For the second season in a row, the fortunes of FC Dallas in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will require going through the Charleston Battery of the USL First Division, when the teams meet Tuesday night in a quarterfinal match at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C.
A year ago, in the fourth round (one round earlier), the teams also met in a wild affair in Charleston, playing to a 3-3 draw over 120 minutes as the home-standing Battery were awarded two penalty kicks, including one to tie the game in second-half stoppage time and sent it into a 30-minute extra period where each team also scored twice.
FCD forward Kenny Cooper completed a hat trick with FCD's third goal of the night in extra time, just a minute before the final whistle blew, capping a tremendous effort that saw the Hoopws play a man down for almost an hour after center back Clarence Goodson was sent off in the 62nd minute. FCD prevailed on penalty kicks by a 5-4 margin but fell to Houston in the quarterfinals a few weeks later.
A year later, Cooper will not be available as he still recuperates from a broken right leg suffered on June 9. But FCD head coach Steve Morrow still likes his side's chances.
"They're a good team," Morrow said of the Battery. "We know exactly to expect. You go there expecting a hard fight and a battle. We have to go in and play our game. We have to let our quality come through in the end and match their intensity. We have a group of guys who are ready and willing to do that."
Even though the Hoops did not fare well in SuperLiga, failing to advance out of the group stage, Morrow and his players put a high emphasis on winning the Open Cup. FCD won the competition in 1997, when they were known as the Dallas Burn, the only prize in the club's trophy case.
"It's very important," Morrow said. "It's a competition that we want to win. We'll be going there on Tuesday with a team strong enough to win the game."
Goodson is looking forward to a better performance against the Battery in this year's meeting.
"Last year, I got sent off. So, hopefully that doesn't happen this year. It made it a lot harder than it needed to be -- playing down for most of the game," he said. "They are going to be a good opponent. They are going to be tough and come out fighting. We need to match their intensity. That's going to be the biggest thing. Anytime you play a different team from a different league, you need to match their intensity. I think that if we do that, our quality will shine through."
On Monday, Morrow said that he was taking the same 18-man roster to Charleston that he employed in Saturday's 1-0 league win against Colorado. The FCD boss also said that his starting 11 will, for the most part, be the same one that prevailed against the Rapids.
Should FCD defeat the Battery, it would be their first trip to the Open Cup semifinals since 2005, when they beat the Chicago Fire 1-0 before falling to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the final.
The winner of Tuesday's match will face the winner of another Tuesday quarterfinal between the Rapids and USL First Division side Seattle Sounders, which will be played at Qwest Field in Seattle. If FCD and the Rapids win, then FCD would play host to the semifinal between the two MLS sides on August 14 in Frisco. If FCD and the Sounders win, FCD would travel to Seattle on the same day.
The route to the quarters has been eventful for both FC Dallas and Charleston. On July 9, FCD played Atlanta to a 1-1 draw after regulation and overtime but the Hoops prevailed on penalty kicks. A day later, the Battery prevailed 1-0 against Houston at Blackbaud Stadium.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
