Silverbacks Fall to RBNY to End Open Cup Run

June 16, 2015 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Atlanta Silverbacks News Release


HARRISON, N.J. - Last year's U.S. Open Cup giantkillers, the Atlanta Silverbacks, paid a fourth round visit to Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls with hopes of reproducing 2014's historic run to the quarterfinals. New York had other plans, playing a full-strength team en route to a 3-0 victory at Red Bulls Arena on Tuesday.

Red Bulls advance to the fifth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, awaiting Thursday's draw to learn their next opponent. The Silverbacks must now fully turn their focus to the NASL Fall Season, which kicks off on July 4 at the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Red Bulls made their intentions clear from the onset, starting stalwarts like Bradley Wright-Phillips, Dax McCarty and Sasha Kljestan in the starting lineup. New York was well rested, and it showed, coming off a bye week in MLS action. Atlanta played its Spring Season finale at the Tampa Bay Rowdies just three days earlier.

Red Bulls opened the scoring just seven minutes in, with Wright-Phillips feeding an on-rushing Lloyd Sam. Red Bulls took the lead off Sam's smash past Atlanta's Steward Ceus.

Sam left the match just 20 minutes later, suffering from groin tightness.

With Atlanta already opened up, New York doubled its lead in the 16th minute when a broken corner kick saw Ceus make an initial save, but a far-posted Ronald Zubar finished the rebound.

The Silverbacks backline stymied the damage from there, despite sustaining pressure from the Red Bulls that registered Atlanta's two center backs in the center official's book. Both Simon Mensing and Rauwshan McKenzie saw yellow cards before halftime, with McKenzie being swapped for Chris Christian in the 39th minute.

Halftime reinvigorated the visitors, as did second-half substitutions Hans Denissen and Alex Harlley, but Atlanta still failed to create a goal. Before hitting the hour mark, forward Jaime Chavez saw two headed attempts go just wide. Shaka Bangura and Kyle Porter also created space in Red Bulls' third, but were eventually locked down.

With Atlanta's hand forced into an attacking style, New York countered in the 70th minute with a smooth passing display that finished with Sean Davis just beating a diving Ceus for the 3-0 lead. Both Wright-Phillips and Mike Grella registered assists on the goal.

New York rode out the remaining 20 minutes to end Atlanta's domestic cup run.

The Silverbacks now face a three week break in NASL action before kicking off the Fall Season.

Game Points:

The New York Red Bulls returned to the Open Cup after being bounced 3-0 by the New York Cosmos at the Third Round stage in 2014.

Red Bulls defender Chris Duvall served a one-game suspension against Atlanta after receiving a red card in last year's defeat to the New York Cosmos. Duvall, a Duluth native, played for the Silverbacks Reserves in 2012.

Head Coach Jesse Marsch won the tournament four times as a player with D.C. United (1996) and the Chicago Fire (1998, 2000, 2003). Assistant coaches Chris Armas and Denis Hamlett were part of all four of the Chicago Fire's Open Cup victories (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006), with Armas winning them as a player and Hamlett as an assistant coach.

Since making the club's lone Finals appearance in 2003 as the MetroStars, the furthest the side has advanced in the tournament is the Quarterfinals in 2011, where they lost 4-0 to the Chicago Fire.

Atlanta went to Red Bull Arena as one of only two remaining NASL sides left in the tournament, following their 2-1 extra time victory at Chattanooga FC in Third Round play on May 27.

2014 marked the first time the Silverbacks defeated an MLS team in the competition, downing 2013 finalists Real Salt Lake (Fourth Round) and the Colorado Rapids (Fifth Round) with 2-1 score lines.

The Silverbacks are 2-6-1 all-time against MLS sides (Division I), while the Red Bulls are 5-5-1 all-time against Division II clubs in the U.S. Open Cup.

The Red Bulls were off from MLS action this past weekend and currently sit fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference with a 4-4-5 record (17 points). Atlanta fell 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday, which saw them finish 11th in the NASL Spring Season table with a 1-5-4 record.

The Silverbacks have a connection to the Red Bulls themselves in defensive midfielder Dominic Oppong. Oppong ended New York's USOC run in 2010 with a 117th minute game winner during his time with the Harrisburg City Islanders.



North American Soccer League Stories from June 16, 2015


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