Ante Razov scored two goals as
San Diego won the first ever U.S. Open Cup competition with a 2-1
victory at home against New York. Razov scored to tie the game in
the 22nd minute and then hit the winner in the 85th
minute.
Both teams started out with a three striker
formation, looking for offense to take an immediate advantage. New
York was able to convert the first time they touched the ball as
Junior Agogo scored in the 2nd minute to finish a sequence of passes
that started in the back. Mike Petke hit Chris Klein who quickly
played a long diagonal ball toward Agogo. The speedy forward got
behind the defense to collect the ball and score past Scott Garlick
for a 1-0 lead.
For most of the first half, the game was a
battle in the middle of the field as both teams fought to gain
control. New York finally broke down with their first key mistake
which led to Razov's equalizer in the 22nd minute. Chris Henderson
lost the ball to Steve Ralston, who played it quickly inside to
Preki. Jason Kreis made a run down the right sideline, took a pass
from Preki, and sent a cross into the box. Razov got position on
Mike Petke and hammered the cross past Juergen Sommer to tie the
score at 1-1.
Each team came close to scoring late in the
first half but Clint Mathis' quick left-footed shot was saved by the
fully-stretched Garlick in the 42nd and Sommer went to the ground to
make the save on Razov in the 43rd.
New York had a couple
opportunities to regain the lead as the offense opened up early in
the second half. Garlick made a perfectly timed slide to smother
Mathis before he could chip Agogo's cross over the diving keeper and
Jorge Rodriguez escaped being called for a penalty on a slide that
took down Mathis in the box in the 60th. Mathis continued to make
things happen, feeding Hristo Stoitchkov in the 77th minute but the
Bulgarian great shot way wide of the net from 15 yards
out.
After that shot, New York made a shift in strategy to
the conservative, taking off a striker and adding two midfielders in
Tab Ramos and Pablo Matroeni, who came in as a defensive midfielder.
It was not long after the substitutions that San Diego took their
first lead of the match.
On the scoring play, Jason Kreis
again assisted on Razov's goal. Kreis, who had two assists in his
MVP performance in last year's MLS Cup, finished with two assists
again in this title game. Kreis started the play with a pass back to
Ralston, who returned the ball to Kreis up the right wing. Kreis
barely got a chip over Henderson as he slid to block the pass. The
cross went toward the far post and Razov again was quicker than his
defender to the ball, cutting inside Petke at the last moment. His
volley was on the money and as the ball beat Sommer, San Diego had
the Cup.
With their effort in tandem, Razov and Kreis took a
measure of pride from a game that salvaged a lost season. As the
defending MLS champs, San Diego struggled in the middle of the
season and ended up missing the MLS playoffs. Razov and Kreis were
big reasons why San Diego struggled during the MLS schedule but
their performance allowed San Diego to win the U.S. Open Cup. For
his efforts, Razov was named MVP of the match. For their efforts,
the team earned a spot in the Cup Winners' Cup next year where they
will face such international powers as Madrid from Spain and Ordine
Nuovo from Italy.
Box Score
2001 U.S. Open Cup
Final
San Diego, CA
Scoring
NY-Agogo (Klein, Petke),
2nd
SD-Razov (Kreis, Preki), 22nd
SD-Razov (Kreis, Ralston),
85th
Bookings
NY-Agoos (Yellow), 30th
Team
Statistics
NY SD
3 Shots 6
2 On Goal 4
0 Corners 0
1 Fouls 0
1 Cards 0
0 Offsides 0
48% Possess. 52%
14% Att.Zone 19%
Lineups
New York
Sommer (6) -
Solid in net, two key saves
Petke (4) - Beaten by Razov on both
goals
Fraser (6) - Steady play, no help on either goal
Vanney
(6) - Played well in center of defense
Agoos (5) - Cross came
from his wing on both goals
Klein (4) - Provided no offensive
spark on right
Nowak (5) - Offensive runs were limited in
number
Henderson (4) - Gave up ball on first goal
Mathis (5) -
Looked dangerous but failed to score
Stoitchkov (4) - Didn't get
many chances
Agogo (7) - Very active, scored, created
chances
Subs:
Ramos (6) - Didn't have many touches, entered
late
Mastroeni (5) - Entered for defense just before
goal
San Diego
Garlick (7) - Controlled box well, made
some key plays
Garcia (6) - Rookie held his own on right
side
Rodriguez (8) - Stellar, physical, dominant
play
Chronopoulos (7) - Controlled NY's right side
Ralston (6)
- Played well both ways
McKeon (8) - Dominated center of
field
Preki (7) - Several good runs created chances
Warzycha
(7) - Owned his side, defended very well
Kreis (7) - Sent cross
in on both goals
Harris (4) - Provided no offense
Razov (8) -
Two clinical finished earned him MVP
U.S. Open
Cup
Tournament Scoring
Five Goals
Ante Razov,
SD
Four Goals
Clint Mathis, NY
Three Goals
Jaime
Moreno, Bos
Hristo Stoitchkov, NY
Two Goals
Cobi Jones,
Bos
One Goal
Greg Vanney, NY
Junior Agogo, NY
Dante
Washington, Det
Diego Serna, Det
Paul Bravo, Bos
Ariel
Graziani, LA
Eric Quill, LA
Mamadou Diallo, LA
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