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2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup recap
The first round of the 2004 Cup turned out poorly for the USASA sides, as only the MPSL-based Sacramento Knights were able to advance past their PDL foes. The Knights toppled the Spokane Shadow in extra time, 2-1, on a controversial penalty slotted home by Jeremy Field. Sacramento’s Anthony Chimienti was fouled on the edge of the penalty area, chasing a ball that appeared to be unplayable as it headed towards the touch line. After numerous protests from Spokane players, The Knights booked their spot in the second round. Two other USASA clubs nearly joined Sacramento in the second round, but fell just short. The Chico Rooks, a former USL club now playing in the MPSL, narrowly lost to Boulder Rapids Reserve 2-1. Chico took a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute on a goal from Chris Wondolowski, but Boulder quickly answered with two goals in four minutes, from Kyle Brown and Brett Branan. The Cocoa Expos were taken to extra time by Dallas-based USASA club Azzuri, before prevailing 3-2. Azzuri open the scoring up quickly, with a first minute goal from Ryan Kneipper. After Cocoa drew even in the first half, Azzuri re-took the lead midway through the second half off a goal from former Dallas Burn player Juan Sastoque. With the clock ticking, Fred Moojen pulled the Expos back even, forcing extra time with a goal in the 86th minute. Moojen then struck again three minutes into extra time, averting the upset and putting Cocoa into the second round.
The level of success the PDL clubs found in the first round was a direct opposite of what the clubs from the next league up, the PSL, encountered in the second round. Only two of the six PSL clubs that qualified, Wilmington and Utah, managed to escape to the third round, both with 3-0 wins over their amateur opponents. The biggest win by the PDL clubs in the second round was a 5-1 drubbing by the Chicago Fire Reserve of the New Hampshire Phantoms. Julian Nash opened the scoring for Chicago with two goals in the first half, and the Reserves, who had been rolling through their PDL opponents in league play, never looked back. In a battle of New England sides, David Bulow saw Cape Cod through to the next round with two second half goals to lift the Crusaders over Western Mass by a 3-2 score line, and the Dynamo won the battle of Carolina with a convincing 4-2 victory over Charlotte. Perhaps the most inspiring victory of the second round was that of the Boulder Rapids Reserves. The Boulder club had driven directly from their double-overtime PDL league match at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a seven hour trip, back to Boulder for their Cup match against the San Diego Gauchos. The Reserves not only held San Diego scoreless for 110 minutes, they nearly put a couple goals in during regulation time. During the penalty session, all five Rapids Reserves players found the net, and Boulder goalkeeper Luis Robles saved the Gauchos final penalty from Hercules Gomez to wrap up a hectic two days for the Boulder amateurs. Of the two A-League clubs jumping in at the second round, Virginia Beach downed the DFW Tornados 2-0, while Syracuse needed TWO games to take care of a determined South Jersey side. The first match was abandoned at the 75th minute, drawn 1-1, when a series of severe thunderstorms delayed the match twice. Since the home pitch of South Jersey was not equipped with lighting, the match was abandoned. South Jersey seemed in good shape to pull off the upset in the first match, as Syracuse was two players sent off, forcing them to play with two men from the 49th minute on. The replay was scheduled for the following week, and this time, Syracuse did not leave the result in doubt. South Jersey, however, opened the scoring on a goal from Neil Holloway in the 22nd minute, but that was the closest the Barons would come. Syracuse took over, and behind two goals from Ryan Mack, prevailed 4-2.
With the PDL clubs causing havoc in the 2nd round, the two MLS clubs and the remaining A-League qualifiers that entered in the 3rd round brought everything back to normalcy, although it was not an easy task. Only two of the eight matches were decided by more then a single goal. The MLS’s Dallas Burn eased by Virginia Beach in a 2-0 win, and the A-League Charleston Battery, looking to salvage something from their dismal performance in league play, were convincing in their 2-0 win over Wilmington. The other MLS side in the round, Columbus, snuck by Syracuse 2-1, on a disputed penalty awarded in stoppage time. Many felt the Crew’s Kyle Martino embellished the amount of contact on a slide tackle from Rene Rivas to draw the penalty. Nonetheless, Ross Paule stepped up and put Columbus into the next round, sending the ball just past a diving Paul Nagy. Three other matches from the third round needed extra time to decide the winner. Richmond went scoreless with a game Cape Cod squad in regulation, but advanced on a David Hayes free kick goal four minutes into extra time. Minnesota cut it close in their win over the Boulder Rapids Reserves, scoring with 4 minutes to go until the match went to penalties. Draw 1-1 at halftime, Fredrico Juarez took a pass from Zafer Kilickan and kept Thunder fans from chewing their fingernails off. Rochester managed to do what no PDL side could manage yet, defeat the Chicago Fire Reserves, and even they had a tough time putting them away. The Rhinos left the 7,654 at Frontier Field frustrated until the 82nd minute, when Craig Demmin finally beat Fire Reserve goalkeeper Brad Guzan for the winning goal. Portland finished off the third round with a win over Utah, 2-1. The A-League club jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead, but ex-Timber Fadi Afash pulled one back for Utah in the 65th minute, but that’s as close as the Blitzz got to the upset.
With all of the clubs from the 3rd division and lower eliminated, the 4th round settled into an A-League vs. MLS affair, with the "A" clubs showing that the gap between the two leagues was shrinking with each year that passes. A total of four A-League clubs toppled their MLS opposition, the most ever since clubs from both leagues began participating in the Cup. The round started out on a down note for the A-League though, as Portland were put away 3-0 by San Jose five days before the rest of the round kicked off. The Timbers were at an early disadvantage, seeing defender Gavin Wilkinson sent off after 17 minutes, as well as conceding a penalty to San Jose. From there the Earthquakes took full advantage, adding two more goals in the 2nd half to seal the win. It was on July 20 that the A-League fireworks began. Yearly Open Cup troublemakers, the Rochester Raging Rhinos, started the night by knocking off New England on penalties. Pat Noonan put the Revs up early, but Kirk Wilson equalized for the Rhinos, eventually sending the match to penalties. Rochester goalkeeper Theo Zagar came up huge in the penalty session, saving two Revolution penalties to help Rochester claim yet another MLS scalp in the Open Cup. The next victim were the MetroStars, falling to the club that had nothing BUT the Cup to play for, the Charleston Battery. Charleston scored the only goal they needed just after half time, off a strike from Steve Klein. The MetroStars nearly drew level several times, but Charleston held firm, and kept their improbable run in the Cup alive. The Minnesota Thunder made it three for the "A", knocking off the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 in the Metrodome. Chris Brunt scored with just over 20 minutes gone, and and the Thunder held off a few Galaxy chances, as well as nearly putting the game away with another goal, to advance to the quarterfinals. The final MLS club to fall was eventual MLS champs DC United, stumbling to Richmond 2-1. A crowd of 8,776, of of the largest in Kickers history, came to University of Richmond stadium to see teen wunderkind Freddy Adu, but instead saw their home club come away victorious. McColm Cephas scored twice, and only a consolation goal from Nana Kuffour late in the game made the contest close, completing a historic 4th round for the A-League. The only other A-League club to fall were the Atlanta Silverbacks, soundly defeated by the Kansas City Wizards 4-1. The ’Backs were very much in the game at the half, but Kansas City came out shooting in the second, with Davy Arnaud and Francisco Gomez scoring two minutes apart. The other two matches in the round were MLS affairs, one a nail biter, the other a blowout. The Dallas Burn ran over Colorado 3-0, with all three goals coming in a 15 minute span in the second half. Chicago slugged out a 2-1 win in extra time over the Columbus Crew. A total of 45 fouls were whistled during the match, and Crew forward Edson Buddle was sent off in extra time. Damani Ralph proved to have the magic touch for the Fire, converting a 66th minute penalty, and then netting the game winner in stoppage time of the first extra session.
For the first time ever, the quarterfinals were split evenly, 4 MLS sides, and 4 A-League clubs, although two from each league would face each other in this round. The Cup Cinderella’s of 2004, the Charleston Battery, stepped onto Frontier looking to further their run at the expanse of Rochester. Charleston wasted no time jumping out to a lead, as Gabe Valencia scored six minutes after kickoff. The Rhinos nearly answered back a few minutes later, when Chris Carrieri’s hot hit the crossbar. Rochester kept up the pressure for the rest of the match, but Charleston held firm, keeping their lost season alive, and securing a semifinal birth. Chicago held off a game Richmond Kickers squad, with a 1-0 win in Virginia. Dipsy Selolwane scored the only goal Chicago needed, in the 56th minute. Richmond nearly would a dramatic equalized, when stoppage time, Mike Burke sent the ball past Fire ’keeper Henry Ring, but past the post as well by a few inches. San Jose also survived a scare from a game A-League club, the Minnesota Thunder. Both clubs traded the lead in each half, eventually sending the match to penalties after a 2-2 draw. The ’Quakes ran the table on their kicks, but Jay Alberts has the fatal lone miss for Minnesota, allowing the defending MLS Cup champs to escape Minnesota, and claim their first ever semifinal spot in the Open Cup. In the all-MLS quarterfinal match, Kansas City kept on rolling, trouncing the Dallas Burn 4-0, all goals coming in the second half.
Chicago and Charleston entered their semifinal match with more or less the same purpose, an attempt to salvage a faltering season. Charleston, suffering from an uncharacteristically bad season, were long eliminated from the A-League playoff race. Chicago were fighting every week just to grab an MLS playoff berth, so the chance to reach the final of the cup would be a welcome opportunity for both teams. With the match drawn 0-0 at halftime, a severe thunderstorm rolled though the area, delaying the start of the second half for almost two hours. The clubs remained deadlocked at 0-0, sending the match into Golden Goal extra time. Just minutes after the second stanza of extra time began, Dipsy Selolwane scored off a pass from Orlando Perez, keeping the Fire’s hope for some level of success alive, while ending the same for Charleston. Kansas City and San Jose entered their semifinal match knowing the winner would make their first ever USOC finals appearance. Kansas City found the only goal they needed, Igor Simutenkov converting a penalty just before halftime. San Jose tried in vain to grab the equalizer, as the Wizards defense held the ’Quakes at bay, securing a showdown with Chicago in the final.
The 2004 LHUSOC final was largely a defensive affair, needing Golden Goal extra time to decide the 0-0 scoreline. There were a few near misses during regular time, KC’s Logan Pause just wide for KC in the first half, Davy Arnaud just wide of the post in the second. Andy Williams and Dipsy Selolwane continuously tried to connect for scoring chances for Chicago, only to be broken up most times by Nick Garcia. In extra time, Josh Wolff fouled Evan Whitfield about 19 yards out of the goal, and once again, Igor Simutenkov won it for Kansas City, firing a low shot past the wall, and just off of Fire GK Henry Ring’s outstretched hand. The 8,819 in attendance at Arrowhead Stadium looked on as the home side were finally able to lift the trophy named after the club’s owner.
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| Photo by Ed Zurga/Kansas City Wizards |
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