There was controversy and drama in the first game of the evening, as the Columbus Crew outlasted D.C. United, 2-1, in overtime. A D.C. red card, an 89th-minute equalizer and an extra time penalty kick propelled the Crew into the final for the first time since 2002.
Across the country, the Seattle Sounders dispatched Chivas USA, 3-1. The Sounders now are on the verge of becoming the Open Cup's first repeat champion since a mouthful of an amateur team called the New York Pancyprian Freedoms (which still exists) did the trick in 1983. The final will contested Oct. 5 at Qwest Field.
The Cup is a great idea, should be a lot of fun and is a legitimate piece of soccer tradition that genuine supporters of the American game can cling to. But in practice, it's only as good as the effort put into it by the U.S. Soccer Federation, the participating teams and fans. Wednesday night's games showcased the best and worst of both.
We'll start in D.C., where the hosts were clinging to the Cup as the only potential salvation in an otherwise brutal season. "It has been a tough year. We have all struggled," interim coach Ben Olsen said prior to the semifinal. "It's not been fun, and here is a chance to get into a final and raise a trophy, something that this club has always prided itself on. So it's huge. This is the biggest game we have had this season."
While Olsen and the club clearly regarded the Open Cup as a trophy worth winning (the coach even rested several regulars during last weekend's league match at Chivas USA), the United fan base did not. Wednesday night was their Super Bowl, or at least their conference title game, and they responded with a shocking attendance of 3,411. Yes, it's been a long and difficult season. Frustrations are high, and it really was pretty damn hot on Wednesday. But 3,411 is a Women's Professional Soccer crowd.
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U.S. Soccer however, did not afford the match the same respect. Controversy and anger was plentiful following the game because of referee Chris Penso, who ejected D.C. forward Pablo Hernández after an altercation with the Crew's Danny O'Rourke. It was the sort of play where a red or yellow card to either or both players could have been justified, but Penso chose red for Hernández and yellow for O'Rourke. It changed the game, forcing D.C. to play with 10 against a superior side.
Penso is not a regular MLS referee. He occasionally serves as a fourth official, but does not run the middle in the country's top league. Why then, would U.S. Soccer ask a less experienced ref to handle the semifinal of its own championship tournament? Additionally, Penso had a history with D.C. United. He threw out former coach Curt Onalfo in an Open Cup game against FC Dallas in April. The hosts were lived with his appointment on Wednesday, which demonstrated a real lack of attention from the sport's governing body.
The loss was devastating for D.C. Olsen could barely speak in the post-game press conference. "I mean, yeah, we had it. What do you want me to say? We had it," he muttered.
A continent away, the fans most certainly did care, although the Sounders once again limited attendance by hosting an Open Cup game at the very minor league Starfire Sports Complex. That sends only one message -- the Sounders consider the Open Cup a minor league tournament. But the fans showed their interest and produced a sell-out crowd of 4,547.
Nate Jacqua (two) and Fredy Montero scored the goals as Seattle advanced untroubled into next month's final.
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid: "Obviously playing at Starfire is a unique situation because the fans are so close to the field and we pack the place. It just lends itself to a completely different atmosphere. But I think every club wants to win trophies.
"In our first two years of existence to be able to get to two finals in the Open Cup, to win the first one and now have the possibility to win the second one, becoming the first team to win two in a row since MLS has joined the Open Cup is something that obviously we'd like to do, because it hasn't been done and it's something unique and special for our club to achieve."
Chivas USA, now in it's sixth year, hasn't accomplished nearly as much. In fact, Wednesday night's game was the first semifinal of any kind the red-and-white had played. One writer (on the club's own Web site, no less) said it comes down to a "lack of swagger."
Jonathan Bornstein, at least, showed he cared. The U.S. national team defender, who's leaving for the Mexican league after the season and who's won't play in this year's playoffs (Chivas is last in the Western Conference at 6-11-4), saw his final chance for a trophy evaporate and was in tears afterward, according to Goal.com.
"Where we are in league play, it would have been huge for our guys and our club to go to our first final," Chivas Coach Martín Vásquez said. "We were putting all our marbles in tonight's game."
Some went all in, others paid no attention at all. It was just another night in the U.S. Open Cup.
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