Open Cup Primer 2009

The 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins tonight for MLS teams, and I've updated the statistical leaders in many categories for the occasion. Eight qualifiers will take on eight lower league clubs in the next two days in what is always one of the most exciting parts of the season. The past two editions have seen only half the MLS teams (8/16) advance in this round. With only two home games this year, it could be another ugly year for MLS. However, there are only 5 USL-1 teams and several of them face tough matchups (I can't imagine the Sounders going easy on Portland, for example). Traditionally, the trio of Charleston/Minnesota/Rochester are the toughest on MLS teams. On the other hand, CHI/DC/NE should have no problem with teams two and three divisons below them. See below for a list of lower-league wins over MLS teams. And remember, a place in the CONCACAF Champions League is on the line! Teams like Kansas City and Seattle would be smart to put some emphasis on this tournament. BTW, those two teams will meet if they both win (potential quarterfinal matchups). Don't forget to check out the history of MLS & Penalty Shootouts, with a detailed list of every single player's scoring rate. That will certainly be a factor. And now, before you check out the huge list of statistics below regarding MLS teams in the competition since 1996, I want to mention two important things. First of all, player stats include only those while playing for MLS teams. If someone played in the Open Cup for a minor league team, I'm not including those stats here. I also need to point out that Open Cup qualifying games are not part of the tournament proper, and any results/stats from those games are not included here. Be sure to check out usopencup.com for their great coverage of the tournament as a whole. Oh, I almost forgot one very important stat: FC Dallas will not play in the Open Cup this season. They were the only MLS team to participate every single season since the league's inception. Records - Overall GP W L D Pts GF GA GD 1 Chicago 34 25 7 2 77 66 30 36 2 DC United 30 20 7 3 63 61 28 33 3 Los Angeles 28 20 7 1 61 64 30 34 4 Dallas 35 19 12 4 61 66 53 13 5 Columbus 23 15 7 1 46 51 29 22 6 New York 24 12 11 1 37 40 34 6 7 New England 20 10 7 3 33 40 29 11 8 Kansas City 20 10 8 2 32 40 27 13 9 San Jose 18 8 6 4 28 35 18 17 10 Colorado 19 8 11 0 24 20 35 -15 11 Miami 9 5 3 1 16 24 15 9 12 Tampa Bay 10 3 6 1 10 11 20 -9 13 Houston 5 2 2 1 7 9 7 2 14 Chivas USA 5 1 3 1 4 6 12 -6 15 Real Salt Lake 3 1 2 0 3 6 8 -2 DC jumped up to 2nd from 4th last year on their way to a perfect (4-0) championship run. Records - vs MLS only GP W L D Pts GF GA GD 1 Chicago 20 15 4 1 46 38 20 18 2 Los Angeles 16 10 5 1 31 30 20 10 3 Columbus 14 7 6 1 22 24 21 3 4 DC United 12 6 4 2 20 19 16 3 5 Dallas 15 5 8 2 17 17 28 -11 6 New York 12 5 6 1 16 22 19 3 7 Colorado 8 4 4 0 12 10 13 -3 8 Kansas City 8 3 5 0 9 12 12 0 9 New England 8 3 5 0 9 13 15 -2 10 Miami 5 2 3 0 6 8 11 -3 11 Houston 2 1 1 0 3 4 3 1 12 San Jose 6 0 4 2 2 3 8 -5 13 Real Salt Lake 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 -1 14 Chivas USA 1 0 1 0 0 2 5 -3 15 Tampa Bay 4 0 4 0 0 0 10 -10 Only two all MLS matchups took place last season: DC beating CHI and NE in the quarters and semis respectively. Titles/Best finishes 4-Chicago (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006) 2-D.C. United (1996, 2008) 2-Los Angeles (2001, 2005) 1-Dallas (1997) 1-Columbus (2002) 1-Kansas City (2004) 1-New England (2007) 0-Chivas USA (round of 16: 2005, 2007, 2008) 0-Colorado (runners up: 1999) 0-Houston (semifinals: 2006) 0-Miami (runners up: 2000) 0-New York (runners up: 2003) 0-Real Salt Lake (round of 16: 2006) 0-San Jose (semifinals: 2004) 0-Tampa Bay (quarterfinals: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) Most Goals - Overall (italics = active MLS player) 1 Jaime Moreno 11 2 Carlos Ruiz 9 2 Josh Wolff 9 4 Chris Albright 8 4 Ronald Cerritos 8 4 Brian McBride 8 7 Abdul Thompson Conteh 7 7 Herculez Gomez 7 7 Jason Kreis 7 7 Alejandro Moreno 7 7 Taylor Twellman 7 7 Dante Washington 7 Twellman is the only newcomer to the top ten; he scored once last season to jump into a tie for 7th. Most Goals - Single Season 1 Herculez Gomez 6 LA 2005 1 Welton 6 MIA 2000 1 Josh Wolff 6 CHI 2000 4 A.T. Conteh 5 DC 2001 5 Jeff Cunningham 4 CLB 2003 5 Amado Guevara 4 NY 2000 5 Andy Herron 4 CHI 2006 5 Jaime Moreno 4 DC 2000 5 Diego Serna 4 MIA 2000 5 Taylor Twellman 4 NE 2007 Top MLS scorer by year: (bold = also won or tied for the overall golden boot) 1996 3 goals Jaime Moreno (DC) 1997 2 goals Shaun Bartlett (NY), Ronald Cerritos (SJ), Damian (DAL), Ted Eck (DAL), Lawrence Lozzano (SJ) 1998 3 goals Brian McBride (CLB) 1999 3 goals Jorge Dely Valdes (COL), Bobby Rhine (DAL) 2000 6 goals Welton (MIA), Josh Wolff (CHI) 2001 5 goals Abdul Thompson Conteh (DC) 2002 3 goals Carlos Ruiz (LA) 2003 4 goals Amado Guevara (NY) 2004 3 goals Davy Arnaud (KC) 2005 6 goals Herculez Gomez (LA) 2006 4 goals Andy Herron (CHI) 2007 4 goals Taylor Twellman (NE) 2008 3 goals Luciano Emilio (DC) Nobody has scored more than 6 goals in a single cup since the "professional era" started in 1995. Three minor league players have also scored 6: Marquis White in 1997, Mugurel Dmitru in 1999, and Melvin Tarley in 2005. Most Games Played 1 Jesse Marsch 27 2 C.J. Brown 24 3 Zach Thornton 23 3 Peter Vagenas 23 3 Andy Williams 23 6 Chris Armas 22 6 Cobi Jones 22 8 Chris Albright 21 8 Jaime Moreno 21 10 Diego Gutierrez 20 10 Steve Jolley 20 10 Carey Talley 20 Jim Curtin (19) and Steve Ralston (18) are next in line among active players. Most Regular Season Games Played Without Playing in the Open Cup 1 Pete Marino 100 2 Dave van den Bergh 83 3 Adrian Paz 80 4 Jim Brennan 70 5 Dane Richards 67 5 Carl Robinson 67 7 Robbie Findley 66 8 Juan Pablo Angel 64 8 Guillermo Barros Schelotto 64 10 Danny Dichio 55 Only Schelotto has a chance to get off this list in 2009. Best Strike Rate (goals per game, min 10 games played) 1 Taylor Twellman 0.700 2 Carlos Ruiz 0.643 3 Ronald Cerritos 0.615 3 Brian McBride 0.615 5 Alejandro Moreno 0.583 6 Clint Mathis 0.545 7 Dante Washington 0.538 8 Josh Wolff 0.529 9 Jaime Moreno 0.524 10 Abe Thompson 0.500 Finally eligible, Twellman takes the top spot from Ruiz. Thompson's brace last season pushes Landon Donovan and Ante Razov out of the top ten. Hat Tricks 4-Welton, MIA vs New Jersey (2000) 4-Josh Wolff, CHI vs Dallas (2000) 3-Bobby Rhine, DAL vs Jacksonville (1999) 3-Raul Diaz Arce, DC @ Charlston (2000) 3-Abdul Thompson Conteh, DC vs New Jersey (2001) 3-Carlos Ruiz, LA @ Seattle (2003) 3-Jason Kreis, RSL @ Minnesota (2005) 3-Kenny Cooper, DAL @ Charleston (2006) Top Coaches by PPG (minimum 10 games) 1 Dave Sarachan 2.500 2 Tom Fitzgerald 2.200 3 Greg Andrulis 2.100 4 Sigi Schmid 2.048 5 Bob Bradley 2.043 6 Bob Gansler 2.000 6 Dave Dir 2.000 6 Ray Hudson 2.000 9 Colin Clarke 1.700 10 Fernando Clavijo 1.636 Only a total of 15 coaches have 10+ games in the tournament. Of those 15, the only one with a losing record is Tim Hankinson (4-7-1). Biggest Margin Of Victory 8:0-DC vs New Jersey (2001) 7:1-NE vs Mid-Michigan (2001) 6:0-SJ @ Central Coast (2001) 6:1-MIA vs New Jersey (2000) 6:1-KC vs Des Moines (2006) 5:0-SJ @ Stanislaus Utd (2000) 5:0-LA vs Nashville (2001) Longest Unbeaten Streaks 8 Chicago 2000-01 8 Los Angeles 2001-02 7 Chicago 2003-04 7 DC United 1996-97 7 Los Angeles 2005-06 6 Dallas 1997-98 6 New England 2007-08 5 Columbus 2000-01 5 Kansas City 2004-05 Chicago's streaks both consisted of nothing but wins, as does the second LA streak. Longest Winless Streak 5 New England 2003-06 At least they advanced once after a draw. Can be matched by Chivas tonight. Wins By Lower League Teams Over MLS (shootouts are counted as draws) USL-1/A-League (29) 7-Rochester Raging Rhinos (1996-TB, COL; 1999-CHI, DAL, *CLB, *COL; 2005-NY) 5-Charleston Battery (1999-DC; 2000-NY; 2004-NY, 2007-HOU, 2008-DAL) 4-Minnesota Thunder (2004-LA, 2005-RSL, COL, KC) 4-Seattle Sounders (2003-SJ, 2007-CHV, COL, 2008-CHV) 2-Richmond Kickers (2000-COL; 2004-DC) 1-Carolina Railhawks (2007-CHI) 1-Connecticut Wolves (2001-TB) 1-Long Island Rough Riders (1997-NE) 1-Milwaukee Rampage (2002-CHI) 1-Nashville Metros (1998-KC) 1-Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2001-COL) 1-Staten Island Vipers (1999-NY) USL-2/PSL/D-3 (7) 2-San Francisco Bay Seals (1997-KC, SJ) 1-Chicago Stingers (1997-COL) 1-Crystal Palace Baltimore (2008-NY) 1-Harrisburg City Islanders (2007-DC) 1-Richmond Kickers (2007-LA) 1-Wilmington Hammerhaeads (2003-DAL) PDL (2) 1-Mid-Michigan Bucks (2000-NE) 1-Seattle Sounders Select (2001-DAL) Bold signifies an MLS home game. * signifies a neutral venue. Overall, MLS teams are 98-38-15 against lower league competition. That is 2.05 points per game, or the equivalent of 61 points in a 30 game season.

Near-Record Number of MLS Rookies Contributing

I guess it's to be expected as the league gets bigger and bigger, but this year's rookie class is on pace to equal or break a record. What is it? The most rookies who started at least half of the regular season games. The record is 10, and already 9 rookies this season are virtually certain to hit that mark (15 starts): Darrius Barnes (NE) Matt Besler (KC) Sam Cronin (TOR) Stefan Frei (TOR) Omar Gonzalez (LA) Jeremy Hall (LA) Chris Pontius (DC) Rodney Wallace (DC) Steve Zakuani (SEA) Breaking the record is going to be hard, as some less hyped players will have to lock down a starting role. It's probably up to the foursome of Kevin Alston (NE), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA), George John (DAL), and Nick Zimmerman (NY) to grab and keep starting roles. Alston is a good bet; the others less so. But even if the number stays at 9, that's still the third highest total in league history: Rookies who started 50% or more regular season games 1996 7 1997 1 1998 10 1999 5 2000 8 2001 6 2002 4 2003 7 2004 8 2005 8 2006 10 2007 5 2008 1 Total 80 It's especially noticeable this year after the lack of impact rookies a year ago. Average is 6.2 per season. 1996 KC Gutierrez, Diego 1996 NY Joseph, Miles 1996 NE Keegan, Paul 1996 DC Peay, Clint 1996 DC Pope, Eddie 1996 TB Ralston, Steve 1996 LA Vanney, Greg 1997 TB Duhaney, Mike 1998 SJ Barrett, Wade 1998 MIA Cullen, Leo 1998 TB Houser, Chris 1998 CHI Kotschau, Ritchie 1998 MIA Mastroeni, Pablo 1998 DC Olsen, Ben 1998 NY Petke, Mike 1998 DC Talley, Carey 1998 NE Torres, Johnny 1998 KC Vermillion, Scott 1999 KC Brown, Chris (2) 1999 SJ Clark, Jamie 1999 LA Elliot, Simon 1999 MIA Heaps, Jay 1999 SJ Mulrooney, Richard 2000 CHI Bocanegra, Carlos 2000 LA Califf, Danny 2000 DC Convey, Bobby 2000 KC Garcia, Nick 2000 COL Key, Lance 2000 NE Pierce, Rusty 2000 MIA Rimando, Nick 2000 LA Victorine, Sasha 2001 COL Herdsman, Stephen 2001 DC Lisi, Mark 2001 DC Namoff, Bryan 2001 DC Nelsen, Ryan 2001 DAL Suarez, Ryan 2001 DC Ziadie, Craig 2002 CHI Gray, Kelly 2002 CLB Martino, Kyle 2002 NY Moore, Jeff 2002 COL Stewart, Jeff 2003 COL Borchers, Nat 2003 NY Clark, Ricardo 2003 SJ Dunivant, Todd 2003 NY Magee, Mike 2003 NE Noonan, Pat 2003 CHI Pause, Logan 2003 CHI Ralph, Damani 2004 COL Cila, Jordan 2004 SJ Cochrane, Ryan 2004 NE Dempsey, Clint 2004 DC Gros, Josh 2004 CLB Marshall, Chad 2004 NY Parke, Jeff 2004 DC Perkins, Troy 2004 CLB Wingert, Chris 2005 DC Boswell, Bobby 2005 RSL Cutler, Kenny 2005 CHV Guzan, Brad 2005 LA Ihemelu, Ugo 2005 NE Parkhurst, Michael 2005 CHI Rolfe, Chris 2005 KC Sealy, Scott 2005 CHI Segares, Gonzalo 2006 RSL Ballouchy, Mehdi 2006 CHV Bornstein, Jonathan 2006 RSL Forko, Willis 2006 CLB Garey, Jason 2006 KC Groenwald, Matt 2006 CHV Kljestan, Sacha 2006 CLB Moss, Brandon 2006 COL Peterson, Jacob 2006 CHI Robinson, Dasan 2006 NY Wynne, Marvell 2007 TOR Boyens, Andrew 2007 TOR Edu, Maurico 2007 LA Harden, Ty 2007 KC Harrington, Michael 2007 NY Richards, Dane 2008 LA Franklin, Sean

Jay Heaps' Long Nightmare is Over

No one could've seen his call up to the Gold Cup coming. At the age of 32, he likely will be capped for the first time for the USMNT. He's the oldest member of the squad, and also a current record holder. He owns the title of most MLS games played by an American without being capped. Is there really any shot of seeing him in 2010 (at LB?), or does Bob Bradley just want a veteran to help win this tournament (and also possibly to make sure the callups are distributed evenly among teams)? Carey Talley is next in line, and I'm sure he can't be happy about this development. He was called up before by his former DC coach Bruce Arena, and came ever so close in 2000: "Was seconds away from his first full cap, waiting to come as a substitute against Chile, when the match ended."

OTFATT 2009: Update #3

Previous Updates #1 4/12 68 players remaining #2 5/25 37 players remaining OTFATT is short for "On the field, all the time." In these updates throughout the season, I'll be keeping track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game (regular season only). That feat has been accomplished 35 times in 13 season by 28 different players. Click here for that list. 14 players have been eliminated since the last update, while two more teams have been wiped out completely. The CONCACAF Gold Cup should knock a few players off. Stuart Holden, Will Johnson, and Sharlie Joseph are supposed to be called up. Nick Garcia deserves special mention. He's listed under Toronto below, but in reality Adrian Serioux is their last player to play every minute for the club. Garcia was traded from San Jose to Toronto and has played every minute he's been available for both teams. He could follow in the footsteps of Scott Garlick (TB/COL) in 2000 and Chris Klein (RSL/LA) in 2007 by making it the whole year despite being traded. However, unlike Klein, he won't play more than the actual number of games in the regular season. Garcia could play only 29 in total, whereas Klein played 32 in a 30 game season. Garcia's actually a pretty good bet to last the year. I would put him and Jimmy Conrad as favorites among field players, with Jordan Harvey as a longshot pick. Among goalkeepers, you need to look for the guys with no-name backups. So Jon Busch, Joe Cannon, and Kevin Hartman stand out. EDIT: USA Gold Cup roster has been announced. Busch/Conrad/Heaps/Clark/Holden will all miss games. As always, keep an eye on the discipline situation, which will become a big factor as the season goes on. It hasn't been an issue yet though, but it will. There's no way that somebody like Bobby Boswell will get through the year without a couple more yellows and a suspension. Remaining Candidates (23) 2 CHI Busch, McBride 2 CHV Talley, Thornton 2 COL Clark, Harvey 2 DAL Ferreira, Moor 1 DC Namoff 4 HOU Boswell, Cameron, Holden, Onstad 2 KC Conrad, Hartman 1 LA Gonzalez 3 NE Barnes, Heaps, Joseph 1 RSL Johnson 1 SJ Cannon 2 TOR Serioux, Garcia Order of teams being totally wiped out, with last surviving player: 1. NY-Dane Richards (4/18) 2. CLB-Brian Carroll (5/27) 2. SEA-Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (6/14)

MLS: College Alumni Lineups

Which college soccer program has the best lineup when looking only at the MLS players it has produced (so no Euro players allowed)? Read on and judge for yourself. If a player played for two colleges, I'm only counting the latter. Players are included who have played for an MLS team in any official competition (not just the regular season). Only the 14 colleges that can field a full starting lineup are listed: California Stefan Frei, Tyson Wahl, Steve Purdy, Troy Roberts, Eric Ebert, Nick Hatzke, Mike Munoz, Luke Sassano, Chris Roner, Calen Carr, Peter Woodring Not a good lineup, but at least they can field a team! Clemson Matt Jordan, Nathan Sturgis, Chris Martinez, Ricky Lewis, Eric Quill, Imad Baba, Stuart Holden, Mark Lisi, Miles Joseph, Dane Richards, Wolde Harris Some decent players here, without any real star power. This is a 3-5-2 with Richards up top, in order to get him and Joseph in the lineup. I bumped Eric Eichmann to get both of them in there. He's a little before my time so I can't say if that's justified or not. Duke Mark Dodd, Jay Heaps, Darrius Barnes, Robbie Russell, Evan Whitfield, Brian Kelly, Mike Videira, Jordan Cila, John Kerr, Ali Curtis, Jason Kreis Some pretty solid cornerstones here. Seems like many of the players have suited up for Dallas or New England (plus Germanese, Helton, Loftus). Indiana Juergen Sommer, Danny O'Rourke, Mike Clark, Nick Garcia, Drew Moor, Chad Deering, Brian Maisonneuve, Ned Grabavoy, Dema Kovalenko, Chris Klein, Pat Noonan Serious quality here. O'Rourke is not an ideal LB, but I think they'll be fine. Maryland Chris Seitz, Marc Burch, Danny Califf, Clarence Goodson, Leo Cullen, Robbie Rogers, Seth Stammler, Maurice Edu, Stephen King, Taylor Twellman, Abe Thompson Nice, but not quite as impressive as Indiana I don't think. Portland Curtis Spiteri, Michael Gavin, Wade Webber, Kelly Gray, Scott Benedetti, Andrew Gregor, Darren Sawatzky, Chris Brown, Yari Allnut, Nate Jaqua, Conor Casey I have no idea how this team will line up, but at least they're in the league. Casey-Jaqua up top is a nice combo. Rutgers Jon Conway, Alexi Lalas, Peter Vermes, Jeff Zaun, Josh Gros, Nick LaBrocca, Billy Walsh, Brian Piesner, Hamisi Amani-Dove, Rob Johnson, Steve Rammel Strong defensively, with no attack. Really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to put together a full lineup. Santa Clara Joe Cannon, Amaechi Igwe, Ryan Cochrane, Adam Eyre, Jeff Stewart, Eric Denton, Peter Lowry, Mehdi Ballouchy, Jamil Walker, Jeff Baicher, Paul Bravo Cannon's gonna have to come up big as usual. Midfield is a weakness. Southern Methodist Tom Presthus, Paul Broome, Ugo Ihemelu, Daniel Hernandez, Carl Bussey, Bruno Guarda, Colin Clark, Diego Walsh, Ramon Nunez, Alan Prampin, Luchi Gonzalez I expected a bit better from college that ranked 7th for most MLS players through 2008. Southern Connecticut State Bo Oshoniyi, Mike Petke, Chris Houser, Brian Bliss, Jordan Russolillo, Kevin Anderson, John DeBrito, John Ball, Cristian da Silva, Cordt Weinstein, Carlos Rocha Presenting your USL all-stars... Actually, it's really impressive to see a division two school get enough players into the league to make this list. UCLA Brad Friedel, Greg Vanney, Carlos Bocanegra, Jimmy Conrad, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Paul Caligiuri, Pete Vagenas, Cobi Jones, Joe-Max Moore, Ante Razov The undisputed kings of MLS talent. Several players deep at every position beyond this lineup, as guys like Jonathan Bornstein and Chris Henderson are left out. And then there's the goalkeepers (Hartman, Reis, Rimando). Virginia Tony Meola, Jeff Agoos, Bakary Soumare, Chris Albright, John Harkes, Richie Williams, John Maessner, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna, Alecko Eskandarian, A.J. Wood Bruce Arena's boys. Adam Cristman could take a spot pretty soon. Wake Forest Will Hesmer, James Riley, Michael Parkhurst, Pat Phelan, Stephen Keel, Sergi Daniv, Brian Carroll, Sam Cronin, Michael Lahoud, Wells Thompson, Scott Sealy Missing a bit on the attack (thanks a lot Marcus). Washington Dusty Hudock, Mike Chabala, Chad McCarty, Ty Harden, Craig Waibel, Brandon Prideaux, Wes Hart, Joe Franchino, Ian Russell, Jason Boyce, Zach Kingsley Attack of the defenders. I guess Kingsley is going to play up top by himself. Almost There Teams that could've fielded an 11 player lineup, but either were missing a goalkeeper or had too many keepers and not enough field players. Connecticut, Creighton, CS Fullerton, Florida International, North Carolina, Saint John's, Saint Louis, UC Santa Barbara