So here's the short explanation ... The USASA changed their qualifying deadline to Dec. 31 for the 2014 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup going forward. The challenge with that, as many of you know, is that the state and regional tournaments usually take place in the fall/winter/spring. So some regions are just giving their 2014 spots based on 2013 results. USASA Region I gave their two spots to Region I Open Cup winner Icon FC (New Jersey) and Region I Amateur Cup winner NY Greek American Atlas SC. Therefore, the Region I state tournaments that are going on right now (both Amateur Cup and Open Cup) are going to feed into the 2014 Region I tournaments. Then the winners of THOSE tournaments are going to be Region I's representatives in the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (Follow all that?) Here's what we have so far ... 2015 US Open Cup qualifying: West Chester United, Vereinigung Erzgebirge reach Eastern PA final The semifinals of the Eastern Pennsylvania qualifying tournament for the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup couldn’t have been more different than the quarterfinals. After a round of eight that saw few goals and three upsets, 12 goals were scored in the semis, and both favorites, West Chester United and Vereinigung Erzgebirge, advanced to the tournament final. Full story: http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...ereinigung-erzgebirge-reach-eastern-pa-final/ Elsewhere, Massachusetts has already submitted their entry (Mass Premier Soccer) into the USASA Region I tournament >> http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...wins-state-title-advances-to-region-i-finals/
2015 US Open Cup qualifying: West Chester United earns rare Eastern Pennsylvania three-peat >> http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...d-earns-rare-eastern-pennsylvania-three-peat/
First time entry Lansdowne Bhoys upsets NY Greek American Atlas SC in Round 1 and goes on to win the Eastern New York Open Cup title. They now move on to the 2014 USASA Region I tournament where they winner qualifies for the 2015 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Details: http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...hoys-surprise-debut-ends-in-eastern-ny-title/
2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Washington Elite win 10-goal OT barnburner, Baltimore Kickers return in Maryland Open Cup openers >> http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...-kickers-return-in-maryland-open-cup-openers/
2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Aegean Hawks win 7th DC-Virginia Open Cup title in last 8 attempts Details: http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...c-virginia-open-cup-title-in-last-8-attempts/ This is a future editorial, but here's a preview: It's a little sad that a state (association) like DC/VA only has two entries. They've had just two entries the last FIVE years. In the article, Jon Knight says the cost is what's keeping teams away. But we're seeing more and more USASA states who only submit one or two teams (or with most of them, no teams at all). The USASA needs to take a hard look at their Open Cup tournament. What do you think should/can be done?
Follow the example set by Maryland! Rowland Cup final Sunday afternoon between Screaming Eagles & the Maryland Bays. Winner advances to the Region I qualifiers in the Open Cup. Maryland had 10 teams compete for the Rowland and 12 for the Stewart Cup (amateur competition). www.marylandsoccer.com/cups (note that the server is down at the moment) Did you get my tweet about Connecticut? Looks like Newton Pride FC will meet Gremio Lusitano Club in their state Open Cup on 16 March. http://usadultsoccer1.wix.com/region1#!2014cups/cudm
Newtown's opponent dropped out, so they are the only entry from Connecticut. Adding more ammo to my forthcoming USASA editorial
Last year, the Screaming Eagles beat the Maryland Bays in the Maryland Open Cup Final (Rowland Cup) to deny them the first three-peat since 1997. The Bays got their revenge, beating the Eagles to win their third Rowland Cup title in four years: http://thecup.us/maryland-bays-aven...hird-state-open-cup-title-in-last-four-years/
It's been a while since Louisiana has had a qualifying tournament and they rounded up six teams, including two NCAA club teams (LSU, UL Lafayette) http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...ff-state-tournament-with-two-ncaa-club-teams/
USASA Region I is starting their Open Cup and Amateur Cup tournaments this weekend ... with both winners advancing to the 2015 US Open Cup. Details: http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-qualifying-usasa-region-i-tournaments-begin-on-sunday/
No Arkansas teams ... haven't had an Arkansas team enter since 2000, I believe. They're in USASA Region III.
2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Aegean Hawks, Maryland Bays, Lansdowne Bhoys and AC Blaugrana advance in USASA Region I tourney Tommy Smythe's club looks really strong after a 5-1 win over Newtown Pride FC >> http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...-blaugrana-advance-in-usasa-region-i-tourney/
2015 US Open Cup qualifying: Rhode Island’s AC Blaugrana disqualified from USASA Region I tournament It wouldn't be a US Open Cup tournament without a disqualification: http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...-disqualified-from-usasa-region-i-tournament/
Wow, the DQ bug hit the USASA. I would expect this from the newcomers: Club, Specialty, or Steve's Backyard Soccer Assocation, but one of the tried-and-true's? Wasn't this thing about moving the qualifying deadline up supposed to overcome these kind of problems?
Not necessarily, but this is how the earlier deadline helps a situation like this: If this year's tournament winner was entered into THIS year's Open Cup (2014) they would HAVE to have the tournament done by late April. But especially in the midwest (as many of us locals know), weather is unpredictable this time of year. Tournaments can be delayed by weather and protests and other situations, and if the tournament runs up against the deadline, that can be a problem. Like when the KC Athletics and Dearborn Stars had that situation with the "was the field wide enough?" thing. In the end, Region II decided to replay the match at a neutral site, but they had to do it on less than a week's notice because the deadline was approaching. KC Athletics couldn't get a full team to Chicago on short notice so they had to forfeit. But if that same situation had happened THIS year, then they would have had plenty of time to reschedule because the Open Cup qualifying deadline (for NEXT year's tournament) isn't until the end of the year. Make sense?
"interesting" is one word you could use, sure. With the Rhode Island team out of the mix, Mass Premier Soccer had the most of their second life with a 5-0 thrashing of defending USASA Region I Open Cup champions Icon FC USASA Region I Open Cup Semifinals (May 4) Lansdowne Bhoys (East NY) at Mass Premier Soccer (MA) Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC (DC/VA) at Maryland Bays (MD)
From what I heard, Mass Premier has some key players for this match that were not available last week against Blaugrana. Life of an amateur team, can't alway rely on the same 11 showing up each week. In Amateur Cup play, a lot of goals scored. NY Greek American Atlas travelled to Mass United and defeated them 5:0. In the other northern bracket match, Danbury United (CT) trashed Manzanillol Deportivo (NH) 6:0. In the south, Maryland Bays reached their second semifinal in their 6:1 victory over FC Motown (NJ). The other quarterfinal ended in a 3:3 draw between Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC & Vereinigung Erzgebirge Majors (EPA) with the Pennsylvanian side advancing on PK's 5:4. The regional winner earns a berth in the 2015 Lamar Hunt. http://usadultsoccer1.wix.com/region1#!2014cups/cudm
USASA Region I Amateur Cup is underway >> http://thecup.us/2015-us-open-cup-q...o-decide-usasa-region-i-entry-for-first-time/
It took me a while to finally finish this but this should bring you up to speed >> Why 2015 US Open Cup qualifying is going on now, who’s in for 2014 and other questions answered The format for 2014 is going to be announced soon, so some of those amateur numbers will change (I would expect that the proposal of 42 amateur clubs would be accepted, especially this late in the process)
So according to the prequel on that article, it is: MLS (16), NASL (8), USL (14), PDL (19), NPSL (11), US-Adult (10), US-Club (1), US-Specialty (1) Or as I look at it: MLS (16), lower divisions (64). So the obvious format is to have the 64 teams play two rounds, where the 16 winners get matched up against MLS sides. I suggested this during this time last year. (I also posited at the 64 teams could play two rounds at 16 sites [during one week], but we can leave that as a side question): https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/2013-qualifiers.1948312/page-5#post-27705360 To give the pro teams some byes, it might look like (starting all USL-NASL pro teams in the same round; with 22 teams in these two leagues, it only leaves 10 ameteurs to play in that round, but you run into the case where you can't get 42 down to 10 in only two rounds, so a preliminary round is required): Preliminary: US-Adult (2), US-Club (1), US-Specialty (1) R1: Prelim winners (2), PDL (19), NPSL (11), US-Adult (8) R2: R1 winners (20) R3: R2 winners (10), NASL (8), USL (14) R4: R3 winners (16), MLS (16)