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.