Once again it was a very busy week around the A-League so why don't we jump right in with a look at the highly anticipated Open Cup Third Round matches? Let's get some of the seemingly easier to call matches out of the way first. The Metrostars without Clint Mathis, Tab Ramos, and possibly Mamadou Diallo should still have Rodrigo Faria, Brad Davis, and Andy Williams. The Hampton Roads Mariners will have…. ummm… Gary Brooks, Gary Glasgow, Darin Lewis, and maybe Ricardo Villar if Shawn McDonald is feeling feisty. Either way as in any Open Cup match anything can happen especially if the MLS club mails it in. Regardless, I think the Metrostars will win this one even though you've got to love the recent developments in Hampton Roads.
The LA Galaxy always seem to come into this competition as if they have something to prove which is always the right attitude to take into any knockout competition. Either way, I don't see many good things happening for Thunder fans when their MLS counterparts come calling to the Twin Cities. The goalkeeping situation for LA has been downright atrocious at times so an off night could see the Thunder through but it looks highly doubtful so I'll stay with my pick: a hard fought, close win for the Galaxy.
Another match that I don't see being too difficult is the match between Kansas City and Rochester. Sure Des Moines almost knocked out the Rhinos in the last round and the Wizards have been on an impressive run in MLS of late but I just don't see that much competition between the two when the game kicks off at the old Double F.
Aside from those two matches I really think a case can be made for any number of upsets in the other six matches. Dallas come calling on Atlanta while San Jose travel up I-5 to visit a Seattle club that's been on a roll for most of the year. At one of the gems of U.S. soccer the Colorado Rapids will pay a visit to Charleston while division rivals get to visit a place that can remind some of a much larger version of the 'Baud in Crew Stadium. The last truly intriguing match-up is going to be between the Milwaukee Rampage and Chicago Fire when the MLS guys make the short trip up I-94 to visit some guys they know fairly well, especially one John Wolyniec.
The Rampage has enough to get by should they hang on through regulation. I really feel their best chance is going to be in overtime much like the Riverhounds against this very same Chicago club. Paul Doherty helped the 'Hounds scare the crap out of the Fire last year, will Wolyniec be able to do it this year? I'm not quite banking on it but I do firmly believe that if this match goes to overtime Milwaukee will win.
When the Burn visit the 'Backs I think we'll have one of the upsets of this round. Atlanta has plenty of firepower and Bryheem Hancock seems to get more and more confident in goal with each match. If Dallas is not fully committed they will lose and I think they'll do just that anyway. Look for John Barry Nusum to put the nail in the coffin late in the match.
San Jose does not have an easy trip either with a meeting against arguably the most impressive team out of the West in the A-League this season. Darren Sawatzky's been a man on a mission this season for the Sounders and Preston Burpo hasn't been the easiest 'keeper to get past this year but I still think Landon Donovan and company will move through to the next round.
I'm sure most of you saw this one coming and predictably enough I'm going to take the Battery to win against Colorado. The key to this match will be scoring early. If the Battery do so they should win handily. The longer the Rapids can frustrate Battery forays into their end, though, the better the chance for Colorado to sneak out of the 'Baud with a win. I'll take the Battery in a 2-1 win with the Rapids lone goal coming late on as a consolation.
Richmond and Columbus provide a very interesting match-up with two squads of fairly hard workers yet no real standouts except for the Crew's Brian McBride. Sure, you could make a case for Jeff Cunnigham and Brian West but much like star-to-be Kyle Martino they aren't quite there yet. Factor in that at times they don't exactly exemplify the values of complete team play and there certainly is a chance that the Kickers could upset the MLS side. My heart wants to pick the Kickers but they would have to improve greatly on their A-League form of late.
Throw in other various news items from around the league this week such as Charleston having their incredible run snapped and Minnesota having a run of their own broken by the Sounders and it all adds up to an interesting week. Wait, though, there's more! There's more exciting news out of Hampton Roads this week as President Mike Fields told fans on usldiscussions.com that they had posted their letter of commitment to participate in the 2003 A-League season. This culminates a tumultuous past few months for most Hampton Roads fans, players, and staff who now know they'll be back next year.
Now on the negative side of the ledger there's the Calgary Storm who have been more than a bit moribund this season after making the jump from the PDL with largely the same squad. Their lack of success on the field should be no surprise to some but they've had decent crowds and one should hope that financially they'd still be able to stick it out. Yet most recent news has them folding up the A-League club and stepping back down to the PDL. This is probably a prudent move but unfortunately it is also another blow to the possibilities of the much-rumored CUSL.
Another firing to add occurred up in Pittsburgh where the Riverhounds finally ousted Kai Haaskivi after much gnashing of teeth amongst the 'Hound faithful. Believe me, they'd have to be faithful to endure so many rainy evenings at Bethel Park. Somebody please get these guys into a better stadium soon. Hey, baseball might strike, can the 'Hounds play at the Big Ketchup Bottle? Of course we'll have more to report on the 'Hounds situation in coming days but this was where the relationship always seemed to be heading once this team found itself mired in underachievement this season.
So much news this week and you've barely gotten a taste of all that's gone on. After all, I've yet to gush praise all over Cincinnati for their recent performances on their road trip to Canada last week. Then again they'll be televised once more on Saturday at home against El Paso. It should be interesting to see what their home field looks like. Don't forget to watch Calgary and Seattle tonight either as it will give those of us on the East Coast a good opportunity to see both Seattle and Calgary. Stay tuned, we'll have lots more to look at next week. Enjoy all the A-League action coming up this weekend and throughout next week.
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