the first in club history -- before losing to the Chicago Fire.
CHARLESTON BATTERY
OPEN CUP HISTORY: This is the fifth time the Battery have reached the competition proper, missing out last season after surviving A-League qualification for four consecutive years, where they took down some heavy-hitting MLS clubs. In 1999 - their first appearance in the Open Cup proper - they reached the semifinals. Their run began with a 2-1 victory against the D3 Wilmington Hammerheads, before shocking D.C. United 4-3 in extra time in Charleston in the third round. The Battery then defeated the Staten Island Vipers 2-1 in an all A-League quarterfinal, before losing 3-0 to the Colorado Rapids in the semifinals at Virginia Beach. ... United got their revenge the following season with a 2-0 victory in a second-round meeting, but the Battery returned to their giant-killing in 2001, defeating the MetroStars 4-1 in the second round before falling 2-1 to the New England Revolution in the round-of-16. ... In 2002, Charleston knocked off D3 Greenville Lions 3-0 in the second round, before being beaten in extra-time by the Colorado Rapids, a golden goal the only marker of the match.
2004 OPEN CUP: The Battery lost their A-League qualification series 4-2 on aggregate to the Atlanta Silverbacks, but still gained the competition itself by virtue of winning last year's A-League championship. The Silverbacks won 2-0 at home on May 8 (John Ball 67, Velko Iotov 85) before a Mac Cozier double in the return leg on May 15 secured passage to the competition itself (Cozier 43, 77 - Ted Chronopoulos 51, Greg Simmonds 69). ... In the Open Cup second round, the Battery eased past the D3 Wilmington Hammerheads 2-0 at Blackbaud Stadium behind a Paul Conway double (2, 44). ... Here's the team Chris Ramsey ran out: Dusty Hudock; Jason Kutney, Mark Watson, Nigel Henry, Nick Downing; Kevin Jackson (Josh Smith 78), Steve Klein, Justin Evans, Chris Goos (Henrik Jensen 67); Paul Conway (Jesus Martinez 88), Greg Simmonds (Gabe Valencia 71)
2004 A-LEAGUE: The defending A-League champion come into the game in last place in the Eastern Conference, with just 13 points from 18 matches, trailing the Puerto Rico Islanders by five points, with just one victory in the last two months (1-9-3). The Battery have just three victories on the campaign. ... The Battery have won just once in nine games at home this season. ... Former D.C. United forward Greg Simmonds is the team leader with four goals, two assists. ... In their last match, the Battery lost 1-0 away to the Syracuse Salty Dogs through a 56th-minute goal from Rene Rivas. ... Here's the team Ramsey ran out: Chris Doyle - Nigel Henry, Steve Klein, Rick Titus, Nick Downing, Justin Evans, Kevin Jackson (Kelvin Jones 83), Josh Smith (Paul Conway 58), Gabe Valencia, Caleb Norkus (Henrik Jensen 67), Jesus Martinez (Chris Goos 58)
METROSTARS
A year ago, the MetroStars reached a cup final for the first time in club history, but fell in the final to the Chicago Fire through a Damani Ralph goal. ... The Metro run to the final began with a 4-0 third round victory against PDL (fourth division) Mid-Michigan Bucks (Guevara 5, Wolyniec 83, Nugent 87, Galvan 88), then they came back from two goals down to defeat the Columbus Crew 4-3 in the round-of-16 (Buddle 10, 11; Maisonneuve 43 - own goal 24; Jolley 54; Pope 77, 86) ... The MetroStars then claimed a 2-1 golden goal victory in the quarterfinals against the New England Revolution (Mathis 29; Guevara 116 - Heaps 47+) before dispatching another Eastern Conference opponent in the semifinals with a 3-2 victory against D.C. United (Guevara 20, 43; Wolyniec 88 - Ivanov 18, Cerritos 76) before the string ran out. ... The MetroStars have lost to A-League competition twice, in 1999 to the Staten Island Vipers (2-3), and in 2001 to the Battery (Jean-Baptiste 47, Conway 70; Piesner 77, Cozier 79 - Hernandez 90). Here's the Metro team from that night: Howard - Petke, Hernandez, Jolley - Williams, Alvarez, Walsh (Comas 55), Ramos (Valencia 71), Perez - Chung, Klinger. ... Three times previously, Metro failed at the final hurdle in the U.S. Open Cup - in extra time in 1997, 2-1 to Dallas Burn in a match played at Columbia University's Baker Field (Branco 85 - Alvarez 17; Flores 103), in 1998 by 1-0 to Columbus Crew (Iribarren 5), and in 2000 to Miami Fusion (2-3; Walsh 39; Valencia 84 - A Williams 11; Welton 61; Serna 63)
