them but with the heat, we came out flat and they jumped on us,” Patriots goalkeeper Jake Arrambide told the El Paso Times-Herald. “But that woke us up. Their goals turned it on for us and we came back.”

El Paso pulled even near the end of the first half, getting goals from Andre Passantino and David Stewart in the final ten minutes before halftime.

For the rest of the game, El Paso was in control, out-shooting the Kickers 12-3 in the second half. Raul Gomez scored on a free kick in the 50th minute to give the Patriots a 3-2 lead and Stewart added another goal to make it 4-2. Closing things out, the Patriots’ leading scorer Rito Delgado made it 5-2 in the final minute to put the game away.

“(El Paso) is a very good team and I think they were a little more fit than we were,” Kickers manager Jim DiNoble said after the game. “They were a little sharper that we were today. As the game went on, we got tired.”

The Patriots will travel to Colorado in July to face the A-League’s Colorado Foxes (who defeated Flamengo SC in the opening round) in the Quarterfinals.

In a season in which the Chico Rooks can’t seem to win without drama, the Rooks edged out the San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles 2-0 at Durham High School in Durham, Calif.

The only all-USISL Pro League affair in the First Round featured a pair of teams who played league games the night before. The Rooks scored a 1-0 win over the Yakima Reds while the Golden Eagles beat the Arizona Cotton, 4-1.

With the win, the Rooks have now won 8 of their last 9 games in all competitions.

Chico took command early, both goals came ten minutes apart in the first half.

Lance Welker, who scored the brace against the San Francisco All Blacks that clinched the Rooks a spot in the Open Cup, got Chico off to a good start.

In the 23rd minute, Welker scored on a bicycle kick off a pass from Jeremy Gunn.

Just four minutes later, Scott Wulferdingen who scored the lone goal in the Rooks’ win over the Yakima Reds, made a strong return from injury. “Wolfie”, as it reads on the back of his jersey, lofted a pass towards defender Roman Ritz, whose diving header just missed the goal.

In the 31st minute, it was Jeremy Gunn’s turn. The former NCAA Division II All-American from Cal State Bakersfield, took advantage of a Valley mishap. The Golden Eagles goalkeeper collided with a teammate while attempting to punch the ball clear, leaving the ball at Gunn’s feet for an easy goal to make it 2-0 Chico.

The Rooks had a few chances in the second half to extend the lead, but failed to take advantage.

“We had a few two-on-two’s in the second half” Rooks manager Dave Stahl told the Paradise (Calif.) Post “We have to score on those.”

The Rooks defense held strong in the second half and when the final whistle sounded, goalkeeper Randy Dedini had earned his second clean sheet in as many days.

The Rooks head coach recognized the importance of a good performance in the Open Cup.

“We’re extremely happy with this win and looking forward to the quarterfinals,” Stahl told the Chico Enterprise. “This will definitely help the team and the community get some recognition around the country.”

With teams from the country’s top outdoor league, and more pro teams in general, entering the US Open Cup, teams who were once favorites like the amateur AAC Eagles have suddenly become the underdogs.

The amateur AAC Eagles, champions of the USASA Region II tournament, let the Chicago Stingers know they weren’t giving up the Open Cup without a fight. In an all-Chicago First Round match, the Stingers from the USISL Pro League needed extra time to get past 1990 US Open Cup champs, 2-1.

It was an indoor soccer standout who came to the rescue. Steve Morris, who plays for the Milwaukee Wave of the National Professional Soccer League in the offseason, scored the game-winning goal in the 99th minute of extra time to send the Stingers to the Quarterfinals.

“We knew they were going to be a real good team” Steve Morris told the Chicago Daily Herald. “They’re one of the best club teams in the country.” Morris scored the go-ahead goal for the Stingers in extra time.

The Eagles, comprised mostly of Polish players who were pros in their home country, held the Stingers scoreless in the first half. Each team created some good chances in the opening 45 minutes. The pros kept possession for the opening 20 minutes, with Stingers forward Don D’Ambra sending a pair of shots just over the crossbar.

At around the 24-minute mark the Eagles nearly grabbed the lead. Janusz Gurgul descended on goal down the left side with what looked to be a clear shot at goalkeeper John Howard, Stingers defender Albert Adade shot up from midfield and beat Gurgul to the ball just inside the penalty area. The Stingers outshot the Eagles 4-2 in the opening half.

About 17 minutes into the second half, the pro Chicagoans broke the ice. Jean Jacques Gregoire Jr. gave the Stingers a 1-0 lead, taking a pass from David Richardson on the right side and beating Eagles goalkeeper Lars Jakobsen.

It didn’t take long for the Eagles to tie the game. Just two minutes later, Gurgul stole the ball in front of the goal and sent a shot past Howard into the upper right corner from 18 yards out to bring the Eagles level.

The rest of the second half ended scoreless, meaning the first extra time session of the 1995 US Open Cup would be needed. Nine minutes into extra time, Steve Morris sent a bending 30-yard shot into the upper part of the goal for a 2-1 lead, and the Stingers held on the rest of the way to advance to the Quarterfinals.

“That was a long time coming for me,” Morris told the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve been struggling and my confidence has been down. I’ve just been trying to keep plugging away. I was going one way and then I cut back and I think that threw the keeper off a little bit.”

For Chicago Stingers head coach Nilton Batata, the Eagles were not a team his professional side was overlooking just because they were amateurs.

“The Eagles are a very good club team,” said the former Brazilian international commonly known simply as Batata. “They’ve won this title before, and beating them will give us a tremendous amount of confidence. It was a very physical game, and I think that helped us.”

Next up for Chicago in the quarterfinals will be the A-League’s New York Centaurs, who knocked off the USISL Connecticut Wolves 3-0 in the First Round.

The Seattle Sounders, tied atop the A-League at 5-1, had no difficulty with the USISL’s Everett BigFoot, cruising to a 9-2 victory. The rout was so bad, Seattle decided to take two players off the field for the final ten minutes to avoid running the score up further.

“I was thinking about Friday and the game with Montreal” Sounders head coach Alan Hinton told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “That’s a big, tough game for us and I didn’t want to run the score up.”

Seven different players scored for Seattle, with Shawn Medved notching a hat trick.

Jason Farrell started the Sounders’ scoring onslaught in the 12th minute by heading in a long cross from Peter Hattrup.

Fourteen minutes later, Medved scored the first of his three goals, putting his first touch shot past the right goalpost on a pass from Chance Fry.

Medved, who was the 1990 NAIA national player of the year at Evergreen State, struck again in the 33rd minute. Jason Dunn fired a shot from 15 yards out and it was blocked by Everett goalkeeper Marcelo Sulantay. Medved was in the right place at the right time and headed in the rebound.

Jason Dunn, who was the league’s rookie of the year last season, interrupted Medved’s’ natural hat trick in the 37th minute when he collected a 50-yard pass from Dick McCormick and shot over the goalkeeper’s head from 35 yards out.

Medved completed his hat trick four minutes from halftime, on a 25-yard shot off a cross from McCormick, to give the Sounders a 5-0 halftime lead.

Seattle resumed their onslaught nine minutes into the second half, as James Dunn took hold of a free kick from twin brother Jason Dunn and shot just inside to the far post to make it 6-0. It was only fitting that it was assisted by his twin brother, who played with him at Seattle Pacific University before joining the Sounders.

Four minutes later Peter Hattrup pushed the lead to 7-0 when he volleyed home a cross from Jason Farrell.

Two minutes later, Erik Storkson, who had subbed on for Jason Dunn minutes earlier, headed in a long pass from Kieran Barton. Watching from the sidelines was Barton’s dad Frank Barton, an assistant coach with Seattle and a former Sounders player during the club’s NASL era in the late 1970s, early 1980s.

In the 69th minute, Chance Fry scored the final Sounders goal after Peter Hattrup deflected a corner kick, with Fry scoring near the far post. Fry is one of two players on the roster who played for the original Seattle Sounders. He was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 1983 North American Soccer League college draft.

With ten minutes remaining, Hinton decided to rest some players for the Sounders’ upcoming A-League contest with the Montreal Impact by removing two players from the field, which was also an effort to not run up the score on their outmatched opponents.

Taking advantage of the Sounders’ generosity, Everett scored twice to avoid the shutout. With five minutes remaining, Danny Machado headed in a goal near the penalty spot off a pass from Gerg Strom. With one minute left Machado struck again, receiving the ball from Todd Haley ten yards out with his back to the goal, spun to the outside to beat the defender on his back, and beat the Sounders goalkeeper Dusty Hudock with a low shot.

Seattle will face the winners of the June 18 game between the Chico Rooks and San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles in the Quarterfinals in July.

Behind a hat trick from Jeff Hooker, the Colorado Foxes trounced Flamengo SC 6-1 at BYU’s Haws Field in Provo, Utah in front of about 800 fans in attendance. The Utah-based USASA club, featuring many members of the Salt Lake Sting APSL team that folded in 1991, proved to not be much of an obstacle for the Foxes.

The Utah amateurs started off hot, when in the opening minute forward Rick Jensen broke loose down the left wing after receiving a pass from former US international Steve Senglemann but Jensen’s shot went over the bar.

Hooker, a former US national team member, scored the first of his three goals in the 10th minute when he beat Flamengo goalkeeper John Ragsdale with a point blank shot off a pass from Carsten Siersbaek. All was quiet until the end of the first half, when Colorado erupted. Hooker netted his second goal in the 44th minute, and moments later Seirsbaek made it 3-0.

Just moments into the second half, former US national team member Ted Eck was brought down in the penalty area and converted the spot kick himself to make it 4-0. Hooker completed his hat trick, and Brian Haynes added another to the Colorado tally in the second half.

Flamengo’s Rick Jensen kept the home side from being shutout with a consolation goal in the second half to make the score 6-1.

“They were consistent in both halves” Flamengo manager Gary Cole told the Salt Lake Tribune “They’re just a superior team and they showed it.”

With the win, the Foxes become the first Colorado-based club to reach the Quarterfinals since the Denver Kickers were the first to do it back in 1973.

The Foxes Quarterfinal opponent in July will be the winner of the final First Round game on June 25 between the amateur side St. Petersburg McCormick Kickers and the USISL Pro League’s El Paso Patriots.

The Atlanta Ruckus made it 2-0 for the A-League in the 1995 US Open Cup with a 4-2 win over the USISL Pro League’s Tampa Bay Cyclones in front of an announced crowd of 810 fans at Adams Stadium in Atlanta.

Despite the final score and jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second half, Ruckus head coach Lothar Osiander wasn’t impressed with his team’s performance. “It was uglier than sin, as they say” Osiander told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The team just didn’t put up tonight. It became very sloppy and very frustrating.”

While the win wasn’t pretty, according to Osiander, it continued a win streak in the tournament for the former US national team manager. Last year, he led San Francisco-based club Greek American AC to the US Open Cup championship.

While the Cyclones came into the game riding a five-game winning streak in league play, it was an uphill climb for the road team as the Cyclones were playing without six starters, two of them due to injury and four others who were cup tied with other Open Cup clubs.

Brian Moore, who led the Atlanta Magic to a USISL championship as a rookie last year, opened the scoring for Atlanta in the 28th minute. Moore sent the ball over the head of the Cyclones rookie goalkeeper David Winner.

Playing with five defenders and utilizing an effective offside trap, Tampa Bay held the Ruckus to a 1-0 halftime lead.

A few minutes into the second half, Moore scored his second goal in the 53rd minute for a 2-0 lead on a Staale Soebye assist. Soebye was a Norweigan player who was a two-time All-American at the University of San Francisco before turning pro.

Two minutes later, trailing by two, Tampa Bay were hit with another gut punch. Defender Chris Charles, a regular with the Trinidad & Tobago national team, broke his finger and had to leave the game. Because the Cyclones had used both of their available substitutes (George Fotopoulos, Keiran O’Neill) in the first half, Tampa Bay had to play the last 35 minutes of the match with 10 men.

The Ruckus capitalized on their man advantage in the 61st minute when former NAIA All-American Lenin Steenkamp took a pass from Bruce Murray, the all-time leading scorer for the US national team, to make it 3-0.

Seemingly in control with a three-goal lead, the Ruckus allowed the Cyclones to get back in the game. Tampa broke through with eight minutes remaining when Fotopoulos delivered a ball to Adrian Bush. Last year’s national player of the year at the University of Tampa put it into the back of the net with a diving header to beat Atlanta goalkeeper Mun Young Yi.

Fotopoulos provided the assist on the Cyclones second goal by Mario Yepes in the 90^th minute, and Tampa suddenly had hopes of forcing extra time.

All hopes of a miracle comeback were dashed in stoppage time, when Murray beat a Tampa defender and easily scored in a wide-open net.

Atlanta moves on the face the Richmond Kickers in the Quarterfinals in July.

The New York Centaurs advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 1995 U.S. Open Cup with a 3-0 win over the Connecticut Wolves in front of about 200 fans at Downing Stadium on Randall’s Island. It was the first of three USISL vs. A-League matchups of the First Round.

It was a much-needed win for a Centaurs team that had struggled to score goals in their inaugural season in the A-League. They had scored just five goals in their first seven league games, which three of those five goals came in a 3-0 upset of the Seattle Sounders.

For the Wolves, it was another disappointing result for a team that entered the game having lost six of their last seven league games in the USISL Pro League. To add insult to injury, US national team player Janusz Michallik started the game for the Centaurs after spending the first four games of the season with the Wolves.

The Centaurs got off to a bad start when Lee Tschantret was sent off in the 15^th minute. The indoor soccer standout who played last season with the Kansas City Attack, went airborne while challenging a Wolves player going for the ball near a corner flag.

Despite playing down a man, the Centaurs still managed to take the lead. Eight minutes after Tschantret’s ejection, former US national team member Sadri Gjonbalaj opened the scoring for New York. Former Princeton University standout David Vaudreuil delivered the assist on the play in the 22^nd minute.

Three minutes later, the Centaurs doubled their lead when Paul Allen sent in a cross that was headed home by defender Carlos Llamosa to the far post. It was another accomplishment for Llamosa, who signed with New York after five years away from professional soccer. He last played for Colombian first division club Huila back in 1990 before moving to the United States.

Another indoor soccer standout added a third goal just after halftime for the Centaurs when Marcello Carrera scored an unassisted goal in the 51^st minute.

About 10 minutes after the home team made it 3-0, the Wolves swapped goalkeepers with starter Des McAleenan making way for backup John Salvatore.

Despite being down a man for the 75 minutes, the Centaurs defense managed to keep the Wolves off the scoresheet. Rookie goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi made four saves to earn the clean sheet in his Open Cup debut. Oshoniyi helped Southern Connecticut State University win a pair of NCAA Division II national titles (1990, 1992) before turning pro and signing with the Centaurs.

The 10-man side from New York outshot Connecticut 16-14.

The Richmond Kickers kicked off the 1995 US Open Cup with a 5-2 home win over fellow amateur side Spartans SC on a hot and humid afternoon in front of about 200 fans at the University of Richmond’s City Stadium.

The game wasn’t as close as the score indicated as Richmond jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 21st minute.

Ben Crawley, an All-American and three-time national champion at the University of Virginia, opened the scoring in the 4^th minute. Crawley connected on a header following a John Hall pass into the box.

Khary Stockton, one of Richmond’s original players on the clubs inaugural 1993 roster, pushed the lead to 3-0 in the next 17 minutes. In the 13^th minute, Stockton doubled the lead after dribbling past several Spartan defenders. The second tally for Stockton came a bit easier, as he found himself in front of an empty goal after Spartan goalkeeper Jan Pal DeWeer came out to challenge Rob Ukrop and failed to control the ball.

The undefeated USISL Premier side continued their onslaught just after halftime when Scott Snyder scored made it 4-0, his sixth goal in as many games.

Rob Ukrop finished the Kickers scoring in the 60^th minute. The former national player of the year from Davidson College finished off a series of quick passes among teammates Richie Williams, Snyder and Crawley.

During the second half the Spartans frustration began to show, as they picked up four yellow cards and then going down a man in the 79^th minute when Cecil Sutherland was red-carded for striking Ukrop in the back of the head.

The Spartans, who qualified after beating the New York Greek American Atlas in a penalty kick marathon in the USASA Region I Final, got on the board in the second half.

Richmond’s starting goalkeeper Jeff Causey, another part of the University of Virginia college soccer dynasty, was subbed off in the 61^st minute. The three-time national champion watched from the sidelines as Luis Troncoso and Jamaican international Adonis Maxwell got shots past backup goalkeeper Joe O’Carroll in the 66^th and 71^st minutes to improve the scoreline. However, that’s as close as they would get as the game finished 5-2 in favor of the Kickers.

“They play a good brand of soccer” Richie Williams told the Richmond Times-Dispatch “it is slow, but they get frustrated, and they’re losing, and they start kicking, using elbows, and doing whatever they can to get you thrown out of the game”.

The Spartans arrived with just one substitute, claiming a mix-up in kickoff times prevented their use of more players. Six of the Spartan players also play for the USISL’s Washington Mustangs, and manager Jorge Alvial, was the Mustangs head coach until being fired.

The Spartans initially raised a complaint over the Kickers’ use of Scott Snyder, who has played with the Spartans before, but was cleared as he didn’t play in any of the Spartans’ Open Cup qualifying games.

As we begin our 1995 US Open Cup Rewind series, we thought fans who weren’t following the US Open Cup 30 years ago could use a preview. For those that were following the US Open Cup back then, we present a refresher. 

The 30^th anniversary of the 1995 Open Cup is upon us this year, and as we did with the inaugural tournament in 1913-1914, we’re going to take you back in time and relive the 1995 US Open Cup in chronological order, as it happened.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you know anyone associated with any of these teams or might have any information about any of the games from the 1995 US Open Cup, email us HERE. Our goal is to compile a complete historical record of the US Open Cup and we welcome anyone who has stats, team information, photos, videos, or memories about the games from this tournament.

June 11, 1995

Spartans SC (USASA) at Richmond Kickers (USISL Premier League)
University of Richmond Stadium – Richmond, VA
Kickoff: 3 p.m. ET

If the Spartans seem familiar to Richmond, it’ll be because the Kickers have already played against some of them this season. Six of the Spartans players also play for the Washington Mustangs, who Richmond defeated 5-2 in a USISL Premier League contest on May 19.

The Spartans come into the 1995 Open Cup no stranger to success in the tournament, having reached the Quarterfinals in 1988, 1991 and 1992. The Spartans reached the Open Cup by eliminating NY Greek American Atlas on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the USASA Region I Final.

Of the eight USISL entries in the 1995 Open Cup, the Kickers are the lone club from the amateur USISL Premier League, the other seven hailing from the USISL Pro League. Michael Brady and Scott Snyder have played for the Spartans before but are not cup-tied as they did not play in any qualifying games for the amateur club.

Richmond is currently near the top of the USISL Premier League Eastern Conference, their 7-0 record topped only by the Cocoa Expos at 10-0. Goalkeeper Jeff Causey leads the USISL Premier League with a 1.00 goals against average. The Kickers are fresh off a 2-0 win just two days before over the Columbia Heat on June 9, Brian Kamler and Scott Snyder provided the goals for Richmond.

June 14, 1995

Connecticut Wolves (USISL Pro League) at New York Centaurs (A-League) 
Downing Stadium – New York, NY
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. ET

The Centaurs are literally only a few months old, having been created in February of 1995 to help fill the void left by three A-League teams that folded during the winter. The Centaurs are struggling both on the field and in the stands early in the season, sitting in the bottom half of the A-League standings at 2-5, having only scored five times in those seven games. After drawing just 2,793 fans for their inaugural game, the Centaurs have averaged only 780 fans for their last four games.

In what could be called an attempt to gain attention for the new club, the team offered Diego Maradona a $2 million contract in April. Maradona infamously tested positive for illegal substances during the 1994 World Cup and was suspended by FIFA for 15 months.

The Connecticut Wolves are also struggling, sitting near the bottom of the USISL Po League Coastal division at 3-6, with just 13 goals scored. In a twist of irony, US national team defender Janusz Michallik started the season with Connecticut but has since joined the Centaurs on loan. The Wolves are coming off a 3-1 loss to undefeated Coastal Division leaders Long Island Rough Riders (11-0).

Connecticut earned their Open Cup spot by defeating the Cape Cod Crusaders in a shootout after a 2-2 draw, then knocking off the New York Fever 4-1 in USISL qualifying.

Tampa Bay Cyclones (USISL Pro League) at Atlanta Ruckus (A-League)
Adams Stadium – Atlanta, GA
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

The Atlanta Ruckus come into their opening US Open Cup match with a distinct advantage. Their manager Lothar Osiander has tasted Open Cup success before, having won the tournament in 1985 and 1994 as manager of San Francisco’s Greek American AC. The first-year Ruckus are 5-3 in A-League play, with Staale Soebye and Lenin Steenkamp atop the league scoring table with five and four goals respectively.

Tampa Bay are 6-3 in the USUSL Pro League Southeast division, and are coming off two straight wins over the Florida Stars (4-1 on June 9) and Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (2-1 on June 10). The Cyclones path to the Open Cup saw them defeat the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 6-3 on aggregate in a two-game series in USISL qualifying.

Colorado Foxes (A-League) at Flamengo SC (USASA)
Haws Field (BYU) – Provo, UT
Kickoff: 9:30 p.m. ET

In the lone A-League vs. USASA matchup of the first round, 1994 A-League championship runners-up Colorado Foxes travel to Provo, Utah to face USASA Region IV winners Flamengo SC. Colorado are off to a slow start in the A-League, sitting last out of the seven teams with a 1-4 mark, the lone win coming from a shootout victory over the New York Centaurs after a 0-0 draw. Colorado are two-time APSL champions (1991 & 1992) and feature four players who have earned caps with the U.S. National team: Ted Eck, Jeff Hooker, Robin Fraser and goalkeeper Mark Dodd.

Flamengo have had some success in the Open Cup recently, representing Utah in the Region IV Finals tournament from 1991-1994. This year they finally broke through, defeating 1991 Open Cup champions CD Mexico 2-1 in the Region IV semifinals, then earning a spot in the Open Cup field with a 5-1 win over San Nicholas (Santa Barbara, CA) in the Final. Flamengo are led by former Salt Lake Sting forward Dzung Tran, and BYU club soccer coach Chris Watkins.

Everett BigFoot (USISL) at Seattle Sounders (A-League)
Lake Washington High School – Kirkland, WA
Kickoff: 10:30 p.m. ET

The Seattle Sounders finished their inaugural APSL season as regular season champions, but were upset in the playoffs by the Colorado Foxes. The Sounders are off to a 5-1 start in the A-League thus far, with a league leading 11 goals in their six games. The Sounders are coming off a 2-0 win on June 11 at home over the Atlanta Ruckus.

The Everett BigFoot are off to a slow start in the 1995 USISL season, sitting second-to-last in the five-team Northwest Division at 5-4. Everett qualified by finishing first in a four-team round robin with other teams from the Northwest Division. Everett manager Pat Henderson played with the Sounders during the 1994 season.

June 18, 1995

San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles (USISL) at Chico Rooks (USISL)
Durham High School – Durham, CA
Kickoff: 5 p.m. ET

In the lone all USISL matchup of the First Round, the San Fernando Valley Golden Eagles travel to Northern California to face the Chico Rooks. The Golden Eagles are in their third season of play, falling one win short of reaching last season’s USISL Sizzlin’ Nine Finals. They are currently 6-6 in the South Division of the USISL Pro League Western Conference. The Golden Eagles recently made a two-game trip to Iowa, defeating the Sioux City Breeze 5-4 in extra time on June 9, then dropping a 2-1 decision to the Des Moines Menace on June 10.

The Golden Eagles claimed their Open Cup spot by outscoring the Los Angeles Salsa on 7-6 aggregate over two games in USISL qualifying.

Like the Golden Eagles, the Chico Rooks also got their start in 1993. Last season, they reached the USISL Sizzlin’ Nine finals after posting a 12-6 record. This year the Rooks hold an 8-2 record, which is only good for third place in the very competitive North Division of the USISL Pro League Western Conference. Chico saw a six-game winning streak stopped on June 11 with a 3-2 loss to the San Francisco All Blacks.

Chico qualified for the Open Cup by defeating the North Bay Breakers 7-3 on April 14, then the San Francisco All Blacks 3-1 on May 29 in USISL qualifying.

AAC Eagles (USASA) at Chicago Stingers (USISL)
Forest View Park – Arlington Hights, IL
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET

Founded in 1940, the AAC Eagles have a long history in the Open Cup, entering their first tournament in 1947 as the Polish American AC Eagles, reaching the semifinals in 1949 and 1989 and winning the Open Cup in 1990. In 1994, the Eagles reached the Quarterfinals before falling to Milwaukee’s Bavarian SC 2-1. The Eagles roster is primarily made up of former professional players from Poland.

The Eagles path to the Open Cup saw them defeat fellow Chicago amateurs RWB Adria 2-1 in the Illinois Final, then they swept through the USASA Region II tournament, defeating the Cleveland Kickers, Louisville Soccer Alliance (12-0), and finally topping St. Louis’s Thermadyne 4-1 in the Final on June 4.

The Stingers are a new club in the USISL for the 1995 season and earned their Open Cup spot with a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Knights. Chicago is currently 3-6, and although that is good for second place in the East Division of the USISL Pro League Midwest Conference, they are far behind the 10-0 Minnesota Thunder. Two players on the Stingers roster who are very familiar with the Eagles are Art Wywrot and Teddy Kraft, who played with the Eagles during their 1990 Open Cup championship win.

June 25, 1995

McCormick Kickers (USASA) at El Paso Patriots (USISL)
Dudley Field – El Paso, TX
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET

The final game of the First Round, 14 days after the tournament started, see the El Paso Patriots host the McCormick Kickers

The Kickers have won both the Open and Amateur Cup in recent years. In 1989 they defeated New York Greek American Atlas 2-1 in extra time to capture the Open Cup, and the next year won the National Amateur Cup with a 1-0 win over San Francisco Glens.

The Kickers, who got their start as a club in the late 1950s, won the 1994-95 championship in the Florida Suncoast League, and have been one of the top teams in the league for the last ten years. The Kickers are made up mostly of players who attended college and high school in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, with a couple ex-Tampa Bay Rowdies mixed in.

El Paso are currently on top of the South Central Division of the USISL Pro League West Conference with a 10-1 record, their 41 goals scored leading the USISL Pro League. The Patriots are also one of leaders in attendance in the USISL. The Patriots won their Open Cup berth by winning a round robin group with the New Orleans Gamblers and Texas Lightning in USISL qualifying.

El Paso got its start in 1989 as one of the founding members of the USISL when it was the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. Then known as the El Paso Sixshooters, then the El Paso Spurs. By the time they began outdoor play in 1991 they adopted the name Patriots, named after the air defense system adopted by the US Army, which was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso.