CHARLESTON BATTERY v FC DALLAS
Tue., Aug. 7, Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, S.C., 7:30 p.m. ET
The Charleston Battery will look to complete their Texas two-step in U.S. Open Cup play when they play host to FC Dallas in a quarterfinal match. The teams played a wild match in Charleston a year ago, FC Dallas finally prevailing on penalty kicks. The Battery already have an MLS prize on their record this year, eliminating Houston Dynamo in the last round, while FC Dallas defeated Atlanta in their opening match.
OPEN CUP HISTORY: This is the second consecutive year the Charleston Battery and FC Dallas have met in the U.S. Open Cup - and a year ago, the Battery nearly added the Hoops to their list of successes in the competition, before FCD prevailed on penalty kicks. Kenny Cooper scored all three goals for FC Dallas, the third coming in the 119th minute, five minutes after the home side took the lead in extra time through Luc Harrington. Cooper's first, in the first half, gave FCD the lead, but Ben Hollingsworth converted a penalty kick after Clarence Goodson was sent off for a foul on Gavin Glinton in the box. The Battery then equalized in second-half stoppage time through another penalty (converted by Ian Fuller), after Cooper had scored his second in the 89th minute. FCD then won 5-3 on penalties as Dario Sala made one save.
CHARLESTON BATTERY
U.S. OPEN CUP: The Charleston Battery have proven to be a real giant-killer - especially at their Blackbaud Stadium home - in U.S. Open Cup play. In the eight times the club has entered the Open Cup, it has knocked off MLS opposition on four occasions - including this year. Every time, MLS teams have gone down to defeat in the Low Country: in 1999 (D.C, United, 3-4 aet in third round); in 2001 (MetroStars, 1-4 in the fourth round); in 2004 (MetroStars again, 0-1 in the fourth round); and this year (Houston Dynamo, 0-1). Each time the Battery have knocked off an MLS team, they have later seen their Open Cup run ended by an MLS side, twice in the semifinals (1999, Colorado Rapids 3-0; 2004, Chicago Fire 1-0 aet).
THIS YEAR: The Battery's Open Cup run began with a 3-0 victory against PDL side Central Florida Kraze in the first round. Stephen Armstrong opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Luke Vercollone added two before the half was out (12, 42). ... In the second round, the Battery scraped through against lower-level competition. Anthony Catalano scored the game's only goal 15 minutes from the end to give Charleston a 1-0 win against USL2 El Paso Patriots. ... In the third round, the Battery converted a penalty kick in the 108th minute to knock out Houston Dynamo, still the only loss for the defending MLS champions since the start of June. Ian Bennett and Dynamo defender Mike Chabala made contact in the box, and after the penalty was called, Zach Wells deflected the initial attempt by Stephen Armstrong off the post. But Armstrong alerted latched onto the rebound and sent it home for the winner.
FORM GUIDE: The Battery currently sit in ninth place in the USL First Division with 26 points from 21 matches. They had their modest two-game winning streak snapped over the weekend in a 2-1 loss to the Atlanta Silverbacks in Georgia. Charleston hasn't lost at Blackbaud Stadium since June 7 and has recorded three consecutive shutouts on home turf. ... Byron Alvarez is second in the USL First Division with eight goals, while Stephen Armstrong has six.
FC DALLAS
2007 OPEN CUP: FC Dallas survived a penalty kick shootout for the second consecutive season, playing to a 1-1 draw with the Atlanta Silverbacks over 120 minutes before advancing 4-3 over six rounds in the shootout. Ruiz scored in the 74th minute before Dan Antoniuk equalized for the USL First Division team four minutes later; three minutes later he was then sent off. ... Here's Steve Morrow's team: Dario Sala, Drew Moor (Abe Thompson 91), Clarence Goodson (David Wagenfuhr 12), Chris Gbandi, Bobby Rhine (Michael Dello-Russo 12), Aaron Pitchkolan, Pablo Richetti, Juan Toja, Ramon Nunez (Dominic Oduro 69), Carlos Ruiz, Arturo Alvarez.
IN THE OPEN CUP: FC Dallas have reached the U.S. Open Cup Final twice in club history, winning one. ... The only honor in Dallas club history came in 1997, when they claimed the U.S. title, defeating D.C. United on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in Indianapolis. ... They reached the final in 2005 but came out on the short end of the result, falling 1-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center. ... They've reached the semifinals three other times - losing in 1996 to D.C. United, in 1998 to Chicago Fire and in 2002 to Los Angeles Galaxy. They've also reached the quarterfinals on five occasions, in 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2006 along with this year. ... Twice they were dumped out at the first hurdle by lower-level competition - in 2001 by the PDL Seattle Sounders Select and in 2003 by the Wilmington Hammerheads (PSL). ... Dallas has also been defeated once by second-tier competition along the way: in 1999, losing to the Rochester Raging Rhinos 2-1 in extra time in the quarterfinals. The Dallas club has defeated second-tier (A-League or USL First Division) 10 times in 11 all-time meetings in the U.S. Open Cup.
WHAT'S NEXT: If the Seattle Sounders win their match against the Colorado Rapids, the winner of the Battery-FC Dallas tie will travel to Washington state to play their semifinal on Sept. 4. Should the Colorado Rapids win that tie, then the winner of the Charleston-Dallas game will play host on Sept. 4.
