2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

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

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.

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
September 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 Massachusetts Western Mass Pioneers 2
USASA Massachusetts Boston Olympiakos 0
USL-2 Massachusetts Western Mass Pioneers 1
USL-2 Virginia Richmond Kickers 2
USL-2 Virginia Richmond Kickers 3
PDL Virginia Fredericksburg Gunners 0
First Round
June 10 		Second Round
June 24
      
USL-2 Pennsylvania Harrisburg City Islanders 5
PDL Washington (state) Yakima Reds 1
USL-2 Pennsylvania Harrisburg City Islanders 2 (1)
USL-2 Maryland Crystal Palace Baltimore (p) 2 (3)
PDL California Los Angeles Legends 1
USL-2 Maryland Crystal Palace Baltimore 2
First Round
June 10 		Second Round
June 24
      
USL-1 New York Rochester Rhinos (aet) 2
USASA Illinois RWB Adria 1
USL-1 New York Rochester Rhinos 3
USL-2 Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0
USASA Illinois A.A.C. Eagles 0
USL-2 Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4
First Round
June 10 		Second Round
June 24
      
USL-1 Minnesota Minnesota Thunder 4
PDL Missouri St. Louis Lions 1
USL-1 Minnesota Minnesota Thunder 0
USL-2 Ohio Cleveland City Stars (aet) 2
PDL Michigan Michigan Bucks 1
USL-2 Ohio Cleveland City Stars 2
First Round
June 10 		Second Round
June 24
      
USL-1 Florida Miami FC 4
PDL Florida Bradenton Academics 2
USL-1 Florida Miami FC 1
USL-1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks 0
PDL Texas Austin Aztex U23 2 (4)
USL-1 Georgia (U.S. state) Atlanta Silverbacks (p) 2 (5)
First Round
June 10 		Second Round
June 24
      
USL-1 South Carolina Charleston Battery 3
USASA Texas New Stars 0
USL-1 South Carolina Charleston Battery 2
USL-2 North Carolina Charlotte Eagles 1
USL-2 North Carolina Charlotte Eagles 5
USASA Florida Clearwater Galactics 2
First Round
June 10 		Second Round
June 24
      
USASA Arizona Arizona Sahuaros 0
USL-1 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders (aet) 1
USL-1 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders 6
USASA California Hollywood United 0
USL-1 Oregon Portland Timbers 2
USASA California Hollywood United 3
First Round
June 10/13 		Second Round
June 24
      
USL-1 North Carolina Carolina RailHawks 1
PDL New York Brooklyn Knights 0
USL-1 North Carolina Carolina RailHawks 1
USL-2 Maryland Real Maryland Monarchs 0
USL-2 Maryland Real Maryland Monarchs (aet) 3
USASA New York New York Pancyprian-Freedoms 2
Third Round
July 1 		Quarterfinals
July 8 		Semifinals
August 12 		Final
September 3
            
MLS Washington, D.C. D.C. United 2
USL-1 New York Rochester Rhinos 0
MLS D.C. United (aet) 2
MLS Chicago Fire 1
MLS Illinois Chicago Fire 4
USL-2 Ohio Cleveland City Stars 1
MLS D.C. United 3
MLS New England Revolution 1
MLS Massachusetts New England Revolution 3
USL-2 Virginia Richmond Kickers 0
MLS New England Revolution (p) 1 (5)
USL-2 Crystal Palace Baltimore 1 (3)
USL-2 Maryland Crystal Palace Baltimore 2
MLS New Jersey New York Red Bulls 0
MLS D.C. United 2
USL-1 Charleston Battery 1
MLS Texas FC Dallas 2
USL-1 Florida Miami FC 1
MLS FC Dallas 1
USL-1 Charleston Battery 3
USL-1 South Carolina Charleston Battery (p) 1 (4)
MLS Texas Houston Dynamo 1 (3)
USL-1 Charleston Battery (p) 1 (4)
USL-1 Seattle Sounders 1 (3)
USL-1 Washington (state) Seattle Sounders 2
MLS California Chivas USA 0
USL-1 Seattle Sounders (p) 0 (6)
MLS Kansas City Wizards 0 (5)
USL-1 North Carolina Carolina RailHawks 2
MLS Kansas 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
South Carolina Charleston Battery (USL-1) 1 – 2 Washington, D.C. D.C. United (MLS)
Fuller  10'
Nylen  33'
Alonso  62' 		Report (D.C.)
Report (Charleston) 		Emilio  4'
Martínez  35'
Simms  46'
Fred  50'
RFK Stadium
Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 8,212
Referee: Mark Geiger
Charleston Battery
D.C. United
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
2008 Champion
Washington, D.C.
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

  1. ↑ Celebrating Presidents' Day - Soccer Insider