2009 U.S. Open Cup qualification

This page details the qualification process for the 2009 U.S. Open Cup.

The tournament proper features teams from the top five levels of the American Soccer Pyramid. These five levels, namely Major League Soccer, the United Soccer Leagues (First Division, Second Division, and Premier Development League), and the United States Adult Soccer Association, each have their own separate qualification process to trim their ranks down to their final eight team delegations in the months leading up to the start of the tournament proper. It is expected that eight teams from each level will compete in the tournament proper, with the eight clubs from MLS receiving byes into the Third Round.

The qualifying process for MLS will take the form of an eight-team play-off tournament. The top six finishers, regardless of conference, in 2008 were given six of the berths into the Third Round. The eight remaining U.S.-based clubs will compete for the final two berths via a playoff.

Continuing the format of recent seasons, no qualification process will be needed for USL-1 and USL-2 as each level has exactly eight U.S.-based clubs for the 2009 season. The PDL has announced that selected early season games will again double as qualifying matches, as they had in recent years. Each conference will be given two berths that will be awarded to the best team in each division.

The qualifying process for the USASA will take the form of four regional tournaments. Assuming the continuation of recent seasons' format, the two finalists in each region will be awarded berths.

Note: Scorelines use the standard U.S. convention of placing the home team on the right-hand side of box scores.

Colorado Rapids v Los Angeles Galaxy

April 7, 2009	Colorado Rapids	0 – 0 (aet) (4 – 2 p)	Los Angeles Galaxy	Carson, California
20:00 PDT	Dalby  36'	Report	Gonzales  41' Marshall  63' Magee  109'	Stadium: The Home Depot Center Attendance: 6,219 Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
	Penalties
	Cummings Ballouchy Clark Ihemelu		Gordon Klein Jordan Magee

FC Dallas v D.C. United

April 22, 2009	FC Dallas	0 - 2	D.C. United	Washington, D.C.
19:30 EDT		Report	Fred21' Barklage66'	Stadium: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Attendance: 5,163 Referee: Jeff Gontarek

Real Salt Lake v Seattle Sounders FC

April 28, 2009	Real Salt Lake	1 - 4	Seattle Sounders FC	Tukwila, Washington
19:00 PDT	Johnson32' Olave  41'	Report	Ianni  20' Le Toux25' (PK)54' Nyassi27' King52' Nyassi  71'	Stadium: Starfire Sports Complex Attendance: 3,890

New York Red Bulls v San Jose Earthquakes

April 29, 2009	New York Red Bulls	2 - 1	San Jose Earthquakes	Santa Clara, California
19:30 PDT	Petke2' Sassano  76' Wolyniec80' Pietravallo  82'	Report[permanent dead link]	Salinas  39' Campos  47'71' Denton  67'	Stadium: Buck Shaw Stadium Attendance: 4,011 Referee: Alejandro Mariscal

May 20, 2009
7:00 PM EDT

New York Red Bulls	3 - 5	D.C. United
Richards44' Rojas48',61' (pen.)	Report[permanent dead link]	Pontius8',52' Khumalo18' Barklage21' Fred28'

Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 5,056

Referee: Mark Kadlecik

D.C. United qualify for the Third round.

May 26, 2009
7:00 PM PDT

Colorado Rapids	0 - 1	Seattle Sounders FC
Harvey  71'	Report	Forrest62'

Starfire Sports Complex
Tukwila, Washington

Attendance: 4,007

Seattle Sounders F.C. qualify for the Third round.

No qualification is necessary for USL-1 and USL-2 since each level has eight U.S.-based clubs for the 2009 season.

Winners in each division advance to tournament
All teams play 4 designated games doubled as regular season games
Green indicates U.S. Open Cup berth clinched

*-maximum goal differential of +/- 3 per game

Nine teams will compete for the two Region I berths in the U.S. Open Cup.

Seven teams have qualified from Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Indiana and Iowa.

The following teams have qualified for the regional finals to be held in St. Johns, Florida from May 22 to 25, 2009.

Group A

*Greenwood Wanderers failed to show, so all games were 3–0 forfeits

Group B

*Dynamo New Tampa failed to show, so all games were 3–0 forfeits

Final

The following teams participated in the regional finals to be held in Scottsdale, Arizona from May 15 to 17, 2009.

Group A

Group B

Final

*Miran F.C. was disqualified for using illegitimate players, so the group runner up (Arizona Sahuaros) will participate in the U.S. Open Cup