US Open Cup format announced

Published on January 30, 2004 under USL First Division (USL-1) News Release

CHICAGO, IL – US Soccer announced Thursday a total of 40 teams – 24 professional and 16 amateur – will compete in the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as it kicks off during the first week of June. After 34 teams participated in 2003, six additional amateur teams will take part in the tournament this year marking the most total teams since Major League Soccer began participating in 1996.

The additional amateur teams will hail from the United States Adult Soccer Association's regional qualifiers as well as the Premier Development League of the United Soccer Leagues. The four USASA regional champions will be joined by the four runners up in the tournament for the first time, while two additional PDL teams will earn berths to bring the total number of teams representing the PDL to eight.

First-round pairings will be announced on May 25 and the First Round will be played on June 2 & 8. The defending champion Chicago Fire (MLS) enter the tournament on July 20 in the fourth round. The semifinals will be played Aug. 24 & 25, with the final being played on Sept. 22, almost one month earlier than last year.

The 2004 Open Cup pairings will be similar to 2003, but with an expanded number of games in the first two rounds. The first round will feature match-ups between USASA teams from the regional qualifiers and the Premier Development League. In the second round six teams from the USL Pro Soccer League and two A-League teams join the mix to take on the first round winners. The second round winners will play six more A-League teams and the two non-playoff teams from the 2003 MLS standings (Columbus Crew & Dallas Burn) in the third round. The balance of the MLS teams will face the third round winners in the fourth round before the quarterfinals are set.

The U.S. Open Cup, which is recognized as U.S. Soccer's National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. Within the U.S. Open Cup framework, teams shall compete in one of the following four categories: professional outdoor Division I (Major League Soccer), Division II (A-League) or Division III (USL Pro Soccer League); or Amateur Division (USL Premier Development League & U.S. Adult Soccer Association).

The U.S. Open Cup is a single-elimination tournament, with drawn games being decided by two 15-minute sudden death ("Golden Goal") overtime halves. If neither team scores during the two overtime halves, the winner is decided on penalty kicks. The team that advances the furthest from each level except Division I earns a $10,000 cash prize. The runner-up takes home $50,000, while the champion collects $100,000. The winner also will have the team's name engraved on the historic Dewar Cup.

2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule

Qualifying - Ends May 23*

Pairings Announcement - May 25

First Round - June 2 & 8 - Eight USASA regional qualifiers vs. eight PDL teams

Second Round - June 15 - First Round winners vs. six USL PSL, two A-League teams

Third Round - June 30 - Second Round winners vs. two MLS, six A-League teams

Fourth Round - July 20 - Third Round winners vs. remaining eight MLS teams

Quarterfinals - Aug. 4 - Fourth Round winners

Semifinals - Aug. 24 & 25 - Quarterfinal winners

Final - Sept. 22 - Semifinal winners

*Qualifying for USASA Region III does not end until May 31

Composition of participating teams:

10 Major League Soccer

8 A-League

6 USL-PSL

16 USASA (8 PDL, 8 regional qualifiers)

40 Total Teams

U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Breakdown

MLS – 10 Teams

For the second consecutive year, each MLS team will enter the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Eight MLS squads will enter the fourth round of this year's tournament based on their 2003 regular season finish in the MLS standings. The remaining two MLS teams (Dallas Burn & Columbus Crew) will enter the Open Cup in the third round. The two squads will not face-off in the third round but may square off against an MLS team in the fourth round depending on the geographical pairings.

A-League – 8 Teams (qualifying through May 23)

Based on the Tournament Format for the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, there will be eight (8) qualification slots for the ten (10) U.S.-based A-League teams. All Primary Qualifiers and the top Secondary Qualifier enter in the Third Round. The two remaining Secondary Qualifiers enter in the Second Round. The primary qualifiers will be the winners of a two-leg, aggregate goal series predetermined by geography. If the score is tied after the two matches, penalty kicks will determine which teams advance. Those matches are:

Richmond v. Virginia Beach: Fri., April 30 @ Richmond; Sat., May 1 @ Virginia Beach

Charleston v. Atlanta: Sat., May 8 @ Atlanta; Sat., May 15 @ Charleston

Portland v. Seattle : Sat., May 1 @ Portland; Sat., May 15 @ Seattle

Milwaukee v. Minnesota: Fri., May 21 @ Minnesota; Sat., May 22 @ Milwaukee

Rochester v. Syracuse: Fri., May 14 @ Syracuse; Sat., May 22 @ Rochester

The final three qualifiers are secondary and the remaining berths will be allocated as follows:

1) 2003 A-League Champion (Charleston)

2) 2003 A-League Finalist (Minnesota)

3) Non-qualifier with highest Point Percentage (total league points earned divided by total possible league points) in all matches played on or before Sunday May 23rd with at least three league games played

4) Non-qualifier with 2nd highest Point Percentage (total league points earned divided by total possible league points) in all matches played on or before Sunday May 23rd with at least three league games played

5) Non-qualifier with 3rd highest Point Percentage (total league points earned divided by total possible league points) in all matches played on or before Sunday May 23rd with at least three league games played

USL Pro Soccer League – 6 Teams (qualifying through May 23)

The 2003 USL Pro Soccer League champion Wilmington Hammerheads will join five qualifiers as determined by four designated regular season qualifying matches, two home and two away. The top five teams overall based on total points earned in those games will also enter the tournament.

Premier Development League – 8 Teams (qualifying through May 23)

The 2004 U.S. Open Cup will have eight PDL teams representing the United Soccer Leagues amateur division. All eight teams will face off against USASA regional qualifiers in the first round. The defending champion Cape Cod Crusaders earn an automatic berth, and the seven other teams will qualify based on four regular season games vs. conference opponents. Two berths each will be allotted to the Central, Eastern and Southern Conferences, and the Western Conference gets one spot.

U.S. Adult Soccer Association Regional Qualifiers – 8 Teams (qualifying through May 23 - I, II, IV; May 31 - III)

Eight representatives from the U.S. Adult Soccer Association will also qualify for the first round of the 2004 U.S. Open Cup. Two teams qualify from each of the USASA's four regions (I, II, III & IV), where qualifying tournaments will be staged on a statewide and then regional basis. The qualifying teams will be paired up against teams from the PDL squads in the first round, which will be completed on June 2 & 8.

USL OFFSEASON UPDATE

Richmond's Testo one of 8 USL players on Olympic Qualifying roster

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GUADALAJARA, MEXICO -- U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Glenn "Mooch" Myernick today announced his final 20-player roster for the 2004 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will take place from Feb. 2-12 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Current Richmond Kickers forward David Testo was named to the roster along with seven former USL players.

The team traveled to Mexico a week ago with 22 players, but Myernick was forced to drop two players from the travel roster by the Jan. 31 deadline imposed by CONCACAF.

"We have not come here to play three games in five days; we've come here to play five games in 10 days," said Myernick, who has guided the team to a 2-0-1 record in a trio of exhibitions this month. "In order to do that with a 20-man roster, you need players that are fit, durable and versatile, and we feel that we have that in our roster."

The U.S. U-23s will first face Panama on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. (local/CT), followed by matches against Canada on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. and Honduras on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. All three U.S. opening round matches in Group A will be played at the 10,000-seat Estadio 3 de Marzo (in the Zapopan area of Guadalajara) and can be followed by fans live via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.

The tournament opens on Feb. 2 with Group B action featuring Costa Rica, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the host nation at Estadio Jalisco. The top two teams from each group will meet in the single-elimination semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at Estadio Jalisco, with the winner of Group A meeting the second-place team from Group B, and the winner of Group B meeting the second-place team from Group A. The two semi-final winners will earn automatic berths to Athens 2004 and meet in the final on Feb. 12.

The U.S. roster is led by current U.S. Men's National Team stars Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire) and Bobby Convey (D.C. United), all of whom played in a 1-1 draw with Denmark on Jan. 18 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Donovan, who was honored with the 2003 Chevrolet Male Athlete of the Year award on Jan. 16 as the top men's player in U.S. Soccer, scored the long goal for the U.S. on a penalty kick in the 76th minute.

The trio of experienced players, along with defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman (Colorado Rapids) and goalkeeper D.J. Countess (Dallas Burn), all hail from the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team that finished an impressive fourth at the FIFA U-17 World Championship at New Zealand '99. Donovan and Beasley took the top two individual honors in that tournament, winning the Golden Ball and Silver Ball, respectively.

Donovan was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team that exceeded expectations and advanced to the medal round and a record fourth-place finish in Sydney. The 21-year-old San Jose Earthquakes forward, who was just 18 at the time, scored the clinching goal in the 88th minute of a 3-1 win over Kuwait that helped the U.S. not only advance to the second round for the first time in history, but win Group C with a 1-0-2 record. Earlier that year, Beasley was a part of the U.S. team that posted a 2-1-1 record and finished second at the 2000 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Hershey, Penn., earning one of two CONCACAF berths for the Olympics.

Including Convey, there are five players on the final roster from the Under-20 Men's National Team that led the USA to an impressive fifth place finish at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates in December.

The four other former U-20s who are being called up to the next age level are defenders Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew) and Zak Whitbread (Liverpool – England), midfielder Eddie Gaven (MetroStars) and forward Ed Johnson (Dallas Burn).

Marshall and Whitbread helped the U.S. hold some of the world's best teams to only six goals in five matches on their jaunt to the quarterfinals at UAE '03. Marshall and Whitbread have yet to earn a cap at the Under-23 level, while Gaven has only played 31 minutes for the U-23s, coming off the bench to score the final goal in a 4-0 win over St. Kitts & Nevis on Nov. 19 in the second leg of the USA's second round CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying series. At 17 years and just over three months, Gaven, who also played in the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland in August 2003, could become the youngest U.S. player to appear in an Olympic Qualifying tournament ahead of current U.S. Men's National Team captain Claudio Reyna, who made his debut on March 25, 1992, four months shy of his 18th birthday.

Johnson scored four goals with one assist at UAE '03 and became the first U.S. player to claim Golden Boot honors in a major world championship. For the U-23s, Johnson scored two goals in a 6-0 win over St. Kitts & Nevis on Nov. 15 in the first leg down in Basseterre.

Also featured on the final roster are two of the team's leading scorers in 2003 in forwards David Testo (Richmond Kickers – A-League) and Alecko Eskandarian (D.C. United). Testo, who led the USA with eight points (3 g, 2 a) last year, earned A-League Rookie of the Year honors with six goals and two assists in 2003. Eskandarian, the 2003 MLS SuperDraft #1 pick, finished third on the team with six points (2 g, 2 a).

Testo is one of three Richmond Kickers on the squad and one of four who played in the A-League last season. Brian Carroll and Doug Warren both played on loan from DC United last season. David Stokes played on loan from DC with the Virginia Beach Mariners in 2003.

Eskandarian is one of five former Premier Development League players on the roster, having played for the North Jersey Imperials in 2000-01. Stokes and Logan Pause were both members of the Raleigh CASL Elite in 2002. Nat Borchers played for the 2002 PDL finalist Boulder Rapids Reserve. MAC-Hermann Award winner Chris Wingert played for the Brooklyn Knights last season.

Eskandarian and Convey lead a group of five players on the final roster that hail from D.C. United. The other three players are goalkeeper Doug Warren and defenders David Stokes and Brian Carroll, all of whom were rookies in MLS in 2003. Warren, who has split time in the nets with Countess since the Under-23s first gathered in January 2002, has started two of the three exhibitions that the U.S. has played recently.

Making his return to the U-23s after not appearing at all in 2003 is midfielder Brad Davis (Dallas Burn). In his second year as a pro, Davis led the Burn in scoring with six goals and five assists for 17 points in 2003. Another relatively new face on the roster is defender Nat Borchers (Colorado Rapids), who made his U-23 debut in a 1-0 win over Haiti in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Oct. 15, 2003, after having a solid rookie season with Colorado.

The U.S. enters the tournament without the services of four key players, two whom are out with injuries – midfielder Ricardo Clark (MetroStars; sports hernia) and former Long Island Rough Riders forward Edson Buddle (Columbus Crew; Achilles tendonitis) – and two who will remain with their club teams in Europe – defender Oguchi Onyewu (R.A.A. Louviere – Belgium) and forward Conor Casey (F.C. Karlsruher – Germany).

"We're missing a few names that we anticipated being here," added Myernick, about the aforementioned four. "But the nature of the sport and some FIFA rules prohibited us from having some of those players."

The U.S. Under-23 MNT began the road to the 2004 Olympics in November, when they defeated the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis in the second round of CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying by an aggregate score of 10-0 in a home-and-home series after receiving a bye in the first round.

For schedule and US roster, visit: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=52531&itype=113&iCategoryID=0

Battery sign Nick Downing

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Charleston Battery News Release - www.charlestonbattery.com

CHARLESTON, SC -- The Charleston Battery has agreed to terms with defender Nick Downing for the 2004 Season. Downing spent the 2003 season with the A-League Portland Timbers, on-loan from Major League Soccer's New England Revolution.

Charleston Battery Head Coach, Chris Ramsey,

"Nick is a player who has had MLS experience but more importantly, played a whole season in the A-League with the Portland Timbers. We feel he's a solid addition to the squad."

Nick Downing, 5'9'', 155 lbs., 23 yrs. played 26 games and logged 2,228 minutes for the Timbers in 2003.

Downing began his professional career in 2001 as the first round draft pick of the New England Revolution, where he played two seasons. He was also a member of the Nike Project-40 Select team alongside current Charleston Battery player, Michael Green.

A native of Redmond, WA, Downing was a three-year starter at the University of Maryland and a 1999 Hermann Trophy and Missouri Athletic Club award finalist. Downing scored one goal in 22 appearances for the United States Under-20 National Team, including three caps in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Islanders see stadium progress

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Puerto Rico Islanders News Release

SALINAS, PR -- Gustavo Schödlbauer, team director for the new Puerto Rico Islanders soccer club, announced today that the remodeling and reconstruction process in the Juan Ramón Loubriel Municipal Stadium in Bayamón is transpiring without incident, which puts them right on schedule to complete the tasks with time to spare for the beginning of the A-League season.

The Juan Ramón Loubriel Municipal Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, will be the venue that the Puerto Rico Islanders will call home during their 14-game home schedule when they debut in the A-League of the United Soccer League as one of two expansion teams. The other expansion team is the Edmonton Aviators.

"Everything related to baseball has been removed from the Loubriel Stadium (the stadium used to be the home to one of the baseball teams of the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League) to make way for a ground leveling crew, who brought the facility up to the rigorous specifications demanded by FIFA, since in baseball, ground elevation varies," said Schödlbauer.

Schödlbauer also added that the field has been sown with grass seeds, and that they should start growing within the next two weeks, with the field being ready for use In between 9 to 10 weeks.

"The first blades of grass should be above ground in about two weeks, and we should have almost complete coverage by the fourth week. Finally, in about six or eight weeks we should have the entire field covered in grass, which would allow us to use the facility to practice," commented Schödlbauer.

The Mayor of Bayamón, Honorable Ramón Luis Rivera, Jr., who attended the final day of the

Islanders' open try-outs in Salinas, also said that, besides completing the ground leveling portion of the remodeling process and sowing the new grass field, workers have also started work on remodeling existing facilities for use by the Islanders.

"The Puerto Rico Islanders soccer club will have complete and unconditional support from my office in order to make their debut season in the USL a successful one. Besides receiving the facilities contained within the Loubriel Municipal Stadium, the Islanders will also receive help in terms of logistics, as well as an economic incentive," said Rivera.

Also, Rivera stated that Bayamón will be reconstructing their youth soccer leagues with the help of the Islanders, where the team's players will be able to instruct a new generation of soccer fans.

"The grounds in Loubriel Stadium will be divided in half: one half will contain a full, FIFA-regulation soccer field, while the other half will contain three mini-goal posts where kids and their families will be able to play, as well as other amenities for the fans. Our goal is to provide families with a complete entertainment solution," added the Mayor of Bayamón.

The Puerto Rico Islanders debut in the A-League on April 17 when they host the Toronto Lynx at the Juan Ramón Loubriel Municipal Stadium. This will be the first of 14 games to be played at Loubriel Stadium, with the remaining 14 away games to be played in the United States and Canada.

USL First Division Stories from January 30, 2004

• 11 USL players on Canadian Olympic Qualifying squad - USL-1
• Charlotte Eagles Third Annual Golf Outing - Charlotte Eagles
• A-League's Testo Named to Final Roster for Olympic Qualifying - Richmond Kickers
• US Open Cup format announced - USL-1

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.