US Open Cup

2007 Semifinals: FC Dallas headed to Final after OT battle with Seattle

September 4, 2007 by

For the second time in three years, FC Dallas will return to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final after a 2-1 overtime win against the USL First Division’s Seattle Sounders. In front of over 10,000 fans at Qwest Field in Seattle, the second-biggest crowd in modern Sounders history, the two teams battled to a scoreless draw at the end of regulation. The best scoring chance of the evening came in the second half when Seattle defender Taylor Graham nodded a corner kick delivery toward goal, and had it rattle off the crossbar.

In extra time, Carlos Ruiz broke the deadlock with a goal less than two minutes int on an assist by Arturo Alvarez. Both teams continued to push for another goal, but failed to produce until the 119th minute when Dallas forward Abe Thompson was brought down in the penalty area by Zach Scott. After Seattle’s Noah Merl was shown a red card for something that happened away from the play, Thompson converted the penalty kick to give the visitors a two-goal cushion heading into the final minutes.

The Sounders were able to pull one back during stoppage time, on a goal by Leighton O’Brien, but the clock would eventually run out on them.

FC Dallas will host the New England Revolution in the Open Cup Final at Pizza Hut Park on October 3 at 8 p.m. EST.

Scoring Summary:
DAL – Carlos Ruiz (Arturo Alvarez) 91
DAL – Abe Thompson (penalty kick) 119
SEA – Leighton O’Brien (Andre Schmid) 120+

FC Dallas: Dario Sala, David Wagenfuhr, Alex Yi (Aaron Pitchkolan 56), Clarence Goodson (Adrian Serioux 46), Drew Moor, Denilson (Dax McCarty 94), Juan Toja, Pablo Ricchetti, Arturo Alvarez, Carlos Ruiz (Bobby Rhine 109), Abe Thompson.

Subs not used: Ray Burse (GK), Chris Gbandi, Anthony Wallace.

Seattle Sounders: Chris Eylander, Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson (Craig Tomlinson 106), Taylor Graham, Zach Scott, Kenji Treschuk (Greg Howed 100), Leighton O’Brien, Josh Gardner (Noah Merl 78), Hugo Alcaraz, Sebastian LeToux, Roger Levesque (Andre Schmid 100).

Subs not used: Ben Dragavon (GK), Jake Besagno, Santa Maria Rivera.

Disciplinary Summary:
DAL – Pablo Ricchetti (Caution) 88
DAL – Carlos Ruiz (Caution) 113
SEA – Noah Merl (Ejection)

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Assistant Referees: Will Niccolls, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Cory Dean
Attendance: 10,385

2007 Semifinals: Noonan’s OT goal puts 10-man Revolution past 9-man RailHawks

September 4, 2007 by

: Former teammates Connally Edozien of Carolina and New England’s Shalrie Joseph were sent off after this near-fight late in the first half. 8 yellows and 3 reds were shown that night. Photo: Tony Biscaia | RevsNet.com

Pat Noonan’s goal in the fourth minute of extra time was enough to earn the New England Revolution their second trip to the US Open Cup final with a 2-1 win over the Carolina RailHawks. The visitors struck first in the 6th minute when Anthony Maher scored on a pass from Johnny Steele. New England would equalize in first-half stoppage time, as Jeff Larentowicz tallied on a diving header on an assist from Noonan.

Prior to the Revs equalizer, Carolina’s Connolly Edozien and New England’s Shalrie Joseph were both sent off when a fight nearly broke out between the two teams. Reckless and unpunished fouls on both sides peaked after a foul committed by Avery John on Carolina’s Johnny Steele, led to some pushing and shoving that escalated and saw the two former teammates ejected in the 42nd minute.

The game was marred with eight yellow cards and after Carolina defender David Stokes was sent off in the 80th minute, that brought the red card total to three.

Noonan would prove to be the hero for New England, scoring the game-winner four minutes into extra time on an assist from rookie Adam Cristman.

Despite playing a man down for the last ten minutes of regulation and through all 30 minutes of extra time, the RailHawks continued to hang on and nearly equalized on a frantic corner kick play in the dying seconds of the match. Chad Dombrowski’s header on goal forced Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis to dive to his left to make the save, and to send New England to the championship game for the first time since they lost the 2001 title game to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The Revolution will aim for their first trophy in team history when they face FC Dallas in the Open Cup Final. The match will be played October 3rd at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX.

SCORING SUMMARY
CAR – Anthony Maher (Jonny Steele) 6
NE – Jeff Larentowicz (Pat Noonan) 48+
NE – Pat Noonan (Adam Cristman) 93

CAROLINA RAILHAWKS: Chris McClellan, Caleb Norkus (Kevin Jeffrey 106), Frankie SanFilippo ©, David Stokes, Chad Dombrowski, Kupano Low, Stuart Brightwell (McColm Cephas 106), Jonny Steele, Philip Long (Joey Worthen 61), Connally Edozian, Anthony Maher (Joel Bailey 74)
Substitutes Not Used: John O’Hara, Matt Maher

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION: Matt Reis, Avery John (Sainey Nyassi 91), Michael Parkhurst, James Riley, Khano Smith, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Steve Ralston, Andy Dorman, Adam Cristman, Pat Noonan (Chris Loftus 106)
Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren, Amaechi Igwe, Gary Flood, Kyle Helton, Bryan Byrne

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
CAR – Anthony Maher (caution) 21
CAR – David Stokes (caution) 41
NE – Avery John (caution) 41
CAR – Connally Edozien (ejection) 42
NE – Shalrie Joseph (ejection) 42
CAR – Kupano Low (caution) 55
NE – Jeff Larentowicz (caution) 73
CAR – David Stokes (ejection) 80
NE – Adam Cristman (caution) 88
CAR – Joel Bailey (caution) 106
CAR – Chad Dombrowski (caution) 110

MATCH STATISTICS             CAR        NE
Shots                                               8            18
Shots on Goal                              2             7
Saves                                               5             2
Fouls                                             17           20
Corners                                          5             8
Offsides                                         11            6

Referee: Shane Moody
Referee’s Assistant (SAR): Claudio Badea
Referee’s Assistant (JAR): Victor Matheson
Fourth Official: Gus St. Silva

Weather: Clear and 78 degrees
Time of Game: 2:32
Attendance: 4,203

2007 US Open Cup Quarterfinals: Revolution survive late scare, hold off City Islanders 2-1

August 8, 2007 by Josh Hakala

Taylor Twellman of the New England Revolution scores a 17th minute goal past Harrisburg City Islanders goalkeeper Matt Nelson in a 2007 US Open Cup Quarterfinal match at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Photo: Tony Biscaia

The New England Revolution returned to the US Open Cup Semifinals for the first time since 2001 with a 2-1 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Andy Dorman and Taylor Twellman each scored early first half goals, but the underdogs from the USL Second Division would make it interesting in the final 15 minutes.

Bucking the trend of past years, the Revolution came out with a first rate lineup and it showed early in the game. Shalrie Joseph’s pass found Dorman in the box at close range, and he gave the home side the 1-0 lead just four minutes into the contest.

Less than 15 minutes later, Pat Noonan’s cross found the foot of Twellman to double their lead. New England controlled the majority of the play, but Harrisburg kept it close and refused to allow a third goal.

The Revs missed a handful of chances, including a Twellman header that was destined for the back of the net, but Harrisburg midfielder David Schofield cleared the ball off the line.

The Revolution, in front of a rather scarse crowd at Gillette Stadium (officially announced as 1,512), seemed to put the game into cruise control until the 78th minute. Matt Tanzini came off the bench as a second half substitute for the City Islanders and launched a 30-yard free kick into the upper corner of the goal, leaving New England goalkeeper Matt Reis with no chance of making the save.

However, any momentum that shifted toward the underdogs for the final 12 minutes was dashed in the 90th when Harrisburg’s Anthony Calvano was shown a straight red card for recklessly colliding with Reis. After that, the Revs were able to kill the clock and close out the game.

The Revolution will move on to the Semifinals where they will host the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division on Sept. 4. The last time New England reached the final four was in 2001 when they finished as the tournament runner-up, falling to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the championship game.

Scoring Summary
NER – Andy Dorman (Joseph) – 4th
NER – Taylor Twellman (Noonan) – 17th
HAR – Matt Tanzini (unassisted) – 78th

2007 Quarterfinals: FC Dallas need overtime to beat Charleston … again

August 7, 2007 by

Arturo Alvarez’s strike in the 95th minute broke a 1-1 tie and helped FC Dallas advance to the Semifinals of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Charleston Battery. It was the second year in a row that Charleston has lost to Dallas in the Open Cup after being tied following regulation (Dallas won on penalty kicks in the Fourth Round last year).

FC Dallas came out with a close-to-full-strength first 11, but Stephen Armstrong would open the scoring in the 17th minute from outside the penalty area. Clarence Goodson’s header in the 22nd minute leveled the score and the remainder of the half would be tightly-fought. The second half saw little in the way of eventful action and the game was destined to head to extra time.

The 1997 US Open Cup champions are making their sixth appearance in the Semifinals. Their last trip to the final four was in 2005 when they defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0, on their way to losing in the championship game to the Los Angeles Galaxy by the same scoreline.

FC Dallas will move on to play the Seattle Sounders at Qwest Field on September 4.

2007 Quarterfinals: Sounders hand Rapids worst-ever loss by MLS team

August 7, 2007 by adamspangler

The Seattle Sounders rolled past another Major League Soccer side Tuesday night, throttling the Colorado Rapids 5-0 at Qwest Field to return to the US Open Cup Semifinals for the first time since 1995.

Defenders Taylor Graham and Zach Scott scored on headers off set pieces in a two-minute span midway through the first half to set the tone for the Sounders, who earned a home match against FC Dallas in a Sept. 4 Semifinal.

The five-goal deficit is the worst defeat suffered by an MLS team in Open Cup history. The league’s worst loss to USL opponents prior to Tuesday night was three goals, which has happened four times since 1996. Of those four games, two of them involved the Rapids.

Josh Gardner and Sebastien Le Toux also found the back of the net for Seattle, both connecting after the Rapids were down to 10 men following defender Facundo Erpen’s second yellow card in the 49th minute. The goal for Le Toux was his fifth of the tournament, putting him alone atop this year’s scoring chart.

The Sounders had little trouble extending their overall unbeaten streak to 11 matches (10-0-1), posting their third convincing victory in four US Open Cup matches this year – Seattle has outscored its foes 14-3 in the competition, with a 2-1 win over USL First Division rival Portland in the Second Round the only close call.

Worst losses by MLS since 1996

2007 Quarterfinals: Seattle (USL-1) 5:0 Colorado
2005 Fourth Round: Minnesota (USL-1) 4:1 Colorado
2003 Fourth Round: Wilmington (USL-2) 4:1 Dallas
2001 Second Round: Charleston (USL-1) 4:1 Metrostars
2000 Second Round: Richmond (USL-1) 3:0 Colorado

Colorado, meanwhile, lost for the eighth time in its past 12 games overall (1-8-3).

The Rapids fell behind in the 23rd minute when the 6-foot-4 Graham was alone on the back post to knock a corner kick by Gardner past Colorado goalkeeper Zach Thornton for his first goal of the season.

Just 120 seconds later, Leighton O’Brien’s free kick from 30 yards out on the left side found Scott streaking in alone on the back post. Thornton had no chance on the wide-open header, as Scott’s second goal of the year quickly made it 2-0.

Thornton did well to save Roger Levesque’s shot in the 41st minute, but the ball bounced out and deflected off Rapids defender Ugo Ihemelu, who was rushing back to help, and into the net for an own goal and a 3-0 lead for the Sounders.

If the outcome wasn’t already decided, Erpen’s second booking in the the 49th ensured it. The Argentine was sent off after a harsh challenge on Levesque that saw his cleats planted into the back of the forward’s thigh, leaving Colorado a man down for the final 41 minutes.

Given more space with which to operate, Le Toux excelled.

The Frenchman picked up a poor back pass by Colorado’s Nico Hernandez and carried the ball forward before finding Gardner streaking down the left side. Gardner pounded a shot that Thornton got a hand on, but he couldn’t keep it from becoming Gardner’s second goal of the season and a 4-0 advantage in the 56th minute.

12 minutes later, Le Toux – the TheCup.us Player of the Round after scoring twice and setting up the other goal in a 3-1 win over Chivas USA in the third round – got one for himself. He dribbled around Ihemelu and beat Thornton for his 11th goal of the year to complete the rout.

Chris Eylander posted the shutout for the Sounders, including a top-notch stop on Herculez Gomez in first half stoppage time. That was one of two quality scoring chances for Colorado on the night, the other coming in the 20th minute when Jose Cancela’s cross was flicked on by Conor Casey and looked like it would bounce into the net before Seattle defender Danny Jackson cleared it off the line.

Scoring Summary:
SEA – Taylor Graham (Gardner) 23
SEA – Zach Scott (O’Brien) 25
SEA – Own Goal (Ihemelu) 43
SEA – Josh Gardner (Le Toux) 56
SEA – Sebastien Le Toux (unassisted) 68

Lineups:

Colorado Rapids – Zach Thornton, Brandon Prideaux, Ugo Ihemelu, Facundo Erpen, Colin Clark (Niko Hernandez 45), Jacob Peterson, Pablo Mastroeni (Jovan Kirovski 60), Jose Cancela (Dan Gargan 51), Mehdi Ballouchy, Conor Casey, Herculez Gomez (Daniel Osorno 64)
Substitutes Not Used: Bouna Coundoul, Terry Cooke, Nick LaBrocca

Seattle Sounders – Chris Eylander, Kevin Sakuda, Danny Jackson, Taylor Graham, Zach Scott, Kenji Treschuk (Nate Knox 79), Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar, Leighton O’Brien (Greg Howes 45), Josh Gardner, Sebastien Le Toux (Andre Schmid 71), Roger Levesque (Noah Merl 56)
Substitutes Not Used: Ben Dragavon, Adam West, Santa Maria Rivera

Misconduct Summary:
COL – Gomez (Caution) 29
SEA – Treschuk (Caution) 29
COL – Erpen (Caution) 38
COL – Cancela (Caution) 43
SEA – O’Brien (Caution) 43
COL – Erpen (Ejection, second caution) 49
SEA – Le Toux (Caution) 69

Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referees Assts.: Jeff Hosking, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Shahram Pourazari
Attendance: 6,619

2007 Quarterfinals: RailHawks swoop into the Semifinals, beat Richmond 1-0

August 7, 2007 by

In a rare all-USL Quarterfinal match, the Carolina RailHawks advanced to the Semifinals with a 1-0 win at home over the Richmond Kickers. Connally Edozien was the hero for the home side scoring in the 64th minute on a cross from Jonny Steele.

The Hawks will play the New England Revolution (Edozien’s former club) in the final four.

The Kickers, the defending Second Division champions, showed little fear, and at times, controlled the run of play against the First Division expansion side.

However, it was the home team that would break the scoreless tie, when Steele streaked down the right wing and sent a cross to the far post. The ball found the foot of Edozien who found net for his fourth goal of the tournament, tied for second in the competition behind Seattle’s Sebastien Le Toux (5).

Richmond nearly equalized in the 90th minute, but Carolina defender Frankie Sanfilippo made an acrobatic clearance off the line on a ball that was destined for the back of the net.

This was the third all-time meeting between two USL clubs in the Quarterfinals. The other two times included the 2004 Open Cup when the Charleston Battery edged the Rochester Raging Rhinos 1-0 and in 1999 when Charleston beat the Staten Island Vipers (A-League) 2-1.

2007 Third Round: French connection helps Sounders knock out Chivas USA

July 18, 2007 by

A bad bounce put the Seattle Sounders behind early in Wednesday night’s US Open Cup Third Round match, but the duo of Sebastien Le Toux and Roger Levesque made sure the USL First Division team still bounced Chivas USA from the tournament. It was the second year in a row that Chivas had been eliminated in the opening round, and their third straight Open Cup loss.

Le Toux converted passes from Levesque into goals in the 44th and 52nd minutes, then let Levesque score a goal of his own in the final minutes as host Seattle posted a 3-1 victory over the MLS team in front of 3,589 fans at Qwest Field.

The Sounders advanced to the Quarterfinals for the first time since 2003. They will play host to the Colorado Rapids, one of just three MLS sides remaining in the competition, on Aug. 7.

Frenchman Laurent Merlin scored his first goal for Chivas USA, opening the scoring on a strange play in the 16th minute. His shot deflected off Sounders defender Danny Jackson, bounding up and over Seattle goalkeeper Chris Eylander. Jackson suffered a bruised left heel on the play and had to leave the match 10 minutes later.

The combination of Levesque, an American from Maine with a French name, and Le Toux, a Frenchman, hooked up for the equalizer in the 44th. Levesque received the ball from Leighton O’Brien, passing up a potential shot and leaving it for Le Toux, who beat Chivas USA goalkeeper Preston Burpo.

Burpo, who starred for the Sounders for nine years before signing with Chivas USA last year, was victimized by his former team again in the 52nd, with O’Brien again starting the sequence. Levesque got a long ball from O’Brien, then touched it over to Le Toux, and the Frenchman finished for his fourth goal of this year’s Open Cup.

Twice, Levesque nearly tallied a third goal for Seattle. First, his blast from the right side was deflected out by Francisco Mendoza for a corner kick in the 66th. Three minutes later, Levesque’s header off a cross from second-half sub Greg Howes sailed over the crossbar.

Levesque finally got his goal in the 82nd, thanks to Le Toux. Josh Gardner blazed down the left side, beating his defender, and played a cross into the box. Le Toux, sitting on a hat trick, let the ball roll between his legs to Levesque, behind him all alone on the back side, and he had an easy finish for his first goal of this year’s competition.

Chivas USA ended up with the advantage in shots (14-8), but had few dangerous scoring chances. Eylander turned in a nice save on a header by Maykel Galindo, another former Sounders player, in the 34th minute, and made a diving stop on a shot in the 75th. Eylander and Burpo each finished with four saves on the night.

2007 US Open Cup Round 3: Carolina RailHawks eliminate defending champion Chicago Fire

July 15, 2007 by Aaron Stollar

A fourth MLS team has fallen in the Third Round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.

The Carolina RailHawks eliminated the Chicago Fire, the defending Open Cup champions, 1-0 in front of a packed crowd at SAS Stadium in Cary, NC. In the 56th minute, McColm Cephas received a fortunate bounce just outside the penalty area, dribbled in and fired a low shot to the near post, past Fire backup goalkeeper Jon Busch. The RailHawks saw a brave performance from their own backup goalkeeper, John O’Hara, who held Chicago scoreless, despite not playing a single minute during the regular season.

The expansion RailHawks are led by head coach Scott Schweitzer, who helped lead the Rochester Rhinos of the A-League (now the USL First Division) to the 1999 US Open Cup championship. That Rhinos team defeated four MLS clubs on their way to the title.

The Chicago Fire have competed in the Open Cup every year since their inaugural season in 1998. This is only the third time that they have been eliminated by a team from the USL First Division, with all three of those losses coming in their first game of the competition, and all by a scoreline of 1-0. Schweitzer’s Rhinos beat them in 1999 and the second came in 2002 against the now-defunct Milwaukee Rampage.

Prior to the beginning of the Third Round, Carolina fans figured an upset over Chicago would earn them a date with David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy. However, the Richmond Kickers pulled off the upset and now the USL is guaranteed to have a representative in the Open Cup Semifinals. Carolina will host the Kickers at SAS Stadium on August 7 in the Quarterfinals.

2007 Third Round: City Islanders upset DC United in ‘Clash of the Capitals’

July 11, 2007 by

Steve Fisher will go down in the annals of Harrisburg City Islanders history as the man who gave the club their first victory over a Major League Soccer club. His goal in the 44th minute off a David Schofield corner kick that was the difference in Harrisburg’s 1-0 victory over DC United at Hempfield High School in Landisville, Pa. It was the first time that DC United had fallen to a Second Division side in the Open Cup, and only the third time that they have lost to a USL club at any level.

The 1996 US Open Cup champions fought valiantly in the second half, but a stalwart defense and the sure hands of Matt Nelson protected the lead and moved the City Islanders into the Quarterfinals in their first Open Cup appearance.

The match was the third meeting between the two clubs, but the first one that counted. United won the previous two games that were both exhibitions (billed as “The Clash of the Capitals”).

Their reward for the win is a road match with the New England Revolution. The good news is that they won’t have to travel all the way to Foxboro, because the Revs are hosting the next round at Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, Mass. — the home of the Western Mass Pioneers.

2007 US Open Cup Round 3: Galactic upset! Richmond eliminate LA Galaxy 1-0

July 10, 2007 by Josh Hakala

David Bulow of the Richmond Kickers scores a goal against the LA Galaxy in the Third Round of the 2007 US Open Cup. Photo: Brian Zimmerman

The Richmond Kickers pulled off the biggest upset in franchise history with a 1-0 win against Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy. David Bulow pounced on a mishandled corner kick in the 29th minute and the Kickers defense held the Galaxy off the scoresheet for the rest of the game in front of their home fans at University of Richmond Stadium.

Landon Donovan of the LA Galaxy (left) and Matt Watson of the Richmond Kickers battle for the ball in the Third Round of the 2007 US Open Cup. Photo: Brian Zimmerman

The Kickers’ Ronnie Pascale made four saves, while Galaxy backup keeper Steve Cronin stopped three for the visitors.

This was the first victory over an MLS team since the Kickers joined the USL Second Division at the beginning of the 2006 season. As a member of the USL’s First Division (called the “A-League” until 2005), the Kickers defeated two MLS teams, the Colorado Rapids in the Second Round of the 2000 tournament, and DC United in the Fourth Round in 2004.

The defending Second Division champions, and winners of the 1995 US Open Cup, will move on to the next round to play the Carolina RailHawks, who upset their MLS opponent Chicago Fire also by a score of 1-0.

As a side note, for those of you paying attention to one of the subplots of this year’s tournament, this means that the chances of the Harrisburg City Islanders hosting a “dream game” involving the Los Angeles Galaxy and David Beckham are over. The City Islanders will be donating the money raised to the Harrisburg Department of Parks and Recreation.