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Showing posts with label us open cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label us open cup. Show all posts

Great Time to be a Soccer Fan in Pittsburgh

Posted by espo On 9:33 AM 0 comments
As a Pittsburgh native and avid sports fan, summers tend to be the proverbial off-season. Normally marked by the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, continuing through another disappointing Pirates campaign and ending with Steelers preseason. Most people find the time to take in a few ballgames (for the fireworks and bands), speculate on who the Steelers will play as the third CB in the nickel or work on their golf game. However, there is a niche group of fanatical supporters who absolutely love this time of the year...the soccer fan. This hidden sub-culture is slowly growing and gaining momentum, sprouting up in local pubs, around our very own professional franchise, traveling to other cities to take in games and appearing on grass fields all over Western Pennsylvania.

Let me break down the next few weeks:

Sunday June 6th - The Pittsburgh Riverhounds (our previously mentioned professional franchise) travel south to battle Real Maryland. The Hounds are coming off an impressive road win at Richmond, the defending USL2 Champions. The Hounds are lead by first year manager and local soccer legend Justin Evans.

Friday June 11th - The Hounds travel to Harrisburg to play the City Islanders in the Pennsylvania derby. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs in 2010. Over the winter, the Hounds splashed the cash to sign the Islander's leading scorer, Chad Servers. Those involved don't wish to comment publicly, but bad blood remains. This game will be a war.

Saturday June 12th - Team USA takes on England in World Cup group play. It will be the first game for both teams and their first World Cup meeting since the US upset the juggernaut back in 1950. The 3-Lions look for revenge while the US is out to make a statement.

Sunday June 13th - The Tartan Devils Football Club defends their home turf at 1pm. The living legend, Super Mac, leads the heroes of Piper's Pub who play at Founders field, a beautiful pitch hidden off of SR 910 in Indianola. This is soccer in it's purest form...a bunch of 30+ year old men simply playing for the love of the game.

Tuesday June 15th - The Riverhounds host Detroit United at Chartiers Valley High School in the opening round of the US Open Cup. The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest sports tournament in the history of the United States. Amateur and professional soccer clubs battle through qualifying rounds and tournament play for the chance to lift the cup. This is a truly unique tournament where the smallest of pub or ethnic teams have the chance to play the biggest MLS clubs.

Friday June 18th - The US national team takes on Slovenia in World Cup group action. A win vs Slovenia could help propel the US into the knockout round.

Alongside these games, Pittsburgh is home to several pickup leagues where both men and women get the chance to pull on some boots and show off their skills. Check out the Pittsburgh Pick-up Soccer Group for times and locations!

There are a number of ways to get involved. Mentioned above, if you have a passion to play check out a local league or contact PISA. If you love to watch live action, check out one of the many local pub teams or catch a Riverhounds game where the physicality and pace of play might just surprise you. Show up at one of the many World Cup viewing parties to support the United States as they take on England. A few of the places and events can be found here.

Once you've been bitten by the footy-bug...check out our local supporters groups, the Steel Army who support the Riverhounds and the American Outlaws who follow the US national team.

Then, as summer begins to come to a close, catch the best Premier League action every Saturday and Sunday morning down at Piper's Pub. There is nothing quite like pounding an Irish breakfast and watching Newcastle United on the hallowed grounds of St. James' Park live and in HD.

We are the vocal minority. We are the counter culture of the Pittsburgh sports fan. Soccer fans unite!







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Lamar Hunt US Open Cup # 3

Posted by espo On 9:40 AM 0 comments
You're not going to read this from the Riverhounds, who I'm sure are trying to stay professional about the result, and you won't here it from the Rhinos who know that their first round victory was tainted. However, you will hear about it here, the truth, the skinny...

In all my years of playing, watching and following sports, that was the worst case of clearly biased officials affecting the outcome of a game.

The Hounds fell to the Rhinos 4-2 in penalty kicks after 120 minutes of complete crap. We took the lead half way through the first on a T-Bone goal. The Hounds continued to dictate the game and deny the Rhinos any space. Justin Evans, Niko Katic and T-Bone Bonseu were solid down the middle in front of keeper Danny Waltman. Jerome was playing alone up top again in the 4-5-1 formation, holding up the ball well and allowing wingers Tommy Gray and Jason Kutney to make runs. Things looked very promising until the 72nd minute... After realizing that Rochester couldn't muster many quality chances, the refs decided to eject T-Bone for an alleged dangerous play. This left the Hounds to defend a one goal lead with ten men. Even the home-grown announce team in Rochester agreed that the call was horrific! Minutes earlier, Kutney was pulled down from behind in the penalty area after being sent in on a pinpoint pass from Jerome. No foul was given. The Riverhounds played with heart and desire as the lead held through 90 minutes. The officials then announced four minutes of added time. Four minutes! Like it was scripted, the Rhinos tied the game off a corner with about thirty seconds to play. The officiating was more than inconsistent, it was criminal.

The Riverhounds had seven cautions to the Rhinos three, including the ejection.

So, I did a little research on the officials, here's the breakdown on those refs:

Jason Krnac, a native of Cleveland Ohio, 35 years old and an official member of the USSF Futsal Assistants
Michael Farmer, Streetsboro Ohio (just outside of Cleveland)
Brian Miller, listed as a resident of "Northern Ohio"

(see a fucking pattern here? well, it gets worse...)

Bill Engel, native of Rochester New York

Well, there you go, three Pittsburgh-hating Cleveland scumbags and a native Rhino. What else could we have expected? It's pure and utter bullshit, end of story.

btw, here's Brian Miller's email address, be sure to drop him a line about the game...

brianmiller@cox.net

notice the domain there, fitting to say the least...

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Busy Week for the Boys

Posted by espo On 9:23 AM 3 comments
The Riverhounds will play three games over the course of six days this week. The Hounds travel to Rochester on Tuesday to battle the Rhinos in a US Open cup match. We're looking for vengeance in the wake of last season's cup exit. On Thursday evening we host Bermuda. The Hounds look to leapfrog the Hogges (and Western Ass) by taking a full three points in the home contest. This Sunday we'll take on Richmond, who thrashed league leading City over the weekend. Good luck to the boys! This could be a huge week for the squad.

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Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 2009 #1

Posted by espo On 4:08 PM 0 comments

The U.S. Open Cup, the national championship of the United States, began in 1914 and is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports. Modeled after England's famous FA Cup, the Open Cup is open to all senior division teams, amateur and professional registered with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).


The oldest trophy in the United States team sports history was donated to the American Amateur Football Association in 1912 by Sir Thomas R. Dewar, a British distiller, sportsman and philanthropist during a AAFA (now known as United States Amateur Soccer Association) visit to London prior to the 1912 Olympics.

Courtesy of www.soccerhall.org


Past US Open Cup champions from Pittsburgh include:


Pittsburgh Gallatin - 1942 (pictured above)
Pittsburgh Morgan SC - 1949

Pittsburgh Hamarville - 1952, 1956



The Pittsburgh Riverhounds have qualified for this prestigious tournament by participating in the United Soccer League's Second Division. The first game will be played on Tuesday, June 9th against a yet to be determined foe.


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Lamar Hunt US Open Cup...Hounds travel to Chicago

Posted by espo On 1:38 PM 1 comments
The U.S. Open Cup, the national championship of the United States, began in 1914 and is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports. Modeled after England's famous FA Cup, the Open Cup is open to all senior division teams, amateur and professional registered with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

The oldest trophy in the United States team sports history was donated to the American Amateur Football Association in 1912 by Sir Thomas R. Dewar, a British distiller, sportsman and philanthropist during a AAFA (now known as United States Amateur Soccer Association) visit to London prior to the 1912 Olympics.

Courtesy of www.soccerhall.org

Past US Open Cup champions from Pittsburgh include:

Pittsburgh Gallatin - 1942
Pittsburgh Morgan SC - 1949
Pittsburgh Hamarville - 1952, 1956


The Pittsburgh Riverhounds, undefeated at home this season, nabbed the last qualification spot allocated to the USL’s second division.

It’s been a tough start to the 2008 campaign. The Hounds have been racking up frequent flyer miles and AAA mileage points by the thousands and things won’t get any easier as they gear up for a trip to Chicago to take on the historic AAC Eagles. The opening contest will take place on June 10th.

Although the Eagles play in the lower USASA (United States Adult Soccer Association) league, they are not to be taken lightly. The Eagles won this tournament in 1990 and have outscored their last two league opponents by 17 goals. They are a club rich in Polish tradition and have been competing in the Chicago area since 1940.

The Riverhounds, led by skipper Nathan Salsi, are going to have to find a way to slow down the high-powered Eagle’s attack. Manager Gene Klien will call on the midfielders to keep possession and control the pace of the match. Boyzzz Khumalo should be able to use his speed as an advantage to create scoring chances from the wing. Leon and Travis should both get plenty of looks inside the box.

If the Hounds advance, they will play the winner of a first round match up between the Cleveland City Stars and the Michigan Bucks on June 24th.

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