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Emilio named the player of the round for the semifinals
His two-goal performance against New England sends D.C. United to the final on Sept. 3
D.C. United earned a place in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the first time since 1997 with a 3-1 win over the New England Revolution in the semifinals. Luciano Emilio’s pair of goals earned him the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round award, edging out Charleston Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock. The award was voted on by the USOpenCup.com staff and members of the North American Soccer Reporters.
BehindTheBadge.com, the official blog of D.C. United, conducted an interview with Emilio following his performance.
An American Staying In America
USSoccerPlayers.com profiles one of the greatest American players of all time
With the 100-year anniversary of the birth of Billy Gonsalves recently passed, J Hutcherson of USSoccerPlayers.com tells the story of one of the greatest players to not only ever play in the U.S. Open Cup, but one of the greatest to ever play the game. Click here to read the story.
United We Stand!
Emilio brace puts D.C. into the Open Cup final for first time since 1997
A pair of goals from reigning Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player Luciano Emilio were enough to put D.C. United one win match away from their first championship in four years with a 3-1 victory over the defending Open Cup champion New England Revolution.
The 1996 Open Cup champions opened the scoring on four minutes with Emilio’s first tally, finishing off a Brian Namoff cross. The Revolution responded in the 34th minute on a goal from Joe Germanese, and the match went to halftime level at one.
Just three minutes into the second half, D.C. would regain the lead on a goal from Santino Quaranta, assisted by MLS’ all-time scoring leader Jamie Moreno. The match turned when Wells Thompson, playing out of position at right back, was dismissed in the 71st minute as the result of a second yellow card.
Battery edge Sounders to reach USOC final
After 1-1 draw, Dusty Hudock makes two saves to win PK shootout
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Blackbaud Stadium
Charleston, S.C.
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SEA - Own Goal (Osvaldo Alonso) 20’
CHS - Randi Patterson (Unassisted) 33’
Penalty Summary
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The Charleston Battery earned a place in the U.S. Open Cup final for the first time in club history after winning a penalty kick shootout with the Seattle Sounders in the semifinals. The Battery are the first non-MLS team to advance to the final since the Rochester Raging Rhinos won the tournament in 1999.
The Sounders struck first with a goal in the 20th minute when a short corner ended up at the feet of Youseff Kante just outside the penalty area. He drove a shot toward goal and the ball took a deflection off of the Battery’s Osvaldo Alonso and ended up in the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
In the 32nd minute, the Battery were on the attack and sent a ball into the box from the right wing. A glancing header by Darren Spicer forced a save by Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander, but he was unable to hang onto it. Randi Patterson was on the doorstep and pounced on the loose ball and tied the game at 1-1, ending Seattle’s single-tournament record shutout streak at 453 minutes.
Both teams were unable to break the deadlock through 120 minutes, despite a few close calls, and the match had to be decided by penalty kicks. The Battery led 2-1 when Sebastien Le Toux had his attempt saved by Dusty Hudock. Mike Richardson had a chance to put the Battery up 3-1, but Chris Eylander came through for Seattle making the stop to keep it close. After both teams traded goals, Hudock saved the attempt by Kevin Forrest in the fifth round to send Charleston to the Open Cup final.
U.S. Open Cup Semifinal Blog
Welcome to the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals blog...two games tonight, and we’ll be following both of them to see who we’ll see in the Final...either way, we know that we’ll see USL vs. MLS. If you would like to send us an email with your questions/comments... feel free to use our online email form.
Two year USOC ban for Blanco
Mexican international sent off in quarterfinal loss to D.C. United
Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been banned from competing in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for at least two years. The United States Soccer Federation completed a review of the incidents of the Chicago Fire’s 2-1 quarterfinal loss to D.C. United on July 8 and decided on the length of the suspension, which could be extended depending on the number of Open Cup games the Fire are involved in over the next two seasons.
The Mexican international was shown a red card at the end of the first extra time period after throwing a punch at United midfielder Clyde Simms. After D.C.’s Marc Burch retaliated on his teammate’s behalf, Burch and Blanco were both sent off. Reportedly, as he left the field, a D.C. United official attempted to usher him from the sidelines toward the locker room, but the official was nearly head butted by the Chicago Fire star.
A week later, Blanco issued a public apology for his actions that night.
According to a press release sent out on July 31, Major League Soccer has also punished the 2008 MLS All Star Game MVP. Blanco has received a fine of $7,500 for "behavior detrimental to the public image and reputation of the League."
For more details on the incident and USSF’s punishment that followed, check out Steve Goff’s story in the Washington Post.
Eylander is unanimous POTR for quarterfinals
Seattle GK makes 13 saves including a pair of PK stops as the Sounders eliminate KC
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| Chris Eylander celebrates with teammate Zach Scott after Scott scored the winning penalty kick in the shootout to send Seattle to the semifinals for the second year in a row. Photo by George Holland |
Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander was a unanimous selection as the USOpenCup.com Player of the Round for the Quarterfinals. The award was voted on by the USOpenCup.com staff and members of the North American Soccer Reporters.
Eylander was challenged for the award by Jamie Moreno of D.C. United, along with goalkeepers Doug Warren of the New England Revolution and Eric Kronberg of the Kansas City Wizards.
The University of Washington alum helped the Sounders earn their fourth straight shutout in the tournament (a Professional Era single-tournament record of 420 shutout minutes), while holding Major League Soccer’s Kansas City Wizards to a scoreless draw through 120 minutes of play. After extra time, Seattle earned their second straight trip to the semifinals with a 6-5 win in the penalty kick shootout.
Eylander made 13 saves in the match, including two stops (Jimmy Conrad, Tyson Wahl) in the shootout to send the Sounders to a date with fellow USL First Division club, the Charleston Battery on August 12 at Blackbaud Stadium.
The goalkeeper took some time to talk with USOpenCup.com following his quarterfinal performance.
2008 U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals Recap
Three of the four games had to be settled in extra time
The quarterfinal round of the 2008 U.S. Open Cup seemed like it was never going to end...but in a good way. Three of the four matches went into extra time, with two of them finishing with penalty kicks, and the lone game to finish in regulation was hit by an hour and ten minute lightning delay.
The biggest story to emerge from the quaterfinals is that for the first time since 1999 (Rochester Raging Rhinos), there will be a team from the United Soccer Leagues in the U.S. Open Cup final.
That was made possible by the Charleston Battery’s 3-1 win over FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders’ penalty kick victory (0:0 in regulation, 6:5 in PKs) over the Kansas City Wizards. The two teams will meet at Blackbaud Stadium on August 12 to decide which team will play for the Open Cup title, and a place in the 2008/09 CONCACAF Champions League.
Meet the USASA: 2008
Learn more about the eight USASA entries in this year's tournament
For the second year in a row, USOpenCup.com provided fans with a profile of every USASA club that qualified for the U.S. Open Cup.
Each club has their own story and a unique history, and all of them entered the tournament with the goal of being this year’s cinderella story. Which club has won three Open Cup titles? Who has Carlos Valderamma as their director of coaching? Which one has a World Cup winner on one of their senior teams?
You can find the answers to those questions on the right side of the page. There is also a link to the 2007 edition of the Meet the USASA feature.
U.S. Open Cup champion to participate in CONCACAF Champions League
2007 champion, New England, will occupy one of the four USA spots
 The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced the format of the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League today. 24 teams from Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Pamana, the Caribbean and the United States will take part in the tournament that will begin in late August and conclude in April of 2009.
The Champions League will replace the Champions Cup tournament as the method of determining the CONCACAF representative in the FIFA Club World Cup. The United States will submit four representatives to the competition: the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup champion and runner-up, the MLS regular season champion and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion.
USOpenCup.com adds RSS feed
New feature makes it easier for fans to follow the Open Cup
USOpenCup.com is pleased to offer readers an RSS feed of our content that you can add to your RSS reader or whatever program you use to get your news on the web.  Copy this link (www.usopencup.com/index.xml) to get the latest U.S. Open Cup news.
An RSS feed allows you to automatically receive the latest USOpenCup.com stories directly to your computer. Some web browsers, such as Firefox or Internet Explorer, can read them automatically. You can also use a program like NewzCrawler or NewsGator, or websites such as Bloglines.com and Google Reader. For more information about RSS Feeds, visit the Wikipedia entry.
Welcome to USOpenCup.com!
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Tracing its origins to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history. However, The Dewar Cup, an impressive three-foot high silver trophy awarded to the Open Cup champion, is virtually unknown - even among avid soccer fans.
Why is this? Could it be because it’s so darn hard to find out anything about the Open Cup? We think so. That’s why we’ve created USOpenCup.com. Consider it our gift to the soccer community.
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In 2006, the Chicago Fire celebrated their fourth Open Cup title in their new home stadium (Toyota Park) with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. Photo by Brian Kersey/Wireimage.com
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This website is for the enjoyment and benefit of soccer fans and the advancement of the game in the United States. It is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by US Soccer, US Adult Soccer Association, Major League Soccer, or the United Soccer Leagues. The site was created by and is hosted by Demosphere International, Inc. of Falls Church, Virginia. The site is maintained by Josh Hakala and Chuck Nolan Jr. and are always looking for help from the soccer community to keep on top of the action due to the total void of information in the "mainstream" media. If you have anything you can contribute, or feel you can help either by writing feature stories, match reports, covering games, web graphics, website design, or any other way that might be helpful, please contact us.
It’s time that the U.S. Open Cup claimed its rightful place among the other great sports traditions in the country. Hopefully, this site will be first step in that direction.
Yours in Soccer,
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