[ Home | | | | Mini-Updates | Dailies [ 5 | 6 ] | Standings  | Possibilities | Results ]

Semifinal # 1 - Wednesday 5pm PDT - FS1			Semifinal # 2 - Thursday 5 pm PDT - ESPN2
2010-2018	1975 (NASL)-2001 (A-League)-2005 (USL)- 2011-2015-2018		2010-2014 (USL Pro)	2010 (USL Pro)-2012-2013-2016 (NASL)
PHI - Philadelphia Union (The U) "Jungite aut Perite" #DOOP Sons of Ben "DOOP"	POR - Portland Timbers (The Timbers) "Forever Green & Gold" "Rose City 'Til I Die" #RCTID Timbers Army "Green is the Color"		ORL - Orlando City SC (The Lions) "Forever Our City" #OrlandoCity The Ruckus & The Iron Lion Firm "La Grande Victoria"	MIN - Minnesota United FC (The Loons) "Forever United" #mnufc Dark Clouds & True North Elite "Wonderwall"
#10 | A4 | A Runner-Up | 4-0-1 5th Semifinal (USOC: '12, '14, '15, '18) A2: Beat NYCFC 1-0 A3: Beat Inter Miami 2-1 A6: Tied Orlando City 1-1 R16: Beat 2C-New England 1-0 QF: Beat 1D-Sporting KC 3-1	#13 | F4 | F Winner | 3-0-2 6th Semifinal (Cup: '13, '15, '18; USOC: '13, '19) F2: Beat LA Galaxy 2-1 F3: Beat Houston 2-1 F6: Tied LAFC 2-2 R16: Beat 2E-FC Cincinnati 1:1 (4:2) (PSO) QF: Beat 3A-NYCFC 3-1		#22 | A1 | A Winner | 3-0-2 2nd Semifinal (USOC: '19) A1: Beat Inter Miami 2-1 A4: Beat NYCFC 3-1 A6: Tied Philadelphia 1-1 R16: Beat 3C-Montréal 1-0 QF: Beat 2F-LAFC 1:1 (5:4) (PSO)	#4 | D4 | D Runner-Up | 2-0-3 2nd Semifinal (USOC: '19) D1: Beat Sporting KC 2-1 D4: Tied Real Salt Lake 0-0 D6: Tied Colorado 2-2 R16: Beat 1E-Columbus 1:1 (5:3) (PSO) QF: Beat 1B-San Jose 4-1

THREE TEAMS LOOKING FOR FIRST SILVERWARE
Two vying for final spot, will TarjetaRoja get to keep 2nd?

A LITTLE TIME OFF, CA (smt) -- Interestingly, three of the four semifinalists actually made the U.S. Open Cup semifinals last year.  2D-Minnesota United FC reached the USOC final while 1F-Portland Timbers and 1A-Orlando City SC both lost in the semifinal.  2A-Philadelphia Union reached the USOC final in '18.  Of the four, POR is the only who has enjoyed success in the MLS Cup playoffs, winning the Cup in '15 and losing the final in '18.  Three of the four teams got their start in the 2nd or 3rd Division and if you include that, POR (NASL1, NASL Indoor, WACS/WSA/WSL, APSL/A-League, USL-1, USL D-2) reached the semifinals in the NASL1 ('75, '78), WSL ('89), and USL-1 ('07, 09), ORL (USL) reached the semifinals in the USL ('11, '12, '13), and MIN (USL D2 Pro, NASL2) reached the semifinals in the NASL2 ('11, '12, '14, '15).

All four teams are undefeated in the tourney with all teams except PHI needing to survive one penalty shootout.  POR has yet to post a clean sheet and ORL has scored just one goal in each of their last three matches.  MIN, POR and ORL each have won once after giving up the first goal.  None of the four teams have scored on a penalty kick (ORL is the only one who had one opportunity and Nani missed in their last match).  I still have not seen any pictures of what the winning team will hold up when they win the tournament, but the NWSL crystal trophy wasn't too bad - and you can drink from it.  The team holding the trophy also gets a spot in the '21 Concacaf Champions League and lots of cash.

While Group A started somewhat as a joke, four of the 7 worst-ranked teams were in this group, it had 6 teams instead of 4, two expansion teams, and were initially only going to award just the top 2 teams (later changed to 3 before COVID-19 hit DAL & NSH), three teams actually made the Round of 16:  ORL, PHI, and 3A-New York City FC.  Not including ORL, which got the top seed for being the host, only 1C-Toronto FC won their group.  Top seed 4E-Atlanta actually finished dead last (24th) with no goals scored.  2F-LAFC scored 16 goals but couldn't keep one clean sheet which led to their downfall against ORL when their clean sheet was ruined with a 90' goal.

In the pool, we know that Bobby Cee Racer will win the pool with 76 points.  We know TarjetaRoja will finish 2nd or 3rd with 69 points.  But who will get the 3rd and final prize spot?  The Six Foot Box currently sits in 3rd with 65 points and Deutschland = Koenig sits in 6th with 57 points.  In the first semifinal, if PHI loses, then he will be eliminated but if PHI wins he will tie The Six Foot Box with 65 points. 

In the second semifinal, if MIN wins, The Six Foot Box will claim 2nd with 73 points and TarjetaRoja 3rd.  If PHI wins and MIN loses, then there is a tie for 3rd and the tiebreaker will be in place.  The two semifinal matches plus the final match total goals scored (in regulation) is the tiebreaker.  With the current average of 2.87 goals per match, that would be between 8 and 9 goals (8.5).  Deutschland = Koenig (Tie = 4.0) wins 3rd if the total goals is 6 or fewer and The Six Foot Box (9.5) wins 3rd if the total goals is 7 or more.  Could be an exciting finish with a Final that counts even though no one got the correct champion.   The simplified possible outcomes below:

I'll be doing daily gameday updates on our Blog and re-posted on Twitter.  These updates will be every few days or so and will be emailed out.  Everyone can view their pick and bracket by clicking the "Pick" link in the standings next to their nickname.  If you want to know who everyone is, the Who's Who in the Pool is now available.

Hoping to hear Wonderwall on Wednesday...
Scott