On Tuesday (Aug. 12), D.C. United will compete in the semifinal round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup when the New England Revolution visits RFK Stadium. Following are some notes and facts about the truly unique tournament.
• The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup began in 1914 and is the oldest club competition in United States soccer and among the oldest in the world. The U.S. Open Cup is rare in that it allows amateur, semi-professional and professional teams from every level to compete against each other in a single-elimination format.
• This year, two second tier teams have made the semifinal on the opposite side of United - the Charleston Battery and Seattle Sounders, both from United Soccer League's first division. Should United advance past the Revolution, it would face the winner of Seattle-Charleston.
• United and the Revolution have met just once in Open Cup play - in 2001, also in the semifinal round. The Revolution won 2-0 at Foxboro Stadium on the strength of two goals by Andy Williams. Three current United players were members on the field for that game - Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta and Bryan Namoff.
• No surprise, Jaime Moreno is United's all-time leading scorer in the tournament with 11 goals since 1996. Following Moreno, the top United goal scorers in Open Cup games are: Chris Albright (5), Abdul Thompson Conteh (5) and Raul Diaz Arce (5).
• Since Major League Soccer's inception in 1996, only once has a non-MLS team won the tournament, in 1999 when the A-League's (now USL-1) Rochester Raging Rhinos defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the final.
• D.C. United has won the tournament only one time, when it completed a 'double' by winning the Open Cup title and MLS Cup in 1996. United defeated the same Rochester team that would go on to win the title three years later by a 2-0 score.
• This year's tournament is arguably the most important yet, as in addition to the champion's winnings ($100,000), the team that captures the title will get an automatic bid into the 2009-10 edition of CONCACAF Champions League, which pits the best teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean against each other.
• All-time, United is 17-9 in Open Cup play, with a 13-3 records against lower level teams and 4-6 record against MLS squads. Two of United's losses have come after overtime and penalty kicks.
D.C. United game-by-game Open Cup history
1996
9/4: W 2-0 vs. Carolina Dynamo [goals: Rammel, Rammel]
10/27: W 2-0 @ Dallas Burn [Moreno, Moreno]
10/30 [final]: W 3-0 vs. Rochester Raging Rhinos [Diaz Arce, Pope, Moreno]
1997
8/6: W 0-0 (PK 3-2) @ Hershey Wildcats
8/19: W 2-0 vs. Tampa Bay Mutiny [Wegerle, Iroha]
9/3: W 2-1 @ San Francisco Bay Seals [Moreno, Diaz Arce]
10/29 [final]: L 0-0 (PK 3-5) vs. Dallas Burn
1999
8/4 [third round]: L 3-4 @ Charleston Battery [Moreno, Albright, Wood]
2000
6/14: W 4-0 @ Charleston Battery [Moreno, Diaz Arce, Diaz Arce, Diaz Arce]
7/26: W 3-0 vs. Rochester Rhinos [Albright, Moreno, Albright]
8/9 [quarterfinal]: L 2-3 vs. Miami [Moreno, Moreno]
2001
6/27: W 8-0 vs NJ Stallions [Albright, Conteh, Pope, Conteh, Etcheverry, Conteh, NJ owngoal, Alegria]
7/11: W 3-0 @ Hershey [Albright, Moreno, Quaranta]
7/24: W 2-1 vs. Richmond Kickers [Conteh, Conteh]
8/22 [semifinal]: L 0-2 @ New England Revolution
2003
7/17: W 2-1 vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds [Petke, Kovalenko]
8/6: W 1-0 @ Virginia Beach Mariners [Stoichkov]
8/27: W 1-0 @ Wilmington Hammerheads [Cerritos]
10/1 [semifinal]: L 2-3 @ MetroStars [Ivanov, Cerritos]
2004
7/21 [fourth round]: L 1-2 @ Richmond Kickers [Kuffour]
2005
8/3: W 3-1 @ Richmond Kickers [Adu, Gomez, Gomez]
8/24 [quarterfinal]: L 1-1 (1-4 PK) vs. FC Dallas [Gomez]
2006
8/1: W 2-1 vs. Columbus [Moreno, Walker]
8/23: W 3-1 vs. New York Red Bulls [Gros, Walker, Walker]
9/6 [semifinal]: L 0-3 @ Chicago Fire
2007
7/11 [third round]: L 0-1 @ Harrisburg City Islanders
