Union's Open Cup Campaign Kicks Off Against Unbeaten Opponent
By Kevin Kinkead
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Sometimes you have to remind yourself how close the Union came to winning its first trophy last season.
It was September 16th, 2014, the final of the U.S. Open Cup at PPL Park, and deep into the second half.
Vincent Nogueira pounced on a loose touch from Osvaldo Alonso, played a one-two with Cristian Maidana, and then volleyed the return pass off the left post. The ball bounced around before it was nervously booted out of the area.
Seattle would go on to score two stoppage time goals and lift the cup on the Union's home turf.
It was a matter of inches, maybe centimeters, that made the difference.
"When that game finished on our home field, I made sure the guys stayed out there the entire time and kind of took it all in while Seattle got their medals," manager Jim Curtin said on Monday. "It's the right thing to do out of respect for the champion but also that's what should drive you in pro sports, that feeling of coming so close and not getting there, and feeling sick to your stomach. It should motivate you and push you on to bigger and brighter things. All the good teams, teams that eventually go on to win things, go through these tough moments, and that was as tough and as low a moment as we could go through."
The term "unfinished business" has been thrown around in regard to last year's improbable run. Philadelphia and Seattle were both excellent on the night of the final, and you'd be hard pressed to say that one team "deserved" the win more than the other. Ultimately, it was probably the Sounders' depth that changed the outcome of the game.
Tuesday night, the campaign kicks off again, this time with a tricky opening round opponent in Rochester. The USL side is 8-0-4 and unbeaten in league play this season.
It's a bit absurd that the team has conceded just four goals in 12 games, which speaks to the quality of the back five, anchored by players like Grant Van de Casteele, Tony Walls, Pat McMahon, and Vassilios Apostolopoulos. Six of the eight defenders and defensive midfielders on the Rhinos roster stand 6'1" or taller, and they've squashed pretty much every attack they've seen this season.
"It's a good team coming, I've watched a bunch of tape on them," Curtin said. "They don't concede a lot of goals, they've only given up four goals, they've scored 16, 8-0-4, so they haven't been beat this year. So, we're going to have to be on our game, can't take them lightly. It'll be a well-coached, organized team, and they have a couple of weapons. Fortunately, the striker (Steevan Dos Santos), is suspended from the Harrisburg the game, and he's a guy that gets a lot of goals for them. I don't think they'll high press us in our building, but maybe they do. It'll be something we'll be ready for if they do, but I expect them to sit back a little bit, give us possession, and make us really have to break them down."
John McCarthy will start in goal for the Union, as Brian Sylvestre is cup-tied to the Carolina Railhawks.
McCarthy played for the Rhinos last season and won USL goalkeeper of the year honors, so he knows a thing or two about the club.
"It's kind of like, they have nothing to lose," said McCarthy. "They might look at it like it's an opportunity for them, to get a couple of extra looks from (MLS teams) throughout the season. They have a good group of guys, a good core, and I think they had about 11 or 12 guys return from last year, so that was really good for them."
Philadelphia's best games in the 2014 U.S.O.C. were probably the quarterfinal win against New England, and the semifinal road draw in Dallas (the Union advanced on penalties). But the opening two games were tricky, with extra time required to dispatch affiliate Harrisburg and NASL upstarts New York. The Cosmos had two players and two coaches sent off, and the poor officiating of Ismail Elfath didn't do much to corral a game that quickly got out of control. Philly scraped by on a second half Sebastien Le Toux penalty kick.
"I've been warning them as much as possible all week," Curtin said of his players. "Early round games are in a lot of ways the toughest because if you run into a Cosmos, a Rochester, this is a chance for them to knock off the higher league. They want to impress and say that they belong in MLS as a team, as an individual. So, that part's challenging, getting the guys motivated. The key is playing at a tempo and a speed that they're not maybe used to. When MLS games get ramped up, it is faster, it is a stronger league. But, on any given day, a team can come in here and give you a tough time. Last year you saw it with Harrisburg and then with the Cosmos; those were our two toughest games, because they're both good teams, they can still play, the guys get paid to play. So, they're professionals, as well. It's challenging to get our guys to be ready for it. You see it so often though, these games become tricky and MLS teams are going to lose in this round — that's a fact, someone's going to go down — and it happens every year, and you have to do your best to prevent it."