Fall River SC went on to the final, falling, 4-3, to the McIlvaine Canvasbacks of San Pedro at Rancho La Cienega Stadium. Fall River teams have won five U.S. Open Cup titles and New England teams have won 10 U.S. Open Cups (nine from Massachusetts, one from Rhode Island). Fall River clubs also won five American FA Cups, the competition running from 1885-1924.
TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY
Clint Dempsey went on to score a goal for the USMNT in the 2006 World Cup and went on to captain the team and total 56 goals in 132 international appearances.
Dempsey, who was playing his third season with the Revolution, continued a streak of New England-based players on U.S. World Cup teams extending to 1998 (Alexi Lalas, Joe-Max Moore) and 2002 (Carlos Llamosa). Four Revolution players were named to a reserve list: Pat Noonan; Steve Ralston, who had converted the goal to clinch a U.S. place in the World Cup finals; goalkeeper Matt Reis; and Taylor Twellman. Chris Aduama photo
TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY
Dave McEachren and Tec White scored twice as the Marksmen took a 7-0 win over Holley Carburetors for their second National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) title “before a 10,000 crowd, including a special trainload from Fall River, led by Mayor Harry Monks,” according to The Boston Globe. Trailing, 3-0, the Detroit team had a chance to cut the deficit, but Dutch international Gerrit Visser had a late first-half penalty kick saved by Blair. [Read more…] about May 1, 1927 – Fall River Marksmen win U.S. Open Cup – “Red fire was burned in large quantities”
Long before Cristiano Ronaldo, Adelino (Billy) Gonsalves was considered among the most proficient players of Madeira Island descent. Gonsalves, born in Portsmouth, R.I., in 1908, holds the record by winning eight U.S. Open Cup championships, six in succession (1930-35) with three clubs. Gonsalves won his first title with Fall River Marksmen at the age of 22 and his last with Brooklyn Hispano at 35 in 1944.
Gonsalves competed for teams in several cities, but he might not have had to leave St. Louis to play for Chicago-based Manhattan Beer. Gonsalves left Fall River after the demise of the ASL and the Marksmen, performing for St. Louis Central Breweries, Beltmar Drug and South Side Radio in the “Mound City” from 1933-38. The St. Louis Soccer League invited Chicago teams to participate in the league, and Gonsalves joined Manhattan Beer for the 1938 and ’39 seasons. Gonsalves teamed with Spain-born Fabri Salcedo to lead the attack for the Brewers, and they continued to combine with Brooklyn Hispano in the ‘40s.
April 30, 1939 – Chicago Manhattan Beer 0:1 St. Mary’s Celtic (Brooklyn)
Gonsalves scored Manhattan Beer’s only goal in the two-game series on a penalty kick. Duke Nanoski converted in the away leg and added two goals in St. Mary’s Celtic’s 4-1 win in the return leg at Starlight Park in the Bronx May 7, 1939. Rudolf Kuntner, a U.S. Men’s National Team member who became stage manager at the Metropolitan Opera, added a penalty kick goal in the second leg. According to a Dec. 19, 1971 New York Times review of Tristan und Isolde, Kuntner “… was responsible for the lighting effects. Bravo.” The Met used the stage lighting setup for productions in the ‘80s, also.
TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY
Rain contributed to keeping the crowd numbers down for the Boston Bolts in the home-opener of their second season. The Bolts went on to reach the ASL final, falling to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in a mini-game Aug. 26, 1989. [Read more…] about April 29, 1989 – Boston Bolts 0:0 Washington Diplomats at Nickerson Field (Att. 2,151)
April 28, 1917 – New Bedford Celtics 2:1 Fore River, Southern New England series
Andy Stradan gave Fore River the lead, then McDavitt and Croasdale countered for the Celtics. Stradan (also spelled Straden) went on to play for the U.S., converting a penalty kick in a 1-0 win over Estonia in the 1924 Olympics. The Fore River lineup also included center half Page, who, a year later, might have been among the first players to make a gymnastic goal commemoration. [Read more…] about April 28, 1917 – Turning handsprings
The New England Revolution were the last team to make their MLS debut, officials scaling Foxboro Stadium to 22,385 for the initial season. A week before the home-opener, though, more tickets (price range: $9-$23) were released. The Revolution played D.C. United to a 1-1 draw, then won the post-match shootout before 32,864 (the Red Sox-Kansas City Royals game attracted 29,459 during the day). Raul Diaz Arce scored on a 24th-minute diving header, then the Revolution’s Geoff Aunger tied the score with an 80th-minute penalty kick, and Darren Sawatzky converted the decider in the shootout. Future Revolution players played key roles for D.C. United: Diaz Arce, plus Kris Kelderman (who fouled Paul Keegan to set up the penalty kick) and Jeff Causey, who was in goal in the shootout. [Read more…] about April 27, 1996 – Revolution outdraw Red Sox in inaugural home game
Boston Soccer Club won the equivalent of a national championship, defeating St. Louis champion Ben Millers, 3-2.
The Boston Globe : “The day was too hot for good soccer.” The Millers’ Tommy White suffered a fractured leg in the first seven minutes of play (in the second half) in a collision with W. Ballantyne. [Read more…] about April 26, 1925 – Boston Wonder Workers earn U.S. soccer title, trip to White House
The Revolution were on the way down and Real Salt Lake on the way up. Though the Revolution closed the regular season with a winning record (11-10-9), they were eliminated by Chicago in the first round of the playoffs. RSL edged into the post-season on goal difference, then won the 2009 MLS Cup. The Revolution’s next visit to Salt Lake City resulted in a 5-0 defeat July 2, 2010, as the team was on the way to experiencing three consecutive losing seasons. [Read more…] about April 25, 2009 – Real Salt Lake 6:0 Revolution. Worst Revolution regular-season defeat
Tommy Swords’ 16th-minute goal made the difference for Fall River Rovers in the National Challenge Cup (U.S. Open Cup) played in the Tacony section of Philadelphia. Less than four months later, Swords would become the first captain of the U.S. Men’s National Team on a visit to Scandinavia. Swords, a Fall River, Mass., native, was referred to as “formerly halfback of the Hibernians of this city (Philadelphia).” The result qualified the Rovers to meet Bethlehem Steel for “the first real National championship contest in this country” in Pawtucket, R.I., May 6, according to The Boston Globe story. [Read more…] about April 24, 1916 – Disston AA 0:1 Fall River Rovers, National Challenge Cup semifinal