The El Paso Patriots earned their eighth trip to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Monday night without kicking a ball. Help came in the form of the Rio Grande Valley Bravos, who held the visiting Laredo Heat to a 3-3 draw, ending Laredo’s hopes of passing El Paso for the Mid-South Division cup berth.

Three more PDL clubs completed their quest to qualify for the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Chicago Fire makes it back to the cup after a four year absence. Reading broke and even longer drought, gaining their first Open Cup berth since 2003, when they were still a professional club in the USL Pro Soccer League (Now USL-2). Mississippi Brilla will make their debut Open Cup appearance this year.

Four PDL clubs secured their spots in the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Saturday.

Three of the teams come in with previous Open Cup experience. The most decorated are the Ocean City Barons, who have made the cup cut five times, four as a PDL club. Ocean City’s four Open Cup appearances as a member of the Premier Development League are tied for the second most appearances by any franchise at the PDL level (1. Michigan Bucks, 8 appearances 2. Ocean City Barons/Des Moines Menace, 4 appearances). Orange County will make their first appearance since their 2005 debut, when they lost to fellow PDL club El Paso 3-1 in the first round. St. Louis earned their first cup appearance last year, which ended in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Thunder. The Kitsap Pumas are the only first time qualifiers so far this season. Last year, six of the eight PDL teams were first time entrants.

The PDL still has four berths up for grabs, the Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Mid-South and Southeast divisions, three of which have important games on tap today. Click continue for the qualification scenarios of the remaining PDL divisions to see who has a shot to join St. Louis, Ocean City, Orange County, and Kitsap in the tournament, as well as all of the details of how our four PDL qualifiers earned their spots.

The Bavarian Soccer Club out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin captured their sixth U.S. Open Cup berth in the Professional Era with a 3-2 come from behind win over the Iowa Menace at the Bavarian Soccer Park in Milwaukee.

The Menace had taken a 2-0 halftime lead, but the Bavarians fought back behind two goals from Kyle Zenoni and another from Matt Blouin to win 3-2. Bavarian S.C. now take on Nebraska for the Region II championship at a later date, and a chance to go to the USASA National Cups Finals in Orlando later this summer. By clinching it’s sixth berth, the Bavarian S.C. have qualified for more Open Cup tournaments in the Professional Era than any USASA club. The Chico Rooks also made it to six cups, but only two of those were as a USASA club.

The two USASA Region I Open Cup qualifiers have been decided today. One game needed extra time to be decided, and the other was as 1 goal affair.

First there was the torrential rains which forced the Open Cup matches to be moved from the Eagle Harbor, Florida complex to Fruit Cove Middle School in St. John, Florida. Then the Greenwood Wanderers failed to show up from South Carolina, reducing Group 1 to three teams. As if that were not bad enough, Group 2 squad Dynamo New Tampa were disqualified for using an ineligible player on Saturday.

Somewhere in all of this two teams managed to qualify for this year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Atlanta F.C. and Lynch’s F.C..

USOpenCup.com has learned from USASA Region IV Cup Commissioner Albert Espinoza that Miran have been disqualified from the Region IV Open Cup tournament for using ineligible players, and will forfeit their qualifying berth for the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. As runners-up in Group B, the Arizona Sahuaros, will claim the Open Cup spot vacated by Miran.

USASA Region III Finals Fruit Cove Middle School St. John’s, FL (Map) Group 1 Baton Rouge Classics (LA) Greenwood Wanderers (SC) Lynch’s F.C. (FL) Pumas F.C. (AL - NPSL) Group 2 Atlanta F.C. (GA - NPSL) Dynamo New Tampa (FL) Legends F.C. (N. TX) Rocket City United (AL - NPSL) Schedule/Results | Twitter

The USASA Region III Open Cup tournament is set to kick off on Friday at the Eagle Harbor Soccer Complex in Orange Park, FL, with the draw to divide the teams into two groups of four taking place tonight.

Leading the pack is one of the two teams out of the eight to have qualified for the Open Cup in the past, Lynch’s F.C. Previously known as D.S. United and Lynch’s Irish Pub, Lynch’s F.C. has joined the Florida Elite Soccer League this season. The club as qualified for the cup twice, in 2003 & 2008, and also saw striker Tony Taylor called up to the U.S. U-20 squad for the U-20 World Cup qualifying tournament.

The other team with Open Cup experience is Legends F.C. of the North Texas Premier Soccer Association. Legends last made the Cup back in 2006, when they dropped a close 3-2 decision to the Des Moines Menace (PDL). Legends F.C. finished third in the recently completed NTPSA season, qualifying them for the league playoffs.

New to the Region III tournament is the participation of clubs from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Atlanta F.C. began NPSL play in 2008, and qualified for the playoffs after finishing first in the NPSL Southeast division. They qualified for the competition with a dominating 12-0 win over Atlanta United of the ADASL. Atlanta F.C. missed out on a cup berth last year, finishing second to the Clearwater Galactics in Group A.

The 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champions D.C. United will have a chance to defend their title after defeating the New York Red Bulls 5-3 in their final MLS play-in game. In a "Win & You’re In" game at RFK Stadium, rookie Chris Pontius led a four-goal barrage in the opening half hour of the match, and despite signs of life early in the second half, the Red Bulls were unable to recover. Pontius finished with two goals and an assist as the Black-and-Red will participate in their seventh straight Open Cup. 

Thabiso "Boyzzz" Khumalo, Brandon Barklage and Fred also scored in the opening 26 minutes to put the home team up 4-0. New York battled back with goals on either side of halftime by Dane Richards and Jorge Rojas, but four minutes after the Rojas strike, Pontius added his second to increase the lead back to three. Rojas would add a penalty kick in the 61st minute, but that would be the last goal scored in an entertaining evening.

(VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AFTER THE JUMP)

UPDATED through games of Friday, May 22

With PDL qualifying coming down the home stretch, USOpenCup.com takes a look at how each of the divisional races stand heading into the final weekend. Be sure to check back each day, as we will update the outlook of each division after each day’s games.

At Dodge Park in Omaha, the hosts proved that you don’t need a team name to be successful in the USASA Region II tournament. "Nebraska," as the name would suggest, representing the state of Nebraska, defeated Open Cup veterans RWB Adria from Illinois 5-3 after extra time to not only clinch a spot in the Region II final, but to earn their first trip to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Bavarian S.C.’s David Peplinski follows the ball into the net in the 57th minute. Photo by: Shaun Smith | spsmithphoto.com

"Win and You’re In" Sunday, May 24   RWB Adria at Nebraska   Iowa Menace at Bavarian S.C.

Bavarian S.C. survived a shorthanded Ann Arbor F.C. Elite squad to join Nebraska and the Iowa Menace in the semifinals of the USASA Region II tournament. Those three join the Illinois representative RWB Adria in the final four with the winners of those games advancing to the 2009 U.S. Open Cup.

The Wisconsin champions, Bavarian S.C., traveled to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan champs on a breezy night across the street from The Big House (University of Michigan’s football stadium). History was on the side of the Milwaukee-based club, with Bavarian denying Ann Arbor their first Open Cup berth in the 2007 tournament by a score of 6-0. It looked to be a repeat performance as the bench for AAFC was empty, with the club’s leading scorer Blake Ordell, who scored eight goals in two state tournament matches, was attending a tryout for the PDL’s Michigan Bucks along with the club’s starting right midfielder.

With 11 men to play with, the home team played conservative defensive soccer, trying to find an opening on a counter attack. The best chance of the half came from the visitors when Scott Dombrowski lined up a free kick from about 40 yards out. He launched a shot on goal which was stopped by AAFC goalkeeper Tom Tomasso, but the rebound fell to Bavarian’s Nathan Sabich whose point blank shot was blocked by Tomasso to keep the game scoreless at the break.

"Win and You’re In" Sunday, May 24   Danbury United at Emigrantes Das Ilhas   Aegean Hawks at Charm City F.C.

It will be the old versus the new on May 24 in the Region I semifinals. Two clubs who have made Open Cup appearances in 2007 (Aegean hawks and Danbury United) will face off with two teams (Charm City F.C. and Emigrantes Das Ilhas) who are looking to make their debut trip into the cup. The two matches also features a pair of rematches: one club vs. club and the other club vs. coach.

Massachusetts champion Emigrantes Das Ilhas ensured the New York Pancyprian Freedoms would not make their own repeat Open Cup appearance with a 4-2 win at Massasoit Community College Field in Brockton, Massachusetts. Zico Veiga, Jailson Pina, Carlos Fenandes and Carlos Semedo accounted for the scoring for Emigrantes, who will face Danbury United on May 24 for a berth in this summer’s tournament. Jeff Matteo and Panagiotis Halkidis scored for the Pancyprians. Danbury, who thrashed US Parma 6-1 on Sunday, defeated Emigrantes on penalties after a 1-1 draw to qualify for the 2007 Open Cup.

Seattle Sounders F.C. and D.C. United were awarded home games for their final MLS play-in game, thanks to the flip of a coin. Now, they have confirmed the details for those matches.

New York Red Bulls 2:1 San Jose Earthquakes 2’ - NYR | Mike Petke (Unassisted) 71’ - SJE | Pablo Campos (Unassisted) 80’ - NYR | John Wolyniec (Dominic Oduro) Match Reports: Red Bulls get road win over Quakes in Open Cup play-in MLSnet.com (NYR) Quakes unlucky in Open Cup qualifying loss to Red Bulls MLSnet.com (SJE) RBNY holds on for Open Cup play-in win New York Post Quakes shorthanded in U.S. Open Cup loss San Jose Mercury News MLSnet Matchtracker Twitter: @usopencup | MLS Play-In Bracket

The New York Red Bulls have moved on to the final stage of MLS qualifying with a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium. 

Fans were barely settled in their seats when New York defender Mike Petke opened the scoring in the 2nd minute off a corner kick. He knocked a loose ball into the back of the net to put the visitors in front.

San Jose couldn’t find an equalizer until the 71st minute when Pablo Campos received a throw in from Chris Leitch, dribbled into the box and fired a shot past Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero.

Continue...

Real Salt Lake 1:4 Seattle Sounders F.C. Starfire Sports Complex - Tukwila, WA MLS Play-In Bracket Post-game: Le Toux leads as Sounders F.C. wins, 4-1 Seattle Times Sounders defeat RSL in U.S. Open Cup qualifier MLSnet (SEA) RSL road woes continue in Seattle MLSnet (RSL) Real Salt Lake suffers emotionless setback Deseret News More postgame reaction Seattle Times Sounders F.C. blog Twitter: @usopencup

The Seattle Sounders may have joined Major League Soccer, but their Open Cup form from the last two years as members of the USL First Division has carried over to 2009.

In the first round of MLS qualifying, the Sounders defeated Real Salt Lake at the Starfire Sports Complex, 4-1. The loss eliminates RSL from Open Cup competition for the third year in a row.

The top scorer in last year’s Open Cup, Sebastien Le Toux, was involved in all four goals for the Sounders, scoring a pair and assisting on the other two. His former USL teammate, Roger Levesque, added three assists to lead Seattle to victory in front of a capacity crowd in Tukwila, Wash. Stephen King scored in his 2009 debut for the Sounders, and Sanna Nyassi also put one in the back of the net for the home team. Canadian international Will Johnson was the lone goalscorer for Salt Lake.

F.C. Dallas 0:2 D.C. United MLS Play-In Bracket Reviews: "F.C. Dallas fall to United in Open Cup play-in match" - MLSnet.com (FCD) "United take first step back to Open Cup" - MLSnet.com (DCU)

D.C. United began the defense of their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title with a 2-0 win over F.C. Dallas at RFK Stadium in an MLS qualification semifinal. There were plenty of early chances by the Black and Red, and they were finally rewarded in the 21st minute. Fred took a pass from rookie Chris Pontius and placed it inside the left post past Dallas goalkeeper Ray Burse to give D.C. the 1-0 lead.

After falling short in last year’s Michigan State Cup final, Ann Arbor F.C. Elite are back in the USASA Region II tournament with a thrilling 6-5 win over Detroit United. Ann Arbor’s Blake Ordell had his second consecutive four-goal game, but nearly cost his team with a late red card that opened the door for the comeback-minded visitors from Detroit.

Those visitors controlled the game early, on a clear, cool evening in Ann Arbor, just under the shadow of The Big House (University of Michigan’s football stadium). However, the momentum shifted as Ordell scored the first goal of the game off a deflection midway through the first half.

After 120 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Colorado Rapids advanced to the next round of Open Cup qualifying with a 4-2 penalty kick shootout win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. Colorado’s Greg Dalby was sent off for a bad tackle on the Stefani Miglioranzi in the 36th minute, but the visitors managed to last the full 90, as well as 30 minutes of extra time, without conceding -- or scoring -- a goal. In the shootout, Colorado’s Preston Burpo saved attempts by Chris Klein and Mike Magee to help the visitors move on to face the winner of the April 28 match between the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake. (MLS Play-In Tournament Bracket - Match Reports: COL | LAG | Post Game Video: Match Highlights | Gary Smith (COL) | Bruce Arena (LA) | Match Stats)

USASA Region I qualifying for the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup kicks off this weekend as teams representing nine states and leagues vie to win the two qualifying spots for this summers tournament. The teams are split into two brackets (Group N and Group S), with the winners of each earning the right to represent the USASA in this summers tournament. The two qualifiers will also meet on June 21 at the Ukrainian American S.C. in New Wales, Pennsylvania to determine will represent Region I at the USASA National Cups tournament at the Seminole County Sports Training Center in Sanford, Florida on July 24 through 26.

NOTE - The preliminary round match between Charm City F.C. and Go Soccer F.C. has been rescheduled for April 19.

In his Soccer Insider blog on the Washington Post website, Steven Goff has learned that the defending U.S. Open Cup champions will have to qualify for the 2009 tournament. (Click here for the full story)

According to Goff, United will face F.C. Dallas in the opening round of qualifying and will face either the New York Red Bulls or the San Jose Earthquakes in the next round. Based on that, it can be assumed that the MLS qualifying matchups will look something like this:

Milwaukee's Bavarian SC, a five-time U.S. Open Cup qualifier, starts its quest to land a spot in the 2009 tournament on Oct. 28 in the Wisconsin final on Oct. 28 against the Milwaukee Kickers.

The winner advances to the U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region II tournament next spring. The past two years, the top two finishers from the regional finals have advanced to the Open Cup.