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2003 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup recap
The 2003 U.S. Open Cup had all the trimmings of a classic cup tournament. Early controversy, a few upstart teams wreaking havoc, finally settling down with the perennial contenders taking over.
The Cup began as usual with the PDL-USASA showdowns in the opening round. Raleigh CASL Elite handily took care of Jacksonville based USASA Region III winner DS United 4-1. First year PDL club Fresno Fuego, a USL branch of established Northern California USASA club Mexico SC, won 1-0 over the Chico Rooks, who defected from the USL to join the newly formed Men’s Premier Soccer League. That’s where the normalcy of the first round ended. For starters, the Milwaukee based amateurs of Bavarian SC shocked PDL favorite Des Moines Menace 2-1 in extra time, at Des Moines no less. Just as the Bavarians were about to celebrate, the Menace drew even at 1-1, with a last gasp goal from Daryl Brazeau off a free kick in stoppage time. Bavarians finally did celebrate though, as Ryan Seymour blasted home a 35-yead shot in the 111th minute to begin the Bavarians magical journey.
On the opposite side of the coin was the case of the Chesapeake Dragons vs. Bridgeport Italians. At the beginning, it seemed Bridgeport notched another victory for the USASA with a 1-0 win. That’s where is stops being simple. Chesapeake filed an appeal, alleging Bridgeport used an ineligible player. Nothing odd about that, except that they filed the appeal a week before the second round was to begin, leaving the USSF to scramble for a solution. While the USSF was trying to organize the appeal session with both clubs, they decided to have Bridgeport go ahead and play the New Hampshire Phantoms in the second round, which the Italians lost 3-0. A few days later, Bridgeport were found to have used an ineligible player, and were disqualified. As a result New Hampshire played a SECOND second round match vs. Chesapeake, since their original second round match with Bridgeport was null and void due to the ruling against Brigeport. The Phantoms overcame once again, defeating the Dragons 3-2, and closing the books on one of the more bizarre chapters in Open Cup history.
The rest of the second round didn’t exactly go by the book either, with the Wilmington Hammerheads and Carolina Dynamo the only other PSL clubs to advance. The Long Island Rough Riders were felled by those Open Cup rascals Mid Michigan Bucks, 2-1. The Utah Blitzz were handed the biggest scoreline shock of the round, smashed by the PDL Fresno Fuego 4-0. The other surprise was the upstart Bavarian SC club. Continuing their flair for the dramatic, they defeated the Reading Rage 1-0 on Dan Stebbins 86th minute goal. Bavarians became the first USASA club since 1995 to advance past past the second round of the cup, setting up a Milwaukee derby with the A-League Milwaukee Wave United. The match up caused quite a stir among those following US soccer, for the simple reason that inter-city matchups were rare in the US, for the simple fact that no league had more then one team in any city. Wave United took an early 2-0 lead on two goals from Greg Howes, and never looked back, winning 4-1, ending the magical run of the Bavarians. While most of the other third round matches ended with expected results, there still were two loose cannons left running around, the Fresno Fuego and Wilmington Hammerheads. While the Hammerheads pulled off the more normal upset, toppling the A-League Atlanta Silverbacks 2-1, the shocker was reserved for Fresno, stunning the El Paso Patriots of the A-League. El Paso held a 2-1 lead at halftime, and held the score until the levy broke with just under 20 minutes remaining. Fresno stormed the Patriots with 4 goals in those final 20 minutes to win the match 5-2, all the while generating interest in this red-hot PDL squad.
The fourth round was by far the widest of the cup, with big comebacks, back and forth games, more upsets and just a couple blowouts. The Fresno Fuego stepped up to challenge, and everyone was thinking upset, but it was not to be. The sparse crowd at the newly opened Home Depot Center in LA saw the Galaxy overwhelm the 4th division club, 3-1, but not before the Fuego put a scare to them with an early 1-0 lead. The Wilmington Hammerheads, on the other hand, produced perhaps the biggest shock result in years, crushing the Dallas Burn 4-1. Dallas was in the midst of a miserable season in MLS, and this defeat only added to the misery. With the score 1-1 at halftime, the Hammerheads turned up the heat, holding a 3-1 advantage after 70 minutes, them adding one final goal near the end. Never had a 3rd division club so handily beaten an MLS foe. The San Jose Earthquakes also exited the cup early, with a 1-0 defeat to the A-League Seattle Sounders, and DC United needed a 97th minute goal in extra time from Hristo Stoichkov to over come the Virginia Beach Mariners. The two all-MLS matches provides some thrills as well. Colorado and Kansas City swapped goals twice until the Rapids held on for a 3-2 win, and the MetroStars overcame a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Columbus Crew, as Eddie Pope scored twice in the final 13 minutes for the MetroStars. New England got by Rochester 2-1, and the Chicago Fire handled Milwaukee Wave United 4-1.
In the quarterfinals, things settled down a bit, and the MLS clubs took over as usual. DC United shut down the feisty Hammerheads 1-0 in front of 5,000+ at Legion Field in Wilmington. Ronald Cerritos scores the lone goal for United in only his second game with the club. In Seattle, Carlos Ruiz scored a hat trick to lead the LA Galaxy over the Sounders 5-1, and eliminate the remaining lower division threat from the cup. The Chicago Fire kept on track towards another with a 2-1 win over Colorado, and own goal by Robin Fraser the difference. The New England Revolution took the MetroStars to extra time before Amado Guevara netted the winner in the final minute of the extra session to advance the Metros.
Drawn at halftime 0-0, the Fire raced out to a 3-0 lead in the second half versus the LA Galaxy, on goals from DaMarcus Beasley, Damani Ralph and Ante Razov. LA then mounted a comeback, scoring twice in two minutes, but eventually fell short of the final, 3-2, sanding the Fire back to the cup final after two year absence. Another 3-2 game decided the other semifinal, as the MetroStars and DC United traded goals in the first half, and United evenign the game up in the 76th minute on a Ronald Cerritos goal. John Wollyniec then helped the Metros avoid extra time with a goal at the 88th minute, giving the MetroStars their first ever open cup final.
In the final, all Chicago needed was a goal from Damani Ralph in the 68th minute, and after holding off the Metros, became the first team in the MLS era of the US Open Cup to win the tournament three times.
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