Dayton Dutch Lions News Release -- www.dutchlionsfc.com
Monday June 25, 2012
DAYTON, Ohio – The Dayton Dutch Lions travel to face Sporting Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night at Livestrong Sporting Park. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET as the Dutch Lions meet their second Major League Soccer opponent in the tournament this season.
The Lions have clawed through a frustrating USL PRO season to overwhelming success in the Open Cup, but now enter Tuesday's contest on a high after recording the side's first victory of the season in league-play last Saturday with a 4-0 win against the Wilmington Hammerheads.
“It's exciting to play against Kansas City,” said Coach Ivar Van Dinteren. “After Saturday's game we have a good feeling, and we will keep that up for tomorrow's game. It will be a tough battle but our only goal is to win the game.”
With a bye in the first round, the Dutch Lions beat the Chicago Fire PDL 2-1 at Toyota Park's Practice Field in the second round on May 22. Eli Garner was able to find the back of the net in the first half and the Lions kept the lead until the final minutes when the Fire tied the score. But with 30 second left in stoppage time, Daniel Holowaty scored the game-winner off a corner.
The third round of the Open Cup sent seven MLS teams packing, including the Columbus Crew, who in 2002 beat the LA Galaxy 1-0 to win the tournament. The Crew struck first against the Lions, scoring off a penalty kick, but Holowaty provided assists for Gerrit-Jan Bartels and Gibson Bardsley in the 78th and 81st minutes to lift the Dutch Lions to a 2-1 victory against the Crew.
The win sent the Lions to Rochester, Mich. to meet the Michigan Bucks of the PDL, who had defeated the Chicago Fire 3-2 in overtime in the third round. Garner opened the scoring in the 12th minute, but the Bucks tied the match in the 55th minute, sending the contest to overtime. In the 97th minute, however, Joel DeLass converted a penalty kick for what proved to be the winning goal.
Now, the Dutch Lions face Sporting Kansas City in the quarterfinals. Kansas City entered the tournament in the third round, defeating USL PRO's Orlando City 3-2, before taking a 2-0 victory against the Colorado Rapids in the fourth round. Kansas City, 9-4-2 in regular season play, are coming off a 4-0 loss to Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon.
The match-up marks Dayton’s first time in the quarterfinals after losing 4-0 to Richmond Kickers in the first round last year. It is Sporting KC’s eighth appearance in the quarterfinals, with this being the second year in a row they have reached this stage. Last season, however, they were eliminated by the Kickers, giving the Dutch Lions some hope that they can pull off another upset.