The Pancyprian Freedoms have been disqualified for using an ineligible player. Putting the story together ... it's not going to be pretty. Newtown SC (CT) will now play Mass Premier Soccer (MA) in a "Win & You're In" match next week.
Is there going to be an article regarding this on thecup.us? I've been waiting for one. (Not complaining. I see there haven't been too many updates the past few days, so I figure other things may be keeping you busy.)
Info about the Region I Cup schedule .... http://myemail.constantcontact.com/USASA-Region-I---US-Open-Cup-Semifinal-Schedule.html?soid=1101473261556&aid=F_E0ekmL0zU
Olujush, thanks for the updates on the Pancyprian Freedoms situation this weekend. I see that Cal FC just lost 2-1 to Doxa Italia. Does that eliminate them? Anyone know if the tiebreaker out in that group is head-to-head or goal differential?
Match ended 0:0 after extra time. It went to 8 rounds of PK's with Newtown Soccer edging NY Pancyprian Freedoms 7:6. Newtown will likely travel to Mass Premier next Sunday for the semifinal (location & time TBD). The other semifinal between Aegean Hawks & Icon FC being played right now in Montville, New Jersey.
Looks like there could be yet another replay in qualifying, as another protest has been filed: http://thecup.us/2013-us-open-cup-q...cs-use-late-goals-to-qualify-out-of-region-2/
And for those too lazy to click the link, the protest was that the field was too narrow - 62yds, regulation is 65yds.
Okay, we know all the entrants except for 2 (barring an overturn of KC Athletics victory over Dearborn): -Fresno Fuego Future/Los Gatos Storm -Newtown Pride/Mass Premier it's probably safe to start wondering about potential matchups in the first round First, I'll make a guess about the Play-In Round: -Fresno Future/Los Gatos will almost certainly play one of the California NPSL teams. I'll guess Sacramento Gold, though it might be Hasental too. -Colorado Rovers could wind up playing anyone. Geographically, they're closest to Madison 56ers, so I'll guess them. Though they could also wind up with the other CA NPSL team, or maybe even the Brooklyn Italians, since they backed into the tournament. US Soccer will almost certainly divide the 36 first round teams into regional pods. Here's one way those pods could break down: Northeast - Brooklyn, NYRB NPSL, Sonic Lehigh Valley, Icon, Newtown/MassPremier, Portland, Ocean City, Reading Southeast - Chattanooga, Georgia, Red Force, Rayados, VSI Tampa Bay, Austin, Carolina, Laredo, Ocala, Orlando U23 Midwest - Colorado/Madison Play-In winner, KC Athletics, Adria, Dayton, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Michigan, Real Colorado, River City West - CA Play-In winner, Hasental, Doxa Italia, PSA Elite, Phoenix, Tucson, Portland U23, Seattle U23, Ventura County Of course, that yields an odd number of teams in the midwest and west, so 1 of each of those teams would have to cross over. Maybe we'll get some random Dayton at Doxa Italia match. One fix might be to send Pittburgh to the east, and have the Colorado Rovers play Brooklyn instead, with the winner being dumped against some western team. Any thoughts?
Wynalda gets ousted... http://www.socceramerica.com/article/51345/wynaldas-cal-fc-ousted-szetelas-icon-fc-advance.html
Not sure how two of your pods can have nine teams. Obviously a first approximation. I also think there is still the rule that teams from the same "qualifying pool" [i.e. league: PDL, USASA, ...] can't be matched up. (It would have helped if you listed each teams' affiliation.) I was trying to quickly mock up the Midwest, will have to leave for later.
Just saw a tweet from thecup.us that said the game will in fact be replayed this weekend, at a neutral site in Chicago. Yeah, I mentioned that way way down at the bottom of my post. They're going to have to shift things around a little, or just have a cross-country game.
But, wait! I thought they were going to be the next NASL team! Remember when Cal FC was the darling squad? People wanted to see them go fully pro because they had that three-week run last year that everybody jumped on the bandwagon for and would have been much shorter had Kris Boyd not missed a penalty and blah blah blah blah. Cal FC This and Cal FC That and Cal FC Cal FC. Oy.
but sometimes Kenn you just have to look at it for what it is...a nice run...nothing more and nothing less.
Georgia Revolution have announced that they will be travelling to Denver, CO where they will face off against the Colorado Rovers in 100th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Colorado Rovers are the USSSA Champions and are sure to provide a competitive match for the Revolution. Talking of the challenges of the match-up coach John Sprague was quoted saying, "This is a huge challenge for our team... Playing at altitude, on the road so far away from home in our first competitive match of the season will be difficult." The match is scheduled for May 8th. The news release is available on the (NPSL) Georgia Revolution facebook page.
Of course. The problem is that last year a lot of people were trying to look at it as a lot more than that.
Is it just me, or has the USASA qualifying this year pretty much been one long string of protests? Hopefully this doesn't carry over into the USASA sides' matches in the Open Cup proper.
Actually Wynalda is the Technical Director of the Atlanta Silverbacks, so basically he's no longer with CAL FC.
Something smells rotten in Region II of the USASA and that means KC Athletics have bowed out because of that protest from Dearborn Stars. Here is the story from Down The Byline blog of Mike Kuhn. http://www.downthebyline.com/2013/04/kc-athletics-out-of-us-open-cup.html
Amateur qualifying has been a farce this year. The USASA tournament has now been officially downgraded on the "MLSinCleveland scale of ugliness" from "Rat Fiesta" to the lowest ranking, "Clown Show." Between the NPSL teams turning down spots and the USASA unable to run a competent, or even minimally orderly, qualifying tournament, I'm thinking that maybe the Open Cup should be reduced to just pro teams and maybe the PDL (something more along the lines of the League Cup than the FA Cup).