USL News Release
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
TAMPA, FL – In one of the most competitive and historic editions of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, the run of USL First Division teams Carolina RailHawks and Seattle Sounders came to a close Tuesday night at the hands of the New England Revolution and FC Dallas, respectively. Both games ended 2-1 in overtime.
In a physical battle in Connecticut, the USL-1 RailHawks surprised the Major League Soccer leader New England Revolution on an early goal from Anthony Maher six minutes into the match. Maher right-footed a side volley from 12 yards out off a flick from Jonny Steele.
A pair of scuffles around the 39th minute saw Carolina’s David Stokes and New England’s Avery John receive yellow cards followed by reds issued to Carolina striker Connally Edozien and New England’s Shalrie Joseph.
The red cards allowed play to open up, resulting in the equalizer just before the half for New England when Adam Cristman flicked a ball to Pat Noonan, whose cross found Jeff Larentowicz for a diving header in stoppage time.
The pair played to a stalemate through the second half, forcing overtime, where Noonan blasted a 19-yard strike for the game-winner three minutes in. New England held on for the victory with a man advantage created by a second yellow to David Stokes in the 80th minute.
A diving save by Matt Reis on a Carolina corner kick in the final play of the game would preserve the victory for the Revolution, who will be playing in their third final in three years having reached the last two MLS Cups. Full Report [+]
In a classic at Qwest Field in Seattle, a back-and-forth affair in front of over 10,000 saw the fans rise to their feet at halftime and the close of regulation to applaud the action despite a scoreless match heading to overtime.
The entertaining, up-and-down-the-field match produced 35 shots -- 19 by Dallas, 16 by the Sounders. All but 10 of those came after halftime, with enough of them on target that the two goalkeepers were required to come up with 15 saves. Chris Eylander of the Sounders stopped nine Dallas shots; Dario Sala made six saves for Dallas.
Dallas needed just 58 seconds of the first overtime to snap the scoreless tie. Arturo Alvarez came down the right wing side and crossed the ball to Carlo Ruiz, who was stationed at the top of the penalty area. Ruiz took a couple steps inside the box. When Eylander came out to challenge, Ruiz lofted a shot over him and into the back of the net.
Abe Thompson converted a penalty kick for Dallas in the 119th minute for a commanding 2-0 lead, but Seattle's Leighton O'Brien put one in for the Sounders near the end of the second overtime on an assist by Andre Schmid, creating a scramble in the final moments. It proved too late.
The Sounders' closest opportunity of the match came midway through the second half. The Sounders had a chance to go on top when an O'Brien corner kick found Taylor Graham near the top of the six-yard box. But Graham's header clanged off the crossbar. Full Report [+] Watch on Demand [+]
