US Open Cup and CT

[UCFBfan]

Was looking at my Fotmob app (highly recommend!) and it looks like Connecticut's own AC Connecticut is playing an opening round match tomorrow vs Virginia Beach City FC. The match is at home which appears to be in Newtown.

http://acconnecticut.com/ac-connecticut-set-to-play-in-us-open-cup/

From the article it seems like the club was formed in 2012 and in 4 years earned the right to play in the US Open Cup. They finished second in the PDL (Premier Development League) which seems to be the 4th tier (if there are any) in US League Soccer. After MLS, NASL, and USL there seem to be a bunch of amateur leagues that earn bids to the US Open Cup starting in 2014. The PDL seems to be at the top of the Amateur leagues?? Here's the wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_soccer_league_system#Men

Virginia Beach is from the other top amateur league the NPSL.

Should be interesting to see if they can win a game. If they win they face a USL club.

 

[ZooCougar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Connecticut

Just some more info, but good find. It's mind boggling to me how many of these little clubs exist.

 

[SAMCRO]

Great catch. I love the FotMob app. Apparently the Brooklyn Italians(not to be mistaken with the New York Greek Americans) are playing Long Island Rough Riders. I never knew either team existed. The Greek Americans of New York play the Jersey Express.

 

[UCFBfan]

Great catch. I love the FotMob app. Apparently the Brooklyn Italians(not to be mistaken with the New York Greek Americans) are playing Long Island Rough Riders. I never knew either team existed. The Greek Americans of New York play the Jersey Express.

There are some truly great names playing tomorrow! There is either an amateur team named BYU Cougars or the actual college team made the US Open Cup and they are playing Harpo's FC?!?

Anyone wanna guess where these teams are from:

PSA Elite
Kitsap Pumas
Burlingame Dragons FC
Seacoast United Phantoms
Upward Stars
Triangle Brigade
RWB Adria

Crazy team names! Even some of the teams where you can tell where they're from have some cool team names. Golden State Misioneros FC or Fort Pitt Regiment

Fun stuff

 

[ZooCougar]

There are some truly great names playing tomorrow! There is either an amateur team named BYU Cougars or the actual college team made the US Open Cup and they are playing Harpo's FC?!?

Anyone wanna guess where these teams are from:

PSA Elite
Kitsap Pumas
Burlingame Dragons FC
Seacoast United Phantoms
Upward Stars
Triangle Brigade
RWB Adria

Crazy team names! Even some of the teams where you can tell where they're from have some cool team names. Golden State Misioneros FC or Fort Pitt Regiment

Fun stuff

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYU_Cougars_men's_soccer

Evidently BYU's soccer team left the NCAA and competes in the PDL instead. Probably a missionary aspect to it, they travel all over the world.

 

[UCFBfan]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYU_Cougars_men's_soccer

Evidently BYU's soccer team left the NCAA and competes in the PDL instead. Probably a missionary aspect to it, they travel all over the world.

That's crazy! I've never heard of anything like that! It would interesting to know if colleges could form a PDL team. I believe the wiki article stated that the PDL is a summer league where college kids play during the off-season or maybe it was a league where kids play right after college? Maybe like the Cape Cod League for baseball?

 

[UCFBfan]

From the wiki article about the PDL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Development_League

As PDL seasons take place during the summer months, the player pool is drawn mainly from elite NCAAcollege soccer players seeking to continue playing high-level soccer during their summer break, which they can do while still maintaining their college eligibility.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

There are some truly great names playing tomorrow! There is either an amateur team named BYU Cougars or the actual college team made the US Open Cup and they are playing Harpo's FC?!?

Anyone wanna guess where these teams are from:

PSA Elite
Kitsap Pumas
Burlingame Dragons FC
Seacoast United Phantoms
Upward Stars
Triangle Brigade
RWB Adria

Crazy team names! Even some of the teams where you can tell where they're from have some cool team names. Golden State Misioneros FC or Fort Pitt Regiment

Fun stuff

Seacoast United is from the Portsmouth area of New Hampshire. Their academy program draws from as far south as Boston and as far north as Portland ME. This team plays at Portsmouth NH HS now; but, the Club owns an Indoor Arena in nearby Hampton NH, which is where they first started, and an outdoor field complex just inland in Epping NH. I had friends play in their Rec leagues. I even think they do Lax, now, too.,

 

[meyers7]

Was looking at my Fotmob app (highly recommend!) and it looks like Connecticut's own AC Connecticut is playing an opening round match tomorrow vs Virginia Beach City FC. The match is at home which appears to be in Newtown.

http://acconnecticut.com/ac-connecticut-set-to-play-in-us-open-cup/

From the article it seems like the club was formed in 2012 and in 4 years earned the right to play in the US Open Cup. They finished second in the PDL (Premier Development League) which seems to be the 4th tier (if there are any) in US League Soccer. After MLS, NASL, and USL there seem to be a bunch of amateur leagues that earn bids to the US Open Cup starting in 2014. The PDL seems to be at the top of the Amateur leagues?? Here's the wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_soccer_league_system#Men

Virginia Beach is from the other top amateur league the NPSL.

Should be interesting to see if they can win a game. If they win they face a USL club.

We have a PDL club up here over the border (in MA). Western Mass Pioneers. They've been around for awhile (since the late 90's). They have a US Open Cup game tonight also. According to their schedule they play AC Connecticut 5/29.

They are part of an actual "club". Right across the street from their stadium. A Portuguese club, members, a bar, dinners, etc.

 

[ZooCougar]

Seacoast United is from the Portsmouth area of New Hampshire. Their academy program draws from as far south as Boston and as far north as Portland ME. This team plays at Portsmouth NH HS now; but, the Club owns an Indoor Arena in nearby Hampton NH, which is where they first started, and an outdoor field complex just inland in Epping NH. I had friends play in their Rec leagues. I even think they do Lax, now, too.,

They must be a big organization because they have two teams in the NPSL. Phantoms and Mariners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Premier_Soccer_League

 

[ZooCougar]

Here's the full slate and YouTube links for the games. Unreal.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...s-full-swing-wednesday-21-first-round-matches

Below actually goes in detail on each of the clubs.

"Game #6: Virginia Beach City FC (NPSL) vs. AC Connecticut (PDL)
Time/Location: 7 p.m. ET; Westside Athletic Complex in Danbury, Conn.
Previous Appearances: First appearance for both teams
•Virginia Beach City FC make their first tournament appearance after a 6-1-3 record saw the team finish second in the NPSL’s Mid-Atlantic Conference in 2014.
•In their first tournament appearance, AC Connecticut (formerly Connecticut Azul FC) earned an At Large berth following a 9-2-3 second place record in the PDL’s Northeast Division in 2014. "


http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/05/12/10/57/150512-usoc-notes-first-round

 

[UCFBfan]

Good luck to AC Connecticut. Hope they pull out a win. I think they play home games at Western CT State University in Danbury.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

They must be a big organization because they have two teams in the NPSL. Phantoms and Mariners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Premier_Soccer_League

Yep, basically the IMG Academy of NH. Not sure where the Mariners came from; but, I believe the Phantoms have been around a while and were based in Manchester NH before Seacoast got involved.

 

[Waquoit]

Apparently the Brooklyn Italians(not to be mistaken with the New York Greek Americans) are playing Long Island Rough Riders. .... The Greek Americans of New York play the Jersey Express.

It's a missed opportunity that New York and Long Island aren't playing. They seem to be natural rivals.

 

[UCFBfan]

AC Connecticut fall 3-2 to Virginia Beach City

 

[meyers7]

AC Connecticut fall 3-2 to Virginia Beach City

WM Pioneers lost also, on KFTM 4-3 after a 1-1 draw with AET.

 

[ZooCougar]

Well, hopefully if "Hartford City" actually pans out, they will be in next season's edition.

 

[UCFBfan]

Well, hopefully if "Hartford City" actually pans out, they will be in next season's edition.

Are they expecting to start next season?

 

[junglehusky]

In other countries, do university / college teams participate in their FA's cup competitions? I know NCAA baseball teams scrimmage against pro teams, and bball has exhibitions against foreign pro / semipro teams. So I wonder if there's anything that would prevent NCAA teams from participating in USOC, other than the expansion of the calendar to fall / spring. And, I guess, if college players spend their summers with developmental / amateur clubs (they don't, do they?)

 

[ZooCougar]

In other countries, do university / college teams participate in their FA's cup competitions? I know NCAA baseball teams scrimmage against pro teams, and bball has exhibitions against foreign pro / semipro teams. So I wonder if there's anything that would prevent NCAA teams from participating in USOC, other than the expansion of the calendar to fall / spring. And, I guess, if college players spend their summers with developmental / amateur clubs (they don't, do they?)

If you want to laugh. Look at Canada's Cup. I almost wonder why they even bother. It couldn't hurt.

 

[meyers7]

In other countries, do university / college teams participate in their FA's cup competitions?

I don't think so. In most other countries the universities are not feeders for the major leagues. Kids by University age are/have been playing in the academies or are in the reserves or 1st teams of professional teams.

And, I guess, if college players spend their summers with developmental / amateur clubs (they don't, do they?)

Yes, the PDL (Premier Developmental League) is mostly stocked with college players. The league runs in the summer. AC Connecticut, a PDL team that was talked about in one of these threads has players from Quinnipiac, UCONN, CCSU, Fairfield, Post U among others.

The PDL is involved in the Open Cup.

 

[UCFBfan]

I get the impression that the PDL is like the Cape cod league for baseball where college kids play in the summer?

 

[ZooCougar]

I get the impression that the PDL is like the Cape cod league for baseball where college kids play in the summer?

It's that and more. A few MLS teams have plugged their U-23 teams into the PDL. So some MLS teams have big team, USL and PDL. Some of the NASL teams have their "B" or U-23 teams in the NPSL. But there are a bunch of little clubs that probably have no college players on them and they are stand alone or the flagship teams of a bunch of different associated academies.

 

[meyers7]

I get the impression that the PDL is like the Cape cod league for baseball where college kids play in the summer?

Yea, pretty much I'd say. Add in what Zoo said too.

 

[ZooCougar]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article4468934.html

Sporting will be building this PDL in Garden City, KS. There are some JUCOs nearby that that will contribute players, but it will feed off the local youth programs. Apparently there is a big immigrant population there, and it's something of an untapped talent pool.