News: New US Open Cup Set-Up for 2012

*Except Scott Brown

Some would definitely say that, those that were only looking for something to confirm their preconceived notions about MLS. But some (I hope) would admit that there's a lot of crappy play in the early rounds of many competitions that pit David against Goliath, including the FA Cup, Europa League and even ECL.

By the way, these guys will almost certainly be rooting against the Revs vs the likes of LIRR, but it's up to the Revs to convert them, not me. If they want atmosphere, they should give every season ticket holder and/or supporters group member a free ticket to the match.

What's the usual ticket price to a non-Gillette USOC home match?

I think it was $10 back when it was in NB

I think that USOC is a valuable and important competition, but I'm not the one who needs to be convinced.

I'll bet that most of the "direct decendents of the Fall River Marksmen, JP Coates, or Punta del Gada" haven't been showing up for USOC games.

As for building brand awareness, etc., with low-cost/no-cost methods. Yeah, sure go for it. But, the comment I was responding to was "promote the heck out of it". And, I still feel that even if you do that, you aren't going to get much of a bump for a one-off event. Even when the Revs drew much better attendance then they do now, there was still very little interest in non-MLS competitions (unless there was a high-profile friendly at Gillette or Foxboro Stadium).

I just don't think USOC in 2012 is the right time/place to make a big marketing investment. Even if it did bring in a big crowd, what would the lasting legacy of that be? They'd still be playing their next game in Gillette. And, without another big investment in the next USOC game, it would be back to square one again.

Investing much in this specific event is a high risk/low reward proposition. And, there's a pretty good track record to support that.

Let me guess - you think we're just like Seattle, only with a different owner?

Perhaps, but I'm pretty skeptical.

I've encountered that demographic, just like most of us have, and I think if you close your eyes and envision the promotion, the most likely image is a reaction of derision, if there's any reaction at all. That crowd has disrespected MLS for years and aren't about to suddenly do a 180. That would amount to admitting that they were wrong and that's not going to happen. I don't think the future of the Revs lies with that crowd - they're rooted to their barstools or couches.

Sure, 3000 *might* be do-able. I thought we were talking about significantly larger numbers.

Speak for yourself, New Britain is 10 minutes from where I work

I've been to lots of games at Nickerson and I think it's a horrible place to watch (or play) soccer.

The negativity regarding this team is deafening..!

It'll be interesting to see what Heap does with the lineup. I think he believes he has enough depth to take the Open Cup seriously. I'm guessing he'd like to get a least a few games to get guys some playing time (Rundstrom, Fagundez, Lozano, Rowe, maybe Polak (remember him?)).

We speculated on line-ups earlier in the thread and people were a lot braver than I am about running out a mostly-second XI lineup. Assuming we are without Sims against DCU, I'd guess we see this against DCU:

Moreno.. Sene
Nguyen..Shalrie ..?Guy again?..Benny
CT..McCarthy..Soares.. KA
Reis

with Cardenas, Brettschneider, maybe Rowe off the bench


And in a WAG, something like this on Tuesday?

Rundstrom..Brettschneider
Fagundez .. Rowe..??.. Cardenas
Polak..Lozano..Barnes..Purdie
Shuttleworth

No idea what Heaps does for a DM. Guy again? Re-use one of the first XI CMs -- Shalrie or Benny, neither of which seems like a good idea for DM, especially on three days rest. Maybe Sims is ready for at last 45 minutes by Tuesday?

Speaking of DMs, if the reports yesterday about two summer signings are true, I'd guess one would be a young CM who can share duties this year with Shalrie and Sims -- there'll be lots of minutes available there as the season goes on. The second is the proven goal-scorer heaps said he wanted to sign. Neither is a LB, and Big Soccer goes apoplectic -- that's my prediction and I'm sticking to it.

I think KapeGuy's lineup is close - unfortunately the first USOC game is coming at a bad time, when some of the guys who would normally see time for this game (Lechner, White) are out.

I think it'll look like this:

Runstrom - Brettschneider
Cardenas - Rowe - Roach - Fagundez
Polak - Lozano - Barnes - Purdie
Shuttleworth

(Man, I miss the old soccer field graphics)

Bench: Guy, Alston, McCarthy, Soares, Tierney, Moreno, Murray

I'm a little concerned this lineup might not be enough to win - Harrisburg City appears to be one of the better/more professional USL teams and this Revs' lineup will have 4 players straight out of the NCAA (5 if you include Brettschneider's limited MLS experience) and a 17-year-old. They do need real PT, but I hope Heaps can make in-game adjustments to go for the win if the Revs aren't ahead in the 2nd half.

Going to be a very interesting game to say the least!

I am delighted, as I have never driven less than three hours to see the Revs play. This is 1 (one) hour from my house! WooHoo!

Hope some of the first team shows up

For the record, the team we're playing isn't the Harrisburg City Islanders, they're the Harrisburg City Islanders. "City Island" is a thing in Harrisburg.

The rest of next week's matchups here. Nine out of 16 MLS teams are playing on the road.

Code:

THIRD ROUND
DATE      AWAY TEAM                      TIME    HOME TEAM
May 29    New England Revolution (MLS)    7:00    Harrisburg City Islanders (USL Pro)
May 29    DC United (MLS)                7:00    Richmond Kickers (USL Pro)
May 29    Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)        7:07    Carolina RailHawks (NASL)
May 29    Colorado Rapids (MLS)          7:30    Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL)
May 29    New York Red Bulls (MLS)        7:30    Charleston Battery (USL Pro)
May 29    Rochester Rhinos (USL Pro)      7:30    Philadelphia Union (MLS)
May 29    Chicago Fire (MLS)              7:30    Michigan Bucks (PDL)
May 29    Dayton Dutch Lions (USL Pro)    7:30    Columbus Crew (MLS)
May 29    Real Salt Lake (MLS)            8:30    Minnesota Stars FC (NASL)
May 29    Orlando City SC (USL Pro)      8:30    Sporting Kansas City (MLS)
May 29    Charlotte Eagles (USL Pro)      8:30    FC Dallas (MLS)
May 29    Houston Dynamo (MLS)            8:30    San Antonio Scorpions (NASL)
May 29    Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) 10:30  San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
May 29    Chivas USA (MLS)                TBD    Ventura County Fusion (PDL)
May 30    Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL)      10:00  Seattle Sounders (MLS)
May 30    Cal FC (USASA)                  10:30  Portland Timbers (MLS)

That's not such a bad thing at all. If the lower clubs host an MLS club, it will likely be the biggest crowd of their season, and a chance to showcase themselves against a top-tier team.

On the other hand, the Dayton Dutch Leuven must have let out a big "Lekker Belangerijk!" shout-out at the thrill of playing a game in the first soccer stadium built in this country in the modern era.

I wonder why the Winos aren't hosting the Onions? Not like they don't have a decent enough stadium. Likewise for the Silverbacks... Seattle seems to buy the home legs every time, let them be the ones to fly across the country for a change.

Just wanted to give you guys some background info on the City Islanders and the Open Cup. First off, like someone mentioned earlier, Harrisburg does play on, and the game will take place at, Skyline Sports Complex. It is a small soccer venue that is located directly next to the Harrisburg Senators baseball stadium. It is actually on an island in the middle of the Susquehanna river right next to the city. Again, it is a small venue but it is very unique. It has a small hill on the one sideline where people can watch on blankets or foldout chairs. There are bleachers directly behind the one goal. There are bleachers all along the other sideline. At the other end is a wooden deck that overlooks the other goal. It is called Soceritaville (the whole island theme) and has food and beer. FYI... at 99% of the matches they serve Shock Top and Bud Light beer. Sometimes Troegs beer which is a local microbrew.

There are multiple restaurants located right downtown in the city. Some of which you may be able to walk to or from and get to the field.

As you may know from facing us previously, we have been in the Open Cup each year since 2007. We are actually a pretty strong 3-3 against MLS clubs since then. We beat you guys once and lost to you once during that time. We enjoy making it this far to earn the shot at an MLS club and look forward to the match.

Here is a video showing a view of the crowd and the field in general. Before you tease... the american football goalposts are NO LONGER there! lol



For those who can not make it I plan on attending and should have photos and videos posted to the City Islanders "Upper 90" blog and club's Youtube channel by Wednesday morning.
http://blog.pennlive.com/upper90/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/dmeluzio22

Good luck and hope to see some of you at the match.

We should have a decent crowd. The attraction of playing an MLS club helps but also only having a week to promote and sell tickets along with the weekday match date hurts. Many of the fans of our club are soccer moms and dads with kids so a Tuesday night (school night) can hurt.

That being said, it should be fun, hope to see you here!

Harrisburg supporter and blogger,
Derek

Ours are still there, though

They're just confused, they think that if they defer, in the worst case, they get to play the second half of the game at Gillette.

Unless Wynalda's team wins

Yeah, that totally sounds like a random draw to me.

The USOC has never been a random draw. It's always arranged geographically to cut down on travel costs.

Unfortunately, the lower divisions are more heavily located on the East Coast, so they can't always match up, and you end up with a team drawing the short stick, in this case, Atlanta having to go to Seattle.

Well now what? Heaps and the team must be getting a little frustrated with lack of results, so you'd think they want to send out a strong team to avoid an upset.

Lozano and White were questionable Friday and may be available. Rundstrom and Sims were "out" Friday. Guy probably out now. Maybe:

Moreno, Cardenas
Fagundez, Rowe, ?McCarthy?, White
Polak, Barnes, Lozano, Purdie
Shuttleworth

Bench: Reis, Nguyen, Roach, Tierney, Soares, Brettschneider, Benny