RICHMOND KICKERS v LOS ANGELES GALAXY
Tue., July 10, University of Richmond Stadium, Richmond, Va., 7 p.m. ET
The Los Angeles Galaxy, last year's Open Cup finalists begin their quest this year with a cross-country trip to face the Richmond Kickers, the 1995 Open Cup winners who are playing in the USL Second Division (third tier).
RICHMOND KICKERS
IN THE OPEN CUP: For the first time since moving to the USL Second Division, the Kickers will take on an MLS team. The 1995 U.S. Open Cup champion, when in the USISL Select League, the Kickers have faced MLS competition on eight previous occasions, winning twice. ... In 2000, they defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-0 in the second round before falling to the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 in the third. Richmond defeated D.C. United 2-1 in the fourth round in 2004, before losing 1-0 to the Chicago Fire in the quarterfinals. ... A year ago, their first year in the USL2, the Kickers were upset 1-0 by the PDL Carolina Dynamo in their first match in the competition in the second round.
THIS YEAR: The Kickers began their Open Cup road by defeating one of the giant-killers of the past, defeating the Michigan Bucks (PDL) 4-2 at home in the first round. Robert Ssejjemba (7), Trevor McEachron (36) and Sascha Gorres (70) gave the Kickers a comfortable lead before a pair of goals from Nik Djokic made for a tense ending, before a Matt Watson goal in the 86th minute eased the Kickers home. ... In the second round, goals from Watson (28) and Ssejjemba (45+) gave the Kickers a 2-1 win against fellow USL2 side Cleveland City Stars.
FORM GUIDE: The Kickers lead the USL Second Division (third tier) with 29 points from 12 matches, a point ahead of the Charlotte Eagles and Cleveland City Stars. Last Friday, the Kickers lost 2-1 to the New Hampshire Phantoms on the road, their first loss on the campaign after nine victories and two draws. ... Robert Ssejjemba leads with six goals on the campaign, followed by David Bulow with four.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
IN THE OPEN CUP: The Galaxy have reached the U.S. Open Cup Final four times in the last six years, including last year, when they lost 3-1 to the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. ... They won in 2001 but lost the following year, before winning the Dewar Trophy for the second time in 2005 in a 1-0 victory against FC Dallas. ... Just once have the Galaxy been dumped out of the Open Cup in their opening match - in 2005, when they 1-0 to the Minnesota Thunder (A-League) in the fourth round. It snapped a run of five consecutive appearances where they reached at least the semifinals. ... The Galaxy have lost just six times in 27 Open Cup matches - two of those coming against Columbus Crew, once in the quarterfinals in 1999, and once in the 2002 final. The other three losses both came to the Fire, in the semifinals in both 2000 and 2003 and last year's final. ... Before '04, the Galaxy's shortest run in the Open Cup came in 1999, when a quarterfinal loss to the Columbus Crew followed a win against the San Diego Flash (A-League).
LAST YEAR: The Galaxy began their Open Cup run by putting an end to the Cinderella bid of amateur side Roma FC of Dallas with a 2-0 fourth-round victory (Kirk 35, Gordon 70). ... Then it took 120 minutes to do it, but the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-1 win in Carson in the quarterfinals (Kirk 45, Donovan 93, 115 - Mathis 3). ... In the semifinals, the Galaxy defeated Houston Dynamo 3-1 at The Home Depot Center (Gordon 6, Donovan 44, Quaranta 93+ - De Rosario 12), before the loss to the Fire in the final (Jaqua 10; Herron 16; Thiago 88 - Gordon 51)
THIS YEAR: As one of the four teams not to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs last year, the Galaxy had to survive two qualifying rounds to reach the tournament proper this year. ... On April 24 in Columbus, L.A. got a 17th-minute goal from Nate Jaqua, who tapped in a rolling cross from Landon Donovan, and made it stand up for a 1-0 win against the Crew. ... That sent them into a second-round play-in game, where they defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in extra time. ... After each team went a player down in the regulation 90 minutes - where Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin stopped a Jozy Altidore penalty kick, Peter Vagenas (93) and Santino Quaranta (103) gave the Galaxy the lead. ... Juan Pablo Angel, making his Red Bulls debut, scored from a free kick in the 109th minute to pull the visitors back to within one, but Quaranta finished off a counterattack with an easy tap-in of a Donovan pass to round out the scoreline.
