JUNE 25, 2014- Darrell Lovell- MLSsoccer.com
HOUSTON DYNAMO 2 FC DALLAS 3
FC Dallas claimed their second win in Houston in 2014, besting the Dynamo 3-2 to move on in the U.S. Open Cup.
In extra time Tesho Akindele made Houston pay for a Warren Creavalle turnover to score a 98th minute winner. Akindele took the giveaway, worked through the right side, and hit a low liner to give Dallas the win. FCD move on to the quarterfinals and will travel to North Carolina to face the Carolina RailHawks.
After Giles Barnes and Fabian Castillo traded first half goals the game was wide open in the second half. Midfielder Andres Escobar gave Dallas a 2-1 lead with a sterling shot in the 59th minute. From the top of the box, the Colombian hit a swerving shot that zipped past goalkeeperTally Hall and give the visitors a one goal lead.
It didn’t last long. Three minutes later Omar Cummings pounced on an Adam Moffat giveaway, bending his run through the Dallas defense and finishing to the far post to pull the score even at 2-2 with 28 minutes to go, but the Dynamo would be frustrated in their attempts to find a lead before Akindele finished them off.
JUNE 17, 2014- FC Dallas Media Services
SAN ANTONIO SCORPIANS 0 FC DALLAS 2
FC Dallas earned passage into the fifth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 2-0 victory over NASL side San Antonio Scorpions tonight at Toyota Stadium.
FC Dallas will now travel to Houston to face the Dynamo early next week. The winner of that match qualifies for the quarterfinal round of the 101-year-old tournament.
FC Dallas’ Chris Seitz earned his second shutout, and the first at Toyota Stadium this year, but the goalkeeper was kept busy throughout the first half. After making a straightforward save on an Eric Hassli deflection in the 17th minute, Seitz was tested by San Antonio forward Billy Forbes in the 32ndminute. Forbes broke through off to the right side of the six-yard box and attempted to pick out the back post, but Seitz got down to make a diving save. The deflection fell to a wide-open Hassli but the Frenchman was unable to keep his shot on frame.
San Antonio was back at it again in the 36th minute when Freddie Braun went by his marker on the left side and fired a shot, low to Seitz left side. Once again, the 27-year-old goalkeeper did well to make a diving save that looked destined for the side-netting of FC Dallas’ goal.
JUNE 9, 2014- FC Dallas Media Services
CAROLINA RAILHAWKS 2 FC DALLAS 5
FC Dallas advanced to the semifinals of the 101st edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup via a 5-2 win over NASL side, Carolina RailHawks tonight at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Blas Perez netted three goals to lead FC Dallas, while Fabian Castillo had two assists and one goal of his own. FC Dallas will now host the Philadelphia Union in the tournament semifinals at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 12. That match is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. CT.
FC Dallas began tonight’s match by surrendering a goal in the ninth minute of play. The RailHawks’ strike came following some strong combination play through midfield from Carolina. Ty Shipalane unlocked the defense with a first-time chip pass into space for Enzo Martinez. The midfielder got the ball on the right flank, dribbled into the area, and knocked a lateral pass inside to Zack Schilawski, who finished to the near post to put the home team up, 1-0, early.
Dallas answered in the 23rd minute when Je-Vaughn Watson fed Tesho Akindele a ball down the right flank towards the corner flag. Akindele caught up to the ball and fired a cross to the back post, where Perez hammered a header past goalkeeper Scott Goodwin.
2014 www.thecup.us- Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is entering it’s 95th tournament in 2008.
In a nutshell, the U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country’s league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer.
In leagues like the English Premier League, the Serie A in Italy and the Bundesliga in Germany, cup competitions are prestigious tournaments waged between a country’s strongest teams like Manchester United, AC Milan and Bayern Munich, and smaller teams like Watford F.C. in England, a small-time club that hit it big in 1984 by making it all the way to the F.A. Cup Final. Just two years ago, unfashionable Chesterfield of the Second Division (the third flight in England) advanced to the semi-finals of the 1997 F.A. Cup in England before finally losing.
The winner of each country’s domestic cup competition, in addition to taking home the prize money, is automatically placed into a tournament to compete against neighboring countries cup winners. In Europe this tournament is known as the Cup Winners’ Cup competition, and in North and Central America it is the CONCACAF Cup Winners’ Cup, which was first competed in 1992.
As the oldest, annual team tournament in U.S. sports history, the U.S. Open Cup dates back to 1914 when the Brooklyn Field Club won the first national title by defeating the Brooklyn Celtics in Pawtucket, R.I. First instituted as the National Challenge Cup under the aegis of the United States Football Association, it was conceived as a competition open to all players (amateur and professional) and based upon England’s Football Association Cup format.
During the Open Cup’s early years, teams sponsored by industry in the East’s urban centers dominated the competition. Bethlehem Steel (Pa.) won four Open Cup titles between 1915 and 1919, while Fall River F.C. (Mass.) won five national crowns between 1917 and 1931, tying Bethlehem Steel (a winner also in 1926) and Maccabees S.C. of Los Angeles (1973, 1975, 1977, 1978 and 1981) as the tournament’s only five-time winners.
Although there have been numerous back-to-back winners (eight overall by seven different teams), only Greek American AA of New York, N.Y. have won three consecutive crowns (1967-1969).
While teams sponsored by industries in the East’s urban centers dominated the Men’s Open and Amateur Cups until the 1950s, the teams from the West and Midwest have flexed their muscles in the later years. In fact, California alone has garnered the lion’s share of success, winning 10 titles since 1973. Missouri, Illinois and Florida have also appeared regularly on the winner’s list.
Although it is now a complete “knock-out” tournament, with a few exceptions the U.S. Open Cup final was a two-leg, home-and-away series between 1928 and 1968.
Despite the prominence of the North American Soccer League from 1967 to 1984, NASL teams rarely showed the inclination to enter the U.S. Open Cup competition. In fact, until the emergence of Major League Soccer, full professional teams were almost non-existent in the competition. That has changed in the last four years, though, with MLS taking part since 1996, thus helping to make the tournament a true “national” championship.
Due to increased sponsorship and greater media attention, the Open Cup is now beginning to enjoy a prominence equal to its importance as America’s “open” soccer championship.
FC Dallas' Run at the US Open Cup 2014
AUGUST 13, 2014- Kevin Lindstrom, MLSsoccer.com
FC Dallas 1 (3), Philadelphia Union 1 (4)
FRISCO, Texas – The Philadelphia Union are heading to their first final in club history, thanks in large part to Zac MacMath's two saves in a penalty shootout to give the Union a 4-3 win from the spot after they battled FC Dallas to a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes in the semifinals of the 2014 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
MacMath saved both Blas Perez and Victor Ulloa’s attempts to add to a five-save performance on the evening, whereas the Union scored all four of their attempts.
The 23-year-old's heroics came after the Union gave up an 81st minute equalizer to Fabian Castillo off a feed from Blas Perez, having led for nearly all of the second half.
Both teams fielded close to first-choice lineups for the game, with Argentine playmaker Mauro Diaz getting the call for Dallas after making his first start back from injury over the weekend.
Injuries would throw a wrench into Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja's plans, though – Walker Zimmerman was substituted off with a knock in the 37th minute, and Diaz and Adam Moffat followed at halftime, leaving Pareja with no substitutes for the remainder of the game.
Though injuries were the big talking point of the first period, the game opened up early in the second half with the Union getting two quality chances. The first, in the 47th minute, was converted into the game’s first goal when Vincent Nogueira took a free kick quickly to Sebastien Le Toux, who then fed Amobi Okugo into the Dallas area for a simple finish.
Minutes later, Le Toux nearly added to his Open Cup-record 14 goals when he rang Fernandez's post.
After what seemed a long run of time where neither team could get traction to put pressure on either goalkeeper, Castillo and Perez worked to create some late magic with a midfield breakaway that put the Colombian alone in on goal in the 81st minute. MacMath came well out of his area to try to break up the play but missed the ball, leaving Castillo alone to put it home.
The tying goal opened up the game considerably as both teams fought to win the game first in regulation, and then in extratime, but neither side could find a winner.
Dallas came into the match having won at home over the San Antonio Scorpions, and then on the road against the Houston Dynamo and the Carolina Railhawks of the NASL. Philadelphia had beaten the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL PRO and New York Cosmos of the NASL, before beating the New England Revolution in the quarterfinals to set up Tuesday night's game.
The Union now will host the final against the Seattle Sounders.
WE ARE PROUD OF YOU FC DALLAS
NEXT YEAR.... THE CUP IS OURS!
FC Dallas fought hard and left it all on the field in the semi-final and should hold their heads high!
Manager Oscar Peraja says it best, so please click the video to the right and hear it from "Papi".... we will be back and with the heart and talent this team has we will once again bring the USOC home to make Uncle Lamar proud!
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja shifted Fabian Castillo up front to start the second half in place of Tesho Akindele, who left the match at halftime. Andrew Jacobson slid into Castillo’s position on the left flank. The move gave Dallas a distinct advantage in possession through the early minutes of the second half.
Dallas’ best chance came in the 53rd minute when Castillo won the ball back and slipped a pass inside to Andres Escobar. The Colombian quickly played a one-two pass with Blas Perez and would have been in alone on goal if not for a well-timed slide tackle by San Antonio defender Julius Jones.
Drifting into the center of the pitch during the half, Jacobson provided the cutting pass that finally broke down San Antonio’s defense in the 74th minute. The long ball was read perfectly by Castillo, who brought the ball down in stride, ran at San Antonio’s Jeremy Vuolo, and got off a left-footed shot that split the goalkeeper’s legs on its way into the back of the net.
Dallas took a two-goal lead in the 81st minute when Escobar raced up the left flank to catch late substitute David Texeira and make a fine overlapping run. Texeira, who had entered the match just three minutes earlier, put a perfect pass on Escobar’s foot and the 23-year-old finished off the chance with a well-struck ball that beat Vuolo at the near post.
Perez netted his second of the game in the 34th minute when substitute Andrew Jacobson knocked a through ball forward to Watson. The Jamaican right back arrived second to the ball, but was able to touch it past the defender and into the area. Watson walked the ball to the end line before delivering a perfect pass into the path of Perez, who beat Goodwin low to his right side.
Carolina pulled even again in the 37th minute when Nazmi Albadawi slid a pass inside to Cesar Elizondo. Elizondo touched the ball inside and shot, but had his attempt blocked by a slide tackle from Moises Hernandez. Unfortunately for the visitors, Hernandez was whistled for a hand ball after blocking the shot and referee Ricardo Salazar pointed to the spot. Martinez converted the kick for the RailHawks, sending Raul Fernandez the wrong direction and crushing a shot into the opposite corner of the goal to make it 2-2 in the 37th minute.
Dallas pulled ahead, 3-2, just before halftime when Andres Escobar fed a ball inside to Castillo. The Colombian cut left after receiving the ball at the top of the area, went by a RailHawks’ defender and Goodwin before depositing a simple pass into the back of the net one minute before the halftime whistle.
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Perez used his third and final substitution in the 69th minute to bring on playmaker Mauro Diaz. The move nearly paid off immediately when Diaz and Castillo worked a 60-yard give and go that produced an open look for the Argentine from the top of the area. Diaz cracked a hard shot towards the far upper-90 but Goodwin came across his goal to make a solid diving save and keep the score, 3-2.
It took until the 89th minute but Diaz found the back of the net for FC Dallas when he collected the ball near midfield, ran at the RailHawks’ back line and sent the ball out wide to Castillo. The Colombian drew the attention of Goodwin before picking out Diaz at the back post. With Goodwin out to defend against Castillo, Diaz was able to slip a shot to the near post to make it 4-2.
Just before the final whistle, Perez recorded his third of the game. Castillo setup the Panamanian in the exact manner he provided the service to Diaz, seconds earlier. With plenty of time to stare down Goodwin, Perez finished off his hat trick with a low and hard shot to the far side netting.
US Open Cup History & Dallas Win Championship in 1997
