The Charleston Battery (USL1) will play the current MLS champions, the Houston Dynamo in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Blackbaud Stadium on Tuesday, July 1; gates open at 6:30 PM, with kick off set for 7:30 PM ($10 - $18, (843) 971-GOAL / www.charlestonbattery.com. The game is a rematch of the 2007 third round fixture that the Battery won 1-0 in overtime. Charleston advanced to the third round with a 2-1 win versus the Charlotte Eagles (USL2) in game played at Blackbaud Stadium on June 24. Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso scored the game-winner with a 90th minute penalty-kick. The Houston Dynamo is currently in third position in MLS’s Western Conference, three points behind the leaders, the LA Galaxy. Houston is the two-time defending MLS Cup Champions. After relocating to Houston in 2006 (from San Jose) the Dynamo has reeled off back to back MLS Cup wins. The Dynamo has also been one of the most successful franchises off the field averaging 19,000 fans per home game during the 2006 regular season and hosted three consecutive crowds of greater than 30,000 in 2007, including two playoff games. Houston’s roster includes US Men’s national team forward Brian Ching and midfielders Ricardo Clarke and Brad Davis. Midfielder Stuart Holden and defender Patrick Ianni are expected to feature for the US Olympic team this coming summer. Houston also has a pair of Canadian Men’s national team players, goalkeeper Pat Onstad and striker, Dwayne De Rosario. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team that advances deepest into the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels. The winner of the U.S. Open Cup also receives an automatic berth into the CONCACAF Champions League.
I would like to see that. By the way, nice to meet you last tuesday at the game. Good luck to you guys tomorrow.
Same here. Hopefully, at your next visit, we can drink a cool one and talk longer. I think we have a lot of temporary supporters now that we're facing the defending MLS Champs. All that virtual support has got to increase our karma quotient. In the past, I've had to hope for a little luck when facing an MLS squad, but this crop of Batts, I think, are even more talented than the 2003 bunch that won the title. We have no real weakness or weak starter, plus, a very good group of subs. We can actually win this thing straight up, with no lady luck. I was thinking 3-1 but didn't want to appear too pompous!
there definitely have been more "temporary" supporters at the games as of late, but I guess that is a good thing for the battery. However, it does somewhat limit the choice of words we use, when picking on another team's players (for the non E10 supporters)..... anyway, Houston is a hot place, but their humidity levels are much lower than ours on average. hopefully, they will get run down in the humidity, and we can run them ragged. hard after such a short rest though... regardless, we have a deep squad. so we should be able to get the result at home.....eagerly awaiting tuesday nite...
I thought this sounded a bit suspect so I did some research. Houston is hotter and more humid. http://www.cityrating.com/averagetemperature.asp http://www.cityrating.com/relativehumidity.asp bless air conditioning
here is some info from the Post And Courier http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/01/insider_info_key_vs_mls46119/ and a story about revenge from Houston http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5865121.html should be a good match the weather forcast, looks like a great evening. should make for some great soccer. Mikey
Thank you for beating the Rhinos down before our Open Cup game with them tonight Sorry we couldn't help wear Houston down for you as well, but we were too busy puttin' an old-fashioned beat-down on the LA Beckham's Good luck tonight!!!!!!! I think we both have to win out to face each other for the Coffee Pot Cup again this year
It didn't take much to beat down the Raging-less Rhinos, they truly are horrid this year. I think a poacher must have cut their horn off or something. Funny thing is, they think they're going to blow you guys away tonight!! LOL......I never knew Rochester was a big crack smoking town......guess I was wrong. I dream of a USOC Coffee Pot match....that would be spectacular....(well, from our humble position, it would be). We have probably our best team in years, I'm hopeful we can make some real noise in the competition, tonight it begins in earnest.
Local blogger Andrew Miller's thoughts on tonights match http://www.charleston.net/blogs/battery/2008/jul/01/BatteryBlog/
interesting, i was looking at recent temperatures and humidity levels on the weather channel's website, and charleston has been consistently higher. that is all i was basing my little statement on, but i guess i was wrong. still, we will run your boys ragged!!
Good luck against the Creamsicles, boys! We in the horizontal stripes will be rooting for you in the vertical stripes today. At least until halftime, when we start watching our own game against Miami.
Congratulations on your well earned victory over us. your team displayed more heart and furry on the field. two men down in extra time is proof of that. They say that penalty kicks is a "coin flip", but it helps your cause when your adversary shoots his over the cross bar and your Goalie stops one to give you the win. Good luck in your quest for continued Cup glory.
I think you guys had an easier time putting away Rochester than our reserve team did last night, but we both won, so YIPEE!!!! One step closer. I was very happy to see y'all won, even down to 9, hope the crowd was enjoying it. And the metros lost to USL2 Baltimore, so all is good in the world, yet another trophy they can't win
Great win, lads! It's always good to see the Creamsicles go home with their tail betwixt their legs. I look forward to Tuesday. Maybe we can play 11-v-11. Then, when we beat you, we can lord it over Houston even more. In fact, this will be the first time in a long time that I will be rooting against the Battery. I nearly always root for you guys in the USL because your ownership group seems to have their head on straight and your team plays good football. I hope Hyndman and FCD watch the video of your game against Houston, because that was some impressive football, especially down two men in OT (I watched the second half and the OT/PKs this morning on USLLive's archive).
Good job guys. I was at the Chicago Fire/ Cleveland Stars game last night and they were announcing the USOC scores all night. When they announced that Crystal Palace beat NY there was a loud roar from the fans. There's still bitterness toward Juan Carlos Osorio from many Fire fans. I was pulling for you guys when I heard the 1-1 score late in the game. As far as the Fire/ Cleveland game, it wasn't even a match. The Fire played with mostly reserves and Blanco came in for a few minutes toward the end for the fans. Keep going Battery!
The crowd was definitely feeling it last night. Even our west stands, which is usually quiet (with the exception of a few hecklers) were getting into the match. Great environment, great coaching and great football = the Charleston Battery!
I continually wonder what it will take for MLS clubs to take this tournament seriously. I mean really. It could be something special. Now, it is almost as if the MLS is patronizing the lower divisions.
Although i dont like doing the Texas 2 step again in the cup...i almost want to play Houston every year....only because its obvious now that they dont care. I mean the 2 time defending champs cannot beat a USL 1 side whos playing with 9 men, getting every call to go their way, and well was going to say has better talent but i guess talent can only get you so far. Hopefully 3rd time is a charm against Dallas....would love to add you guys on the list of teams we've beaten...lol. And i was extremely happy to see the West stands FINALLY into the game...usually its E-10 and then a handful of people but was great to see the West stands really getting into it.
I'm not really sure you're right about the MLS club's attitudes. If it meant nothing to MLS clubs, you'd have already had a non-MLS club winning the cup in the time the league has been in existence, and that's obviously not the case. I think there are several reasons for USL clubs upsetting MLS clubs. First off, like your team, they are simply not pushovers. The Battery may play at a lower rung on the US soccer ladder, but that means nothing for the heart of those players and the quality of the organization behind them. As you are fully aware, the Battery are first-rate. Next, for many MLS clubs, the early rounds of the US Open come at a time of schedule congestion. For instance, my FC Dallas will finish up a stretch next Tuesday against you guys where we have played 6 matches in 18 days, 4 in the last 10 days. This forces MLS clubs to play rely on many reserves in the USOC matches, just exacly like the Premiership clubs do in their early FA Cup and League Cup matches. Now, against Miami, we started 4 regulars and the rest were reserves, although Kenny Cooper played the final 45 for us. Houston didn't start anything like their regular line-up. Houston gets an additional mulligan because they are to appear in the SuperLiga and Champion's League later this year, and frankly, are more prestigious than the USOC, even with the additional Champion's League slot available to the winner. FC Dallas has no other commitments, and appear to be a bit more serious about it. All of this to say that knowledgeable MLS fans know USL clubs are not crappy. In fact, this FC Dallas fan is quite concerned about your club. I think the Battery are going to give us all we want as they have done the last two times we have played you.
I understand them using their reserves to try and give them a blooding, hell we did it against the ASC New Stars and the charlotte Eagles. But MLS teams aren't the only ones with match congestion. The Battery will play there 5th game in 14 days on Saturday. Six in 17 counting the USOC match next Tuesday. In fact it is not uncommon of USL teams to play two matches in a weekend. And most USL rosters arent anywhere near as deep as MLS rosters. I'm looking forward to the match on Tuesday though. I think it will be a great match. we are looking good this year and if we can remain healthly I think we will be a good run out for your guys. Mikey
So with you on 75% of what you said...but i cannot feel any sympathy for Houston. They faced us last year with their "reserves" and the result...if not for their keeper easily 5-0....but it was 1-0. So fast forward to 2008....3rd round, Charleston/Houston, at Blackbaud...deja vu....its not like they dont know anything about our team, the fact that we do play 3 MLS teams before our season starts (so we can hang with teams), and im pretty sure we were not letting them forget how we beat them last year. With that said the officiating last night was absoultly horrible and with a 2 man adavantage (5 if you count the ref and 2 linesman) how does Houston....the 2 time defending MLS champs....not scrape up a goal? Not to mention letting Charleston come close and getting breakaways in the 2nd OT? While they are in many different championships...you never see the like of Man U. or Chelsea saying "well the carling cup really isnt that important...so reserves you play and dont really put much into it" or the excuse that they have too many games in a stretch. If Houston wants to truely be a champion then they need to have the heart of one and not make excuses. If they field reserves thats fine....but they need to field a team that has the heart to win and i really question their heart after last nights performance. Theres no question about the Battery's heart, we wanted it more, the fans wanted it, and we got the result we wanted....no matter how nerveracking it was.
Hopefully the card situation doesnt hurt us too much. How many cards did we have last night anyways?...lol
I don't dispute that the Battery wanted it more and displayed more heart last night. I am not making excuses as you guys won fair and square. Your team is much better than the team that Houston put on the field last night. But you were playing our 2nd team (and you did last year as well which was a lot worse of a beat down IMHO). Geoff Cameron who has played mostly as a Right mid started at CB. While he did that once in an emergency situation (3 other CB's hurt/carded in the CONCACAF Champions Cup), it is not something that I consider an ideal strategy. You guys beat our team despite questionable officiating and being two men down. You guys deserve all the credit for that. The 2nd team for Houston wanted to win and represent the Dynamo, but they failed because your team was better and our team was not good enough. But I wouldn't get carried away and question the heart of the whole team or anything like that. The team that you played was not the two time defending MLS Champions....it was the backups to the two time defending MLS Champions. As for the argument that you never see elite teams in Europe take their Cup competitions lightly.......yeah you do. Not all do, but some most definitely do (especially the Carling Cup.....most all take the FA Cup seriously as it is usually held on reserved dates...i.e. no Premiership type games). Usually they mix some starters in with their reserves to rotate the squad. Houston didn't even do that on Tuesday. However, how many of those teams have games within 48 hours of their Cup game? Very little as mostly it is weekend/Wednesday type of scheduling. Every once in a while you might but that is the exception rather than the norm. Houston is faced with the Pan Pacific Cup in the preseason, the Champions Cup, the Superliga, the CONCACAF Champions Leage and of course, its regularly scheduled MLS games on top of the US Open Cup. I know there is match congestion and all teams go through that to an extent, but Houston's congestion this year is a little ridiculous. I wish our staff took the US Open Cup more seriously, but they don't. They would rather have three points against RSL on Thursday than try to win the US Open Cup match. So you guys soundly beat our backups two years in a row. The same result might even have occurred if we played our starters, but we will never know. Regardless, good luck against Dallas!
Yes we know we beat your backups, you know we beat your backups, but in the stats and history books it will go down as Charleston 1 (4) - Houston 1 (3)....theres no * saying note that Houston played its reserves. The reserves were still a part of the team that won the last 2 cups, the reserves have played in games before, the reserves wore jerseys if i remember correctly that said Houston on them and had the 2 stars from their 2 MLS cup wins over my Revs. (so its better for me cuz its a nice revenge...lol). Needless to say Charleston and Houston fans can debate the quality of the win, whos fault was it, was Charleston lucky again....but it will go down as MLS Champs lose to USL again.