U.S. Open Cup
Jonathan Tannenwald
Kerith Gabriel of the Daily News breaks down the Union's 5-2 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders at PPL Park in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. There are also postgame reactions from Union manager John Hackworth, forward Jack McInerney and midfielder Freddy Adu.
The Union will host Sporting Kansas City in the Open Cup semifinals on July 11th. The Seattle Sounders will host Chivas USA in the other semifinal. I do not know when the potential venues for the final will be announced, but it might not happen until after the semifinals are complete. Stay tuned.
Jonathan Tannenwald
Courtesy of D.C. United's media relations department...
Jonathan Tannenwald
I've written a few times on here about how the Union aren't supposed to play their minor-league affiliates, the USL Pro's Harrisburg City Islanders and the PDL's Reading United, in the U.S. Open Cup.
And I wrote last week when the draw came out that the Union would host Harrisburg in the quarterfinals if both teams won their fourth-round games.
Well, that's exactly what happened. Philadelphia won at D.C. United, 2-1, and the City Islanders upset the New York Red Bulls, 3-1. Both results came in extra time.
Jonathan Tannenwald
The U.S. Soccer Federation announced the potential U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal pairings Saturday afternoon, and the Philadelphia Union would get a home game if they advance that far.
I have written before about how clubs cannot play their minor-league afilliates until the last possible round. U.S. Soccer decided to not enforce that rule in full on the Union and the Harrisburg City Islanders because of the potential travel costs involved.
So the Union and City Islanders could meet in the quarterfinals, instead of a later stage, if they both advance from the fourth round.
Jonathan Tannenwald
Kerith Gabriel was at the Union's 3-0 win over the Rochester Rhinos at PPL Park. You can read his game story here.
A truly extraordinary night in the U.S. Open Cup third round was highlighted by the Harrisburg City Islanders' wild 4-3 win over the New England Revolution on penalty kicks at the Skyline Sports Complex.
But the fact that a USL Pro team knocked a MLS team out of the Cup doesn't even start to tell the story.
Jonathan Tannenwald
The draw for the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup is out, and the Philadelphia Union will be hitting the road if they beat Rochester at PPL Park next Tuesday.
The Union will face either D.C. United or the Richmond Kickers if they on Tuesday, June 5 if they advance to the fourth round. If it's D.C., it would be the second straight year that those two teams have met in the Open Cup.
And like last year, the game would be played at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md., not at RFK Stadium.
Jonathan Tannenwald
The Philadelphia Union's first ever U.S. Open Cup home game will feature the only team outside of Major League Soccer that has won the tournament since MLS began in 1996.
Philadelphia will host the Rochester Rhinos, who lifted the cup in in 1999, in a third-round matchup. The game will take place at PPL Park on Tuesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m.
The Rhinos beat the Brooklyn Italians, 3-0, in the second round of the toruament at Sahlen Stadium in Rochester.
Jonathan Tannenwald
After going on the road for U.S. Open Cup games in each of their first two seasons, the Philadelphia Union will finally get to host a game in the tournament this year.
The Union will face either the Brooklyn Italians of the National Premier Soccer League or the Rochester Rhinos of USL Pro in a third-round matchup at PPL Park on Tuesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m.
If it's Rochester, the storyline will be the fact that the Rhinos are the only non-MLS team that has ever won the tournament in the MLS era. They did so in 1999.
Jonathan Tannenwald
Reading United AC, the Philadelphia Union's PDL affiliate, advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over New York Greek-American Atlas.
It was Reading's first ever victory in the tournament.
The game was played at Fleetwood Area High School in Fleetwood, Pa. It was suspended due to severe weather in the 66th minute, then resumed an hour and a quarter later.
Jonathan Tannenwald
UPDATE: I got some new information from a source about the Union's past participation in what used to be known as the U.S. Open Cup qualifying rounds. See below.
This is a rather small thing as regards the local soccer scene, but it's something that I didn't want to overlook.
The first- and second-round draws for the 2012 U.S. Open Cup are out, and we now know the early matchups for the Union's lower-division affiliates.
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
