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Prior to the 2006 season, Costa Rican international Andy Herron had only scored six goals in 24 games for the Fire in three seasons, starting barely over half of those games. But this was Herron’s year, as he lead the Fire to the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship with four goals (tied for the tournament lead) and one assist.

He opened his account in the Fourth Round with a goal in the Fire’s 2-0 win over the Kansas City Wizards. In the Quarterfinals, he scored both goals (including the game-winning penalty kick) in a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution. Herron failed to play in the 3-0 semifinal win over DC United, but returned in the Open Cup Final against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He set up Nate Jaqua in the 9th minute and then stretched the lead to 2-0 with a goal of his own in the 16th. Chicago went on to defeat the defending champions 3-1 in front of a home crowd at Toyota Park. Fire rookie Calen Carr was also in the running for the tournament MVP with three goals and an assist, but he didn’t see the field in the championship game.

Below, you will find a recap of all of 2006’s best players:

Round 1	Randi Patterson	Carolina Dynamo
Round 2	Dallas Roma FC Defense	Dallas Roma FC
Round 3	Jesse Llamas	Dallas Roma FC
Round 4	Kenny Cooper	FC Dallas
Quarterfinals	Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy
Semifinals	Calen Carr	Chicago Fire
Final	Andy Herron	Chicago Fire

Round 1: Patterson wins Player of Round
USOC.com to recognize top player from each round

Randi Patterson of the PDL’s Carolina Dynamo is the winner of the inaugural USOpenCup.com Player Of The Round honor. Patterson, a U.S. youth international who just finished his senior season at UNC Greensboro, scored three of Carolina’s four goals in their 4-3 win over the Cape Cod Crusaders.

At the conclusion of each round of the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the staff at USOpenCup.com will determine which player made the greatest impact on his team’s advancement to the next round of the tournament.

The majority of the scoring came in a frantic 20 minute span beginning with Patterson opening his account just before halftime, and adding a second just after the break, to put the Dynamo up 2-0. Cape Cod answered with two goals in five minutes to draw the game level.

In the 57th minute, another ball found it’s way into the back of the net, this time with Cape Cod defender Adam Mitchinson, who scored in the Qualifying Round, heading the ball into his own net to give Carolina a 3-2 lead. A few minutes later, Patterson completed the hat trick to put a two-goal cushion between the two clubs. The Crusaders would pull one back with ten minutes to play, but it would be their last.

With this first hat trick of the season it brings his season total in all competitions to a team-best 11 goals.

Patterson narrowly wins the honor over Michigan Bucks midfielder Nathan Jafta, who controlled the midfield and assisted on both goals to lead the Bucks to a 2-0 upset win over the Second Division’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Also in competition for the award was Des Moines Menace midfielder Tomas Boltnar who scored two goals in his team’s 3-2 home win over the USASA’s Dallas Mustang Legends, as well as Arizona Sahuaros midifleder Giber Becerra, who scored two twice to help upset the PDL’s BYU Coiugars 5-1.

Round 2: Roma FC defense named Players of Round
Backline sparked historic victory over Miami FC

Growing up in Burbank, Calif., Jesse Llamas was a teenager in 1994 when Romario and Zinho helped Brazil lift the World Cup just down the road at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Twelve years later, Llamas and his teammates on the amateur Dallas Roma FC club practiced five days a week at 7 a.m. for two weeks preparing to play the former Brazilian stars, now with Miami FC, in a second-round game of the U.S. Open Cup.

"It was like a childhood dream," Llamas said of playing in goal and trying to stop shots from Romario and Zinho.

Just 20 minutes into the match in Dallas, though, it looked like it might turn into a nightmare. Starting right back Alex Funes had to come off because of a hip flexor injury suffered during warmups.

"Alex has been doing a great job for us, and it was unfortunate that early in the game he had to come out," Llamas said. "We were a little bit worried about that whole sub thing, because (Funes is) young, he’s fast and he was staying with Mario (Rodriguez) at forward when he got hurt ... But when we made that change, everything still worked."

Todd Paulette came on to play stopper, with starter Todd Hammett moving over to replace Funes at right back. The two joined sweeper Jose Maria, left back Kylie Couch and Llamas in an impressive backline performance as Roma blanked Miami 1-0, becoming the first USASA side to beat a team from the USL First Division/A-League in U.S. Open Cup play.

For their efforts, Llamas and the five defenders were named the USOpenCup.com Players of the Round.

"The guys in front of me did an excellent job," said Llamas, one of many former professional players on the Roma roster. "Jose Maria, he did a phenomenal job keeping the defense organized, and myself helping him out. It was just an awesome, awesome night."

Obviously, much of Roma’s defensive strategy centered around Romario, who is second in the USL First Division this season with nine goals despite turning 40 in January.

"Our game plan was basically just don’t let him shoot within 25 yards facing up on the goal," said Roma coach Michael Schell, whose team will play CD Chivas USA in a third-round match July 12 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

"Whenever he got the ball, we’d make sure he always had it wide. He never got the ball at his feet. If he did, he was probably 35 to 40 yards out, so if he was going to shoot from there, it’s probably going to have to be an incredible shot to beat (Llamas)."

Romario nearly scored in the opening 10 minutes, but his header glanced wide of the goal, one of six or seven quality scoring chances for Miami in the first half, according to Schell.

Llamas, a 29-year-old who spent time with UAG (Tecos) in the Mexican First Division, the El Paso Patriots in the PDL and the defunct Dallas Sidekicks in the MISL, made plenty of new, in-person memories of the former World Cup Golden Ball winner as MVP and FIFA Player of the Year.

"I had a couple one-on-ones with Romario," Llamas said. "I remember watching him when I was younger and remembering his toe pokes, what he does , and he likes to be cheeky. So the main thing was just holding my ground and not going down, because he likes to make you look silly. I always watched him. Every time he got the ball, I knew he wasn’t going to pass. That was a huge advantage. He likes scoring, he likes personal glory.

"There was one play where he had his back to the goal and they passed him the ball and he held it up on his knee with his back to the goal for like 3 or 4 seconds and turned and shot. I was like, ’Holy crap.’ Straight off the volley. And he still has that move, where he looks like he’s rolling you, then he pulls the ball and he’s got three or four steps on you already. He, still at that age, can play."

Miami, which finished the match with nine men because of two late red cards, nearly got the equalizer midway through the 5 minutes of stoppage time.

Romario had the ball on the left side facing the goal in about the 92nd minute, but didn’t have a shot. So he sent the ball past Llamas and toward the far post, where Rodriguez - a member of the Guatemalan national team - was racing in. But Maria, who played professionally in his native Argentina, sprinted in and just beat "El Loco" to the ball.

"It was past (Llamas), so if Mario could’ve got his foot on it, they would’ve scored," Schell said. "But Jose somehow flicked the ball up in the air at the same time Mario was kicking at it, and somehow kicked it over the goal. It was well into the 6-yard box, so normally that should be a goal."

Instead, though, it was a shutout and a historic win for Roma - and a trip back home to California for Llamas.

Player of Round 3: Jesse Llamas
Dallas Roma FC goalkeeper made key saves in historic upset

In the second round, Jesse Llamas was honored as USOpenCup.com’s player of the round along with his defensive backline. This time, he gets the honor all to himself.

Llamas extended his U.S. Open Cup shutout streak to 214 minutes in Roma’s penalty kick win over CD Chivas USA of Major League Soccer. Llamas made several key saves during the course of the game, most notably, a diving stop in the final minutes of regulation time to keep the game scoreless. Llamas clinched the Player of the Round honor with his performance in the penalty shootout. The former El Paso Patriot and Dallas Sidekick netminder stopped the very first shot from Chivas’ Francisco Palencia. After Sacha Kljestan put Chivas on the board, Llamas paved the way for Roma’s historic upset by stopping Jesse Marsch’s spot kick. All four of Romas’ kick takers were successful, giving the USASA giant-killers a 4-2 win on penalties, and a date on August 1 with the other MLS team in California, the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"I did my job. I did what I had to do and things came out the way they did," said Llamas. "Everyone supported each other and it was great. It was an awesome win but at the same time it was, like, we have no pressure because we’re not supposed to win. If we lose, we gave a battle, okay. If we win, we make history and that’s all we did."

Cooper’s trick earns him 4th round honors
Dallas rookie scored third goal in final seconds to force PKs

Photo: S. Wamgnass

laying in only his second Open Cup game, FC Dallas rookie Kenny Cooper scored three goals in his club’s fourth round victory over the Charleston Battery. With that performance, Cooper has been selected as USOpenCup.com’s Player of the Round.

In the final minutes of extra time, fans at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, SC thought their club had pulled off the upset after Luc Harrington put the Battery up 3-2 in the 114th minute. Cooper, who had already scored a pair of late goals that day, (one of them in first half stoppage time and the other in the 89th minute) scored the equalizer in the final minute to send the game into penalty kicks. Cooper also converted his spot kick attempt as FC Dallas won the shootout 5-3 and moved on to the quarterfinals to take on their in-state rivals, the Houston Dynamo.

Quarterfinals: Donovan’s ’extra’ goals earn him POTR
US International comes off the bench to lead Galaxy to semis

It was unusual to see a player like Landon Donovan coming off the bench for the Los Angeles Galaxy, but he managed to make the most of his time, scoring two goals in extra time to lead the defending champions to the semifinals for the third time in four years. For his efforts, Donovan was named the USOpenCup.com Player Of The Round for the quarterfinals.

Photo by Essy G. / LA Galaxy

The Rapids’ Clint Mathis put Colorado up 1-0 with a goal in the 3rd minute, and Trinidad and Tobago international Cornell Glen found himself injured, causing Galaxy manager Frank Yallop to look to his bench to find the Galaxy’s most accomplished player ready and waiting. Donovan entered the match in the 37th minute and nearly equalized right away, but his header from close range was saved by Rapids’ goalkeeper Matt Jordan.

Quavas Kirk would equalize just before the halftime break, and the second half would fail to produce another goal, sending the match into extra time. Three minutes into the extra session, Donovan would clean up a cross by Kirk and put the Galaxy up 2-1 and would put the nail in the coffin in the 115th with a breakaway goal provided by Peter Vagenas.

With two other players scoring goals in their respective quarterfinal matches, Donovan’s teammate Kirk with the equalizing goal and the assist on the game-winner, there was a lot of competition for the player of the round award. Andy Herron, who scored both goals in Chicago’s 2-1 win over New England, and Jamil Walker, who tallied a pair in DC’s 3-1 win over New York, were both finalists for the award.

Carr leads Fire into Final, earns POTR
Rookie using the tournament to make a name for himself

Rookie Calen Carr, celebrates one of his two semifinal goals. He has 3 goals and an assist in this year’s tourney.
Photo by Brian Kersey MLS/WireImage.com

In 20 games with the Chicago Fire in the regular season, Calen Carr, a rookie from Cal-Berkeley, has scored only once. However, the Open Cup has been a different story. In three matches, Carr has produced a trio of goals and an assist to lead the Fire to their fifth Cup Final. Two of those three goals came in the Fire’s 3-0 semifinal victory over DC United, earning him USOpenCup.com’s Player of the Round.

Carr’s performance edged Landon Donovan for the award. Donovan scored the game-winner and provided an assist in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo. Also in the running for the award, the Galaxy’s Kevin Hartman, who made three saves, the biggest coming in first-half stoppage time when he denied Dwayne DeRosario’s penalty kick attempt.