When the 16th annual Madison United President's Cup indoor soccer tournament wrapped up Sunday night at Keva Sports Center in Middleton, familiar teams departed with the four championships.
Leading the way were Chichitas, who held off Illinois' FC Barrington 4-3 in overtime to win their seventh consecutive Women's Open title.
Milwaukee's Croatian Eagles won the Men's Open competition for the third time in four years, while Rockford's Forest City claimed its fourth Men's Over-30 championship and FC Gherkin repeated as Men's Over-38 winner.
The tournament included a record 80 teams and nearly 1,000 players. For the first time, the top three finishers in each division qualified for the National Indoor Soccer Championships, which are April 16-19 in Las Vegas. Also, MVPs were selected in each of the four divisions for the first time.
Check back for more in-depth recaps of the Men's and Women's Open championship gamesl.
Men's Open
Former MLS player Mohammed Sethi scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the 5th minute, as the Croatian Eagles capped a dominating weekend by knocking off the Madison Fire 5-2 in the final. The Eagles allowed six goals in their seven games on the weekend, half of them coming in a 6-3 win over Madison United White in the quarterfinals.
Goalkeeper Ryan Dineen was named tournament MVP after a solid performance that included an impressive goal from deep in his own half during the 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Kickers in the semifinals.
Championship: Croatian Eagles 5, Madison Fire 2.
Semifinals: Croatian Eagles 4, Milwaukee Kickers 1; Madison Fire 4, Hawks White 3 (OT).
Quarterfinals: Milwaukee Kickers 3, CKI Fire Red 0; Croatian Eagles 6, Madison United White 3; Madison Fire 2, Arsenal 1 (OT); Hawks White 5, Hawks Celtic 0.
Round of 16: Milwaukee Kickers 4, Dinos 1; CKI Fire Red 1, Alt n' Bachs 0; Croatian Eagles 7, Bavarians 0; Madison United White 4, Platteville 3; Madison Fire 3, Hocus Pocus 0; Arsenal 4, Oshkosh Old Guys 3 (OT); Hawks White 9, Twin Stars 1; Hawks Celtics 4, Oshkosh Gold 3.
Washington Pool: Hawks Celtics 2-0-1, 21 points; Dinos 2-1, 19; Edge-Eagles 1-1-1, 15; United Serbians II 0-3, 3.
Saturday: Hawks Celtics 1, Edge-Eagles 1, tie; Dinos 5, United Serbians II 0; Hawks Celtics 6, United Serbians II 2; Dinos 3, Edge-Eagles 2.
Sunday: Hawks Celtics 2, Dinos 1; Edge-Eagles 5, United Serbians II 1.
Adams Pool: Madison United White 2-1, 20; Hocus Pocus 2-1, 19; Team Ramrod 1-2, 13; Oshkosh Black 1-2, 9.
Saturday: Hocus Pocus 3, Madison United White 2; Team Ramrod 2, Oshkosh Black 1; Madison United White 4, Oshkosh Black 0; Hocus Pocus 8, Team Ramrod 3.
Sunday: Madison United White 4, Team Ramrod 2; Oshkosh Black 2, Hocus Pocus 1.
Jefferson Pool: Alt n' Bachs 2-0-1, 21; Twin Star Strikers 1-1-1, 15; Madison United Blue 1-1-1, 12; Whitewater Club, 0-2-1, 7.
Saturday: Alt n' Bachs 0, Madison United Blue 0, tie; Whitewater Club 2, Twin Star Strikers 2, tie; Madison United Blue 6, Whitewater Club 0; Alt n' Bachs 5, Twin Star Strikers 1; Twin Star Strikers 3, Madison United Blue 0; Alt n' Bachs 3, Whitewater Club 2.
Madison Pool: Madison Fire 3-0, 26; Platteville 2-1, 18; Hawks Purple 1-2, 13; FC Magic 0-3, 3.
Saturday: Madison Fire 4, Hawks Purple 1; Platteville 6, FC Magic 1; Madison Fire 3, FC Magic 2; Platteville 5, Hawks Purple 3.
Sunday: Madison Fire 2, Platteville 0; Hawks Purple 3, FC Magic 0 (forfeit).
Monroe Pool: Croatian Eagles 3-0, 25; Oshkosh Old Guys 2-1, 18; Chili 1-2, 9; Lakeland 0-3, 2.
Saturday: Chili 7, Lakeland 0; Croatian Eagles 2, Oshkosh Old Guys 0; Oshkosh Old Guys 3, Chili 0; Croatian Eagles 13, Lakeland 0.
Sunday: Croatian Eagles 2, Chili 0; Oshkosh Old Guys 3, Lakeland 2.
Lincoln Pool: Arsenal 2-1, 19; Bavarians 2-1, 16; CKI Black 1-2, 10; CSKA Bulgarian Army 1-2, 9.
Saturday: Arsenal 2, CSKA Bulgarian Army 0; CKI Black 2, Bavarians 0; Bavarians 3, Arsenal 2; CSKA Bulgarian Army 4, CKI Black 2.
Sunday: Arsenal 4, CKI Black 0; Bavarians 1, CSKA Bulgarian Army 0.
Tyler Pool: Hawks White 3-0, 27; CKI Fire Red 2-1, 19; United Serbians 1-2, 11; Team Farva 0-3, 3.
Saturday: Hawks White 3, Team Farva 1; CKI Fire Red 3, United Serbians 1; CKI Fire Red 2, Team Farva 0; Hawks White 3, United Serbians 1.
Sunday: Hawks White 3, CKI Fire Red 2; United Serbians 4, Team Farva 2.
Women's Open
Erica Strey scored with 20 seconds left in the 5-minute overtime and penalty kicks looming as Chichitas rallied past FC Barrington in the final for the second straight year.
Strey was named MVP for Chichitas, who won their first five games on the weekend by a combined 39-3 margin.
Jackie Pool: Last Minute 3-0, 25; Madison United 2-1, 19; MSU Gold 1-2, 11; Go Fish 0-3, 4.
Saturday: Last Minute 3, Madison United 1; MSU Gold 5, Go Fish 1; Last Minute 5, Go Fish 1; Madison United 5, MSU Gold 2; Madison United 9, Go Fish 2; Last Minute 1, MSU Gold 0.
Men's Over-30
Ollie Ellsworth had a hat trick in the final. Randy Merkel received the official MVP award.
But it's hard to deny that the player who contributed the most to Forest City's fourth President's Cup championship was Mike Stoll.
The Rockford team's goalkeeper and manager broke his left wrist during a game two weeks ago and ended up with a cast up to his elbow.
Late Saturday morning, though, Stoll cut off the cast, got to Madison just in time for Forest City's first pool play match and backstopped the team to the title, allowing seven goals in six wins.
Stoll was beaten on a shot by Scott Engroff just 21 seconds into the final against local rival Celtics, but Ellsworth led the way as Forest City rattled off five straight goals and cruised to a 5-2 victory. The team also won in 1998, 2004 and '06.
"You've got to be here for the guys," Stoll said of his decision to slice off the cast and play with his longtime friends and teammates, adding that his wrist was a little sore. "(Otherwise), we were going to be a little short on players ... But it worked out well. We finished second last year, it's just good to finish it off this year."
Not only did Forest City fall behind early, it nearly was 2-0, as an apparent Celtics goal in the 5th minute was waved off for a handball. Instead, Forest City equalized 2 minutes later, then seized control by scoring three times in the final 5 minutes of the first half.
Ellsworth had two of the goals, first chipping the Celtics keeper from beyond midfield to snap the 1-1 tie — the backpedaling keeper got a hand to it, but couldn't stop it — then driving a shot between the keeper's legs just before the halftime buzzer to make it 4-1.
"You know, the ball moves faster than the players, and we do a real good job of moving the ball around," said Stoll, whose team avenged a 4-1 loss to Keeper Goals in last year's final with a 3-1 victory in this year's quarterfinals. "That's what did it, that was the turning point, because we rattled off ... three real quick ones."
Ellsworth finished off a 3-on-1 break, and essentially the match, in the opening minute of the second half, netting his third goal of the night with a tap-in at the back post after a crisp sequence that included Merkel and John Rizzo.
Any chances of a comeback by the Celtics, who lost to Forest City 2-1 in a pool finale earlier in the day with little at stake, were ended by two yellow cards midway through the second half. Yellow cards are 2-minute penalties at the tournament, leading to man-advantage situations, and Forest City possessed the ball throughout its 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 power plays.
"They just threw three goals on us real fast and it was over," said Celtics manager Tim Kedzior, whose team included some players from Madison and Milwaukee. "Then when you go down a couple guys, you're screwed."
While Stoll was thrilled to celebrate a championship, he did have one problem.
"I'm going to go back home and get a cast on tomorrow," Stoll said. "I've got to make something up to tell my orthopedic (surgeon)."
Championship: Forest City 5, Celtics 2.
Semifinals: Celtics 1, Slice of Chicago 0; Forest City 5, Bares United 1.
Quarterfinals: Celtics 2, Chivas USA 1; Slice of Chicago 2, FC Beer 1; Forest City 3, Keeper Goals 1; Bares United 5, Smoky's Red Rockets 2.
Reagan Pool: Chivas USA 2-0-1, 21; Keeper Goals 1-1-1, 14 (won tiebreaker); St. Charles Celtics 1-1-1, 14; Old Timers 0-2-1, 6.
Saturday: Keeper Goals 6, Old Timers 0; Chivas USA 6, St. Charles Celtics 1; Keeper Goals 1, St. Charles Celtics 1, tie; Old Timers 1, Chivas USA 1, tie.
Sunday: Chivas USA 2, Keeper Goals 1; St. Charles Celtics 3, Old Timers 2.
Clinton Pool: Forest City 3-0, 26; Celtics 2-1, 19; Milwaukee Brewers 1-2, 11; Chicago Green White 0-3, 3.
Saturday: Forest City 5, Chicago Green White 2; Celtics 4, Milwaukee Brewers 2; Forest City 5, Milwaukee Brewers 0; Celtics 5, Chicago Green White 3.
Sunday: Forest City 2, Celtics 1; Milwaukee Brewers 2, Chicago Green White 0.
Ford Pool: FC Beer 3-0, 26; Smoky's Red Rockets 1-1-1, 15; Madison United 1-1-1, 14; Mad City FC 0-3, 4.
Saturday: FC Beer 4, Madison United 0; Smoky's Red Rockets 5, Mad City FC 2; Madison United 2, Smoky's Red Rockets 2, tie; FC Beer 3, Mad City FC 2.
Sunday: Madison United 4, Mad City FC 0; FC Beer 2, Smoky's Red Rockets 1.
Roosevelt Pool: Bares United 2-1, 18; Slice of Chicago 2-1, 16 (won tiebreaker); Keeper Goals North 2-1, 16; Mad City United 0-3, 3.
Saturday: Bares United 4, Slice of Chicago 1; Keeper Goals North 4, Mad City United 0; Keeper Goals North 1, Bares United 0; Slice of Chicago 3, Mad City United 1.
Sunday: Bares United 5, Mad City United 2; Slice of Chicago 1, Keeper Goals North 0.
Men's Over-38
A good number of college soccer coaches played in the tournament, but FC Gherkin likely had the biggest collection of them.
The Green Bay-based team's roster included Jeff Rohrman (former University of Wisconsin men's coach), Jon Szczepanski (former UW assistant), Craig Peltonen (Marian men's coach) and Quinn Ross (former UW-Green Bay women's coach), each of whom also played either professional or NCAA Division I soccer.
They showed that they can still get the job done on the field — and perhaps that being around college players helps keep them in shape — by winning all five of their matches, capped by a convincing 4-1 victory over Forest City in the final.
"It was two things: Technically, they were just a sounder team, and I think we played (five) games and fitness became an issue," said Forest City manager Rich Hutchins, whose team is one of four to have played in all 16 President's Cup tournaments. "It was obvious to us."
Karl Braun had a hat trick for FC Gherkin, opening the scoring on a drive from the top of the box in the 5th minute, then putting the orange-clad team ahead 2-1 just 30 seconds into the second half after Hutchins had equalized for Forest City on a free kick.
Braun — selected as the MVP — scored his third goal with 4:19 to go, then helped set up FC Gherkin's final goal with a takeaway near midfield that led to a 2-on-none that Szczepanski easily finished off with 3:40 remaining to seal the team's second straight title.
"We have a very good team, and like with good teams, if we're able to get goals then you're going to win, and today I was able to hit the goal," said Braun, who lives in Chicago and added that the team plays together only once a year — at the President's Cup. "It was one of those things where left foot, right foot, I could hit it both ways today."
While the final lacked drama, FC Gherkin's semifinal certainly didn't. Old Man U, whose roster included former UW standout Eric Senn, led 2-1 into the final seconds, but Rohrman poked in a rebound with 8 seconds left to force overtime and Ross scored on a blast from the right side 2:35 into OT.
"I thought we actually were going to be the loser there ... Without those two goals, we wouldn't be here," Braun said.
It was the second straight year the Rohrman family celebrated two championships — Jeff's wife, Nancy, has been an integral player for Chichitas, who played their final on the adjacent field at the same time.
"It's too bad we had to play at the same time, because I would've liked to have watched," said Nancy Rohrman, a former U.S. national team player who was the WPSL Midwest Division MVP for the MYSC Lady Blues last summer. "I took all (three of our) kids to watch one of his games yesterday, that was great."
Championship: FC Gherkin 4, Forest City 1.
Semifinals: Forest City 4, Madison United 3; FC Gherkin 3, Old Man U 2 (OT).
Eisenhower Pool: FC Gherkin 3-0, 27; Madison United 1-1-1, 16; St. Charles Celtics 1-1-1, 14; La Crosse 0-3, 0.
Saturday: FC Gherkin 3, Madison United 2; St. Charles Celtics 7, La Crosse 0; Madison United 7, La Crosse 0; FC Gherkin 3, St. Charles Celtics 0.
Sunday: Madison United 2, St. Charles Celtics 2, tie; FC Gherkin 8, La Crosse 0.
Carter Pool: Forest City 3-0, 26; Old Man U 2-1, 19; Mudsharks 1-2, 12; Celtics 0-3, 1.
Saturday: Mudsharks 4, Celtics 1; Forest City 2, Old Man U 1; Forest City 5, Celtics 0; Old Man U 5, Mudsharks 1.
Sunday: Old Man U 7, Celtics 0; Forest City 5, Mudsharks 1.
Pool scoring
Win: 6 points Tie: 3 points Goals scored: 1 point per goal, maximum of 3 per game
Comments (1)
A note of "thanks"...
1
Monday, February 16, 2009 1:10 PM
Optimistic
The Madison United President's Cup was, once again, a huge success. The organizing PC Committee would like to extend a message of thanks to all the players and soccer fans, the referee's, our sponsors and advertisers, both Keva & BreakAway for their support and continued participation in our tournament.
We pride ourselves on organizing and running what we believe to be the biggest and the best indoor soccer tournament in the Midwest. We could not do it without the help of the folks listed above and our own players who volunteer their time.
There will be a short recap and some photos at the Madison United web site...
[url]www.madisonunitedsoccer.org[/url]
We also appreciate the extensive coverage here at Madison Soccer Central.
When the 16th annual Madison United President's Cup indoor soccer tournament wrapped up Sunday night at Keva Sports Center in Middleton, familiar teams departed with the four championships.
We pride ourselves on organizing and running what we believe to be the biggest and the best indoor soccer tournament in the Midwest. We could not do it without the help of the folks listed above and our own players who volunteer their time.
There will be a short recap and some photos at the Madison United web site...
[url]www.madisonunitedsoccer.org[/url]
We also appreciate the extensive coverage here at Madison Soccer Central.
Yours in soccer,
Optimistic Chris