2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Country  United States
Champions D.C. United
(2nd title)
Runner-up Charleston Battery
Top goal scorer(s) Sébastien Le Toux (5)

The 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 95th edition of the USSF's annual national soccer championship, running from June through early September.

D.C. United won the final 2-1 over the Charleston Battery on September 3 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on a pair of goals from Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred. It was United's second Open Cup title.

The Battery were the first USL club in the final since the Rochester Rhinos won the cup in 1999.

The Cup schedule was shortened in 2008, ending in September instead of October, so as to avoid interfering with Major League Soccer's end-of-season playoff drive in the fall and the new CONCACAF Champions League.[1]

The 13 US-based MLS clubs participated, although only 8 competed in the main tournament (Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls). Qualifying was similar to the 2007 tournament, with the top 3 teams from each conference in 2007 qualifying automatically, and the other 7 playing off during the early part of the 2008 season for the remaining 2 spots.

United Soccer Leagues had a separate qualifying plan for each tier. The 8 US-based USL-1 teams qualified automatically (Puerto Rico has its own federation, thus the Puerto Rico Islanders are not eligible to participate in the Open Cup). 8 of the 9 US-based USL-2 teams qualified. The defending USL-2 playoff champions, the Harrisburg City Islanders, and the 2007 regular-season champion Richmond Kickers qualified automatically. The remaining 7 teams played off for 6 spots, based on early regular season results. The PDL used selected early regular-season games for qualification. The top two teams in the Eastern and Central conferences, and the top teams in the Mid-South, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest divisions qualified.

The tournament was rounded out by 8 amateur USASA clubs (Adria, Arizona Sahuaros, Boston Olympiakos, Clearwater Galactics, Eagles, Hollywood United, New Stars, New York Pancyprian-Freedoms). USASA qualifying began in the fall of 2007. Clubs from the NPSL enter the Cup through USASA qualifying.

Contents

Matchdays

Date Round Notes
June 10 First 32 USL and USASA clubs enter
June 24 Second
July 1 Third 8 MLS clubs enter
July 8 Quarterfinals
Aug. 12 Semifinals
Sept. 3 Final

Participating teams

The tournament consists of 40 teams, according to the following distribution:

Classification Number of Teams
Major League Soccer 8
United Soccer Leagues First Division 8
United Soccer Leagues Second Division 8
Amateur 16*

*Includes 8 USL Premier Development League teams and 8 USASA regional qualifiers

Qualified Clubs

Tier 1: Major League Soccer (MLS)

Tiers 2 - 4: United Soccer Leagues (USL)

Tier 2 -- First Division (USL-1)
Tier 3 -- Second Division (USL-2)
Tier 4 -- Premier Development League (PDL)

Tier 5: United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA)

Open Cup bracket

Second Round winners advance to play one of 8 MLS clubs in 16-team knockout tournament
Home teams listed on top of bracket

  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-2   Western Mass Pioneers 2  
USASA   Boston Olympiakos 0  
    USL-2   Western Mass Pioneers 1
  USL-2   Richmond Kickers 2
USL-2   Richmond Kickers 3
PDL   Fredericksburg Gunners 0  
  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-2   Harrisburg City Islanders 5  
PDL   Yakima Reds 1  
    USL-2   Harrisburg City Islanders 2 (1)
  USL-2   Crystal Palace Baltimore (p) 2 (3)
PDL   Los Angeles Legends 1
USL-2   Crystal Palace Baltimore 2  
  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-1   Rochester Rhinos (aet) 2  
USASA   RWB Adria 1  
    USL-1   Rochester Rhinos 3
  USL-2   Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0
USASA   A.A.C. Eagles 0
USL-2   Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4  
  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-1   Minnesota Thunder 4  
PDL   St. Louis Lions 1  
    USL-1   Minnesota Thunder 0
  USL-2   Cleveland City Stars (aet) 2
PDL   Michigan Bucks 1
USL-2   Cleveland City Stars 2  
  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-1   Miami FC 4  
PDL   Bradenton Academics 2  
    USL-1   Miami FC 1
  USL-1   Atlanta Silverbacks 0
PDL   Austin Aztex U23 2 (4)
USL-1   Atlanta Silverbacks (p) 2 (5)  
  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-1   Charleston Battery 3  
USASA   New Stars 0  
    USL-1   Charleston Battery 2
  USL-2   Charlotte Eagles 1
USL-2   Charlotte Eagles 5
USASA   Clearwater Galactics 2  
  First Round
June 10
Second Round
June 24
                 
USASA   Arizona Sahuaros 0  
USL-1   Seattle Sounders (aet) 1  
    USL-1   Seattle Sounders 6
  USASA   Hollywood United 0
USL-1   Portland Timbers 2
USASA   Hollywood United 3  
  First Round
June 10/13
Second Round
June 24
                 
USL-1   Carolina RailHawks 1  
PDL   Brooklyn Knights 0  
    USL-1   Carolina RailHawks 1
  USL-2   Real Maryland Monarchs 0
USL-2   Real Maryland Monarchs (aet) 3
USASA   New York Pancyprian-Freedoms 2  
  Third Round
July 1
Quarterfinals
July 8
Semifinals
August 12
Final
September 3
                                     
MLS   D.C. United 2  
USL-1   Rochester Rhinos 0  
  MLS   D.C. United (aet) 2  
 
  MLS   Chicago Fire 1  
MLS   Chicago Fire 4
USL-2   Cleveland City Stars 1  
  MLS   D.C. United 3  
  MLS   New England Revolution 1  
MLS   New England Revolution 3  
USL-2   Richmond Kickers 0  
  MLS   New England Revolution (p) 1 (5)
 
  USL-2   Crystal Palace Baltimore 1 (3)  
USL-2   Crystal Palace Baltimore 2
MLS   New York Red Bulls 0  
  MLS   D.C. United 2
  USL-1   Charleston Battery 1
MLS   FC Dallas 2  
USL-1   Miami FC 1  
  MLS   FC Dallas 1
 
  USL-1   Charleston Battery 3  
USL-1   Charleston Battery (p) 1 (4)
MLS   Houston Dynamo 1 (3)  
  USL-1   Charleston Battery (p) 1 (4)
  USL-1   Seattle Sounders 1 (3)  
USL-1   Seattle Sounders 2  
MLS   Chivas USA 0  
  USL-1   Seattle Sounders (p) 0 (6)
 
  MLS   Kansas City Wizards 0 (5)  
USL-1   Carolina RailHawks 2
MLS   Kansas City Wizards (aet) 4  

Schedule

Note: Scorelines use the standard U.S. convention of placing the home team on the right-hand side of box scores.

First round


Second round


Third round


Quarterfinals


Semifinals


Final

September 3, 2008
7:30 ET
Charleston Battery (USL-1) 1 – 2 D.C. United (MLS) RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 8,212
Referee: Mark Geiger
Fuller  10'
Nylen 33'
Alonso 62'
Report (D.C.)
Report (Charleston)
Emilio  4'
Martinez 35'
Simms 46'
Fred  50'
Charleston Battery
D.C. United
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
2008 Champion
D.C. United
2nd title

Top scorers

Position Player Club Goals
1 Sébastien Le Toux Seattle Sounders 5
2 Darren Spicer Charleston Battery 4
Alex Afonso Miami F.C. 4
4 Emilio D.C. United 3

External links

References