Hawaii's Own, with another amazing goal, this time to defeat Supporter's Shield winners DC to move within sight of a playoff spot. To see the amazing goal just follow the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuECatf6qaw
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Game Reports: Championship Week
USL Division 1 Championship
Rochester Raging Rhinos VS Vancouver Whitecaps
FSC: Final Score 0-3
Not too bad of a game. FSC did a much better job announcing this game than they did with the US Open Cup Final. But that could have just been the difference between USL production and FSC's in house production team. Despite a few replay issues, the USL announcing was better than usual... Although I admit during the first half to having had the TV on mute and music on instead.
PAETEC Park still looks great. 9,500 in attendance is pretty good considering the weather (cold rain) and the performance the home team put in. FSC reported that this was the first time in 10 years that the home team hasn't won the final. This was the first championship for the Whitecaps since their victory in the 1979 Soccerbowl against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Although they did win a number of CSL Championships as the '86s before joining the USL (then known as the USISL A-League).
The first twenty minutes of the game were all Rochester, but then a misdirected cross lead to an own goal. While there was still a lot of soccer left to be played, Rochester seemed defeated. Despite having a historically solid defensive line, continued mental lapses allowed Vancouver two more goals, and never gave their offense a chance to get back in the game.
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
Chicago Fire VS Los Angeles Galaxy
FSC: Final Score 3-1
I wish I had had this game on mute. The announcing was pretty terrible, those guys didn't seem to know anything about the US Open Cup. I mean, they seem like soccer fans, but they just didn't seem to know anything about the Cups history, or anything that had happened in the cup this year. How can you talk about Cinderella stories and not mentioned Dallas Roma FC? They beat a PDL team, a USL1 team, and then an MLS team before finally going down to an MLS side. That's a pretty good run for an amateur team. But yet it got no mention. All these guys seemed to know was that it was an all MLS final 8. Not to mention the constant slips calling it the MLS Cup or MLS Open Cup. I mean come one guys. You really didn't give this game its deserved respect.
The Fire did though. They really seemed to know what they were playing for. As did LA. Since 1998 the Fire hasn't gone 3 years without winning an Open Cup title. They have now held the trophy four times. LA has had the trophy twice. Including its remarkable Cup run last year that then continued on as LA went on to win the double. A feat that has only been accomplished by three teams. DC United won the double in MLS's first year, and the Fire did it themselves in their first year. No team has ever won the Supporters Shield, US Open Cup and MLS Cup.
DC United has done a Supporters Shield and MLS Cup double in 1997 and 1999, Kansas City did it in 2000, LA in 2002. Only the Chicago Fire has done a Supporters Shield and US Open Cup double so far, which they accomplished in 2003.
The game itself was pretty good. Lots of fouls, but few cards. LA looked like a quality squad, as they have for much of the season. You can't fault them on playing some good looking soccer when on TV, but they haven't been able to string together more than a few wins, certainly not enough to dig themselves out of the hole they made earlier this season. Chicago just had too much momentum, and seemed to have a quickness that LA couldn't counter. There seemed little LA could do most of the game, they were just constantly off target and unable to convert Chicago mistakes.
Section 8 had a great night, they were hard to miss on TV. And while one wonders why Garber played such a big part in a Cup that he had nothing to do with, the game itself wasn't bad at all, and it was great to see how intense the players were.
Rochester Raging Rhinos VS Vancouver Whitecaps
FSC: Final Score 0-3
Not too bad of a game. FSC did a much better job announcing this game than they did with the US Open Cup Final. But that could have just been the difference between USL production and FSC's in house production team. Despite a few replay issues, the USL announcing was better than usual... Although I admit during the first half to having had the TV on mute and music on instead.
PAETEC Park still looks great. 9,500 in attendance is pretty good considering the weather (cold rain) and the performance the home team put in. FSC reported that this was the first time in 10 years that the home team hasn't won the final. This was the first championship for the Whitecaps since their victory in the 1979 Soccerbowl against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Although they did win a number of CSL Championships as the '86s before joining the USL (then known as the USISL A-League).
The first twenty minutes of the game were all Rochester, but then a misdirected cross lead to an own goal. While there was still a lot of soccer left to be played, Rochester seemed defeated. Despite having a historically solid defensive line, continued mental lapses allowed Vancouver two more goals, and never gave their offense a chance to get back in the game.
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
Chicago Fire VS Los Angeles Galaxy
FSC: Final Score 3-1
I wish I had had this game on mute. The announcing was pretty terrible, those guys didn't seem to know anything about the US Open Cup. I mean, they seem like soccer fans, but they just didn't seem to know anything about the Cups history, or anything that had happened in the cup this year. How can you talk about Cinderella stories and not mentioned Dallas Roma FC? They beat a PDL team, a USL1 team, and then an MLS team before finally going down to an MLS side. That's a pretty good run for an amateur team. But yet it got no mention. All these guys seemed to know was that it was an all MLS final 8. Not to mention the constant slips calling it the MLS Cup or MLS Open Cup. I mean come one guys. You really didn't give this game its deserved respect.
The Fire did though. They really seemed to know what they were playing for. As did LA. Since 1998 the Fire hasn't gone 3 years without winning an Open Cup title. They have now held the trophy four times. LA has had the trophy twice. Including its remarkable Cup run last year that then continued on as LA went on to win the double. A feat that has only been accomplished by three teams. DC United won the double in MLS's first year, and the Fire did it themselves in their first year. No team has ever won the Supporters Shield, US Open Cup and MLS Cup.
DC United has done a Supporters Shield and MLS Cup double in 1997 and 1999, Kansas City did it in 2000, LA in 2002. Only the Chicago Fire has done a Supporters Shield and US Open Cup double so far, which they accomplished in 2003.
The game itself was pretty good. Lots of fouls, but few cards. LA looked like a quality squad, as they have for much of the season. You can't fault them on playing some good looking soccer when on TV, but they haven't been able to string together more than a few wins, certainly not enough to dig themselves out of the hole they made earlier this season. Chicago just had too much momentum, and seemed to have a quickness that LA couldn't counter. There seemed little LA could do most of the game, they were just constantly off target and unable to convert Chicago mistakes.
Section 8 had a great night, they were hard to miss on TV. And while one wonders why Garber played such a big part in a Cup that he had nothing to do with, the game itself wasn't bad at all, and it was great to see how intense the players were.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)