US Open Cup 2008: Thoughts after the quarterfinals

Intersting results last night. Crystal Palace Baltimore has to be a huge surprise, even in losing last night they were impressive taking the New England Revolution to penalties—what more could you ask from a USL2 side? I’m also glad to see both USL1 sides moving on (Seattle on PKs over the Kansas City Wizards after a 0-0 tie and Charleston on a 3-1 win over FC Dallas).

I’m not sure how I feel about the USL1 v USL1 and MLS v MLS semi final round. On the one hand, it guarantees an MLS v USL1 final, but it would have been nice to see two usl1 v MLS games in the semis too.

As the semi’s stand, I think we’ll see a very hot DC team beat New England and the MLS-bound Sounders beat Charleston. I’d like to pick Seattle in the final, but I don’t see anyone outside of the Super Liga stopping DC United right now.

My son and I went to the California Victory @ BYU game last night. The crowd was larger that the last BYU game we went to, but quieter—with the exception of these guys:

The game was quite well played (even the US Open Cup observer said so as we talked after the match), although it did get a bit chippy—there were 30 fouls by my count.

The Victory controlled most of the run of play, though BYU had some nice moments throughout the match. California scored the first two goals (Raul Palomares in the 23rd and Yuri Morales in the 67th minutes). With time running out, BYU started to turn up the pressure and Daniel McKinley put in a header in the 88th minute. While BYU continued to apply pressure into the 6 minutes of stoppage time, they just couldn’t find another goal.

If you’d like to see the rest of my son’s pictures, head on over to flickr and take a look.

Seven Picks

California Victory @ BYU Cougars—2-1 California

I’m picking against the Cougs, but I’ll be rooting for them tonight with my son.

US vs El Salvador (Foxboro)—3-0 US

I think the US will really turn things on for this one, finally. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Landon get a brace.

Trinidad & Tobago vs Gautemala (Foxboro)—0-1 Guatemala

T & T will fall to the Guatemalans, and Ruiz will get another player tossed out.

Cuba vs Honduras (Houston)—1-0 Cuba

I think Cuba has the chance to pull off an upset against Honduras.

Mexico vs Panama (Houston)—2-1 Mexico

I’d love to pick against Mexico, but I don’t think that will happen. They should be able to get things put in order in time for the Gold Cup quarter finals.

Tacoma FC @ BYU Cougars—1-1 Draw

A tired BYU side, a strong Tacoma side should make this a draw, which leaves Tacoma ahead of BYU in the standings (for now).

Abbotsford Rangers @ BYU Cougars—0-1 BYU

Though they’ll be more tired than in the previous game, I still think the Cougars will be too much for the Rangers.

Four Games in Five Nights

It looks like June 10-16 is going to be a big week for local (to me) soccer. The US Open Cup just announced their opening round and it looks like the USL1 expansion side the California Victory will be playing the PDL BYU Cougars at the South Field on Tuesday the 12th.

Thursday the 14th will be FC Dallas @ Real Salt Lake, the ESPN MLS Thursday night game. So far RSL has drawn and lost to Dallas, maybe the third time will be the charm.

Friday the 15th features Tacoma FC @ BYU. Tacoma is the only team to beat BYU so far this season, and a second game in four days will make this an even harder game for BYU.

Saturday the 16th will see BYU play a third game in five days as the Abbotsford Rangers. The only Canadian team in the PDL Northwest Division.

The chance to go catch four games in days is enough to whet any fan’s appetite.

BYU Beats Spokane and Earns US Open Cup Spot

The PDL BYU Cougars continued their winning ways on Saturday with a 1-3 win over the visiting Spokane Spiders. The win cemented their spot in this year’s US Open Cup.

Spokane scored first, and held a 1-0 lead going into the 88nd minute. BYU then scored twice in regulation time (Morgan Gilliam in the 88th and Steve Fellows in the 89th) and again in stoppage time (Zack DeFrancis).

Hey, I Picked One Right!

Well, I made a USOC prediction back in my post reviewing last week’s picks. Believe it or not, I even got it right (down to the score). From everything I’ve read, RSL fielded a team with a lot of backups/reserves.

Chris Klein got the team’s only goal and Chris Seitz seems to have had a decent night in the net. That the team lost on another late goal is the continuation of a bad trend though.

US Open Cup: The invisible Tournament

[New York and Los Angelas, t]he very thought of these two household names, within MLS and U.S. soccer history, conjures up classic games. East coast versus West coast. Lakers vs. Knicks. Kings vs. Rangers. Now, Galaxy vs. Red Bulls. You name it in any sport, New York versus Los Angeles is “BIG”. So why, you ask, is this game different? Well The powers that be at MLS and U.S. Soccer headquarters, I guess, have differing opinions. There is no TV. Not even tape delay. Radio…Huh! You try to find it. This game and the whole enchilada, needs coverage. Gary Richards

The whole US Open Cup needs more coverage. I find it hard to believe that there’s no media coverage of games like this. By all accounts it was a great, exciting game. But no one is going to see it. You could let Fox Soccer Channel know that you want to see it, or you can tell ESPN—better yet, tell ‘em both.

Who knows, maybe we can get some coverage for the 2008 US Open Cup.