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Match report from soccermidwest.us:
Two teams, predominantly of Polish descent: both from Illinois, both from Chicago, and both from the Metropolitan Soccer League, met again on the field at the Schwaben Center on May 21 at 2:00 p.m to compete for the USASA Men’s Open Cup regional championship. When the same two teams met for the State title, Polonia Mielec had come away with a 1:0 victory.
Following an international walk-on, official Tim Deters (also of Illinois) blew the opening whistle. A.A.C. Eagles fans sat on the north end of the field while the Polonia Mielec fans sat on the south end. The fans of both teams were there by the dozens. Each showed up with large drums and loud voices and when the drums were beating, the fans were singing - sometimes in unison, sometimes in harmony, but always loud and with lots of gusto.
Six minutes after Deters blew the opening whistle, an Eagles player passed the ball across the goal line, hit the keeper and the ball deflected off of him, bouncing into the air a good 10’. As the ball came back down, Marek Nowacki (#14) was in place to head it directly into the goal. Eagles 1 - Polonia Mielec - 0.
Four minutes after that, Polonia Mielec was awarded a direct kick. Tomasz Duniec took the kick from an 85 degree angle with such force and accuracy that it surprised the goalkeeper and deflected off of him and into the goal. Although the goalkeeper got his hands on the ball, he just could not hold on to it. Eagles 1 - Polonia Mielec - 1.
The next sixty minutes was more akin to a ping-pong game than a soccer match with the ball going from one end of the field to the other without any significant plays happening. Yellow cards were evenly distributed in the 4th and 20th minute of the game. The game livened up in the last fifteen minutes as the Eagles began to pound the Polonia Mielec defense. Yellow cards were given in the 71st, 84th and 85th minutes. Regulation ended in a 1:1 tie.
The teams took the field again in over-time. Deters whistled to start play again. The Eagles had had enough. After a quick goal scored by David Otachel in the 94th minute of the game, Deters blew the final whistle. The Eagles became the regional cup champion once again. Though both teams will continue on to the 1st round of the U.S. Lamar Hunt Open Cup Competition, only the Eagles will go to the USASA National Finals in Dallas, Texas on
August 5-7, seeking to reclaim their national Open Cup title, last won in 2002.
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