The 2017 USL Cup playoffs is a postseason tournament following the 2017 United Soccer League regular season, the third since the league rebranded for the 2015 season, and the first as a USSF Division II league. Including USL Pro history, it is the sixth postseason tournament. The tournament will begin on the weekend of October 20 and end on the weekend of November 10.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States Canada |
| Teams | 16 |
| Defending champions | New York Red Bulls II |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Louisville City FC |
| Runner-up | Swope Park Rangers |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Goals scored | 32 (2.13 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Stefano Bonomo Brian Ownby (3 goals each) |
Sixteen teams (top 8 per conference) will compete in the single elimination tournament. Teams will be seeded one through eight in each conference. The conference semifinal winners will play against each other in the Conference Championship, which will serve as the overall semifinals for the playoff. The Eastern and Western Conference Championship winners will play for the USL Cup. The winner of the playoffs will be crowned league champion.[1][2]
USL Conference standings
editThe top 8 teams from each conference advance to the USL playoffs.
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Eastern Conference
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Western Conference
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Bracket
editSchedule
editConference Quarterfinals
edit| October 20, 2017 East | Louisville City FC | 4–0 | Bethlehem Steel FC | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 pm EDT | Morad  14', 31' Spencer 70' Ownby 79' |
Report | Real  57' Burke 63' Conneh 75' Jones 87' |
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 6,378 Referee: Marcos de Oliveira |
| October 21, 2017 East | Rochester Rhinos | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Charlotte Independence | Rochester, New York |
| 6:05 pm EDT | Dover 11' Graf 53' François 61' Farrell 83' Defregger 113' |
Report | A. Martínez 53'  120' E. Martínez 69' Davidson 85' |
Stadium: Capelli Sport Stadium Attendance: 1,647 Referee: Bardhyl Pashaj |
| October 21, 2017 East | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–0 | FC Cincinnati | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 7:30 pm EDT | Schäfer 8', 25' Hristov 61' 67' Cole 84' |
Report | McLaughlin 52' Walker 63' Berry 90' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 6,104 Referee: Malik Badawi |
| October 21, 2017 East | Charleston Battery | 0–4 | New York Red Bulls II | Charleston, South Carolina |
| 7:00 pm EDT | Anunga 57' Griffith 85' |
Report | Bonomo 39' Kutler 51' Valot 71' Flemmings 82' Mines 84' |
Stadium: MUSC Health Stadium Attendance: 3,410 Referee: Kevin Broadley |
| October 20, 2017 West | Real Monarchs | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p) | Sacramento Republic FC | Sandy, Utah |
| 8:00 pm MDT | Besler 38' Lachowecki 82' Hoffman 86' (pen.) |
Report | Kiffe 20' Espino 49' |
Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 2,234 Referee: Ramy Touchan |
| Penalties | ||||
Cruz  Velásquez Haber  Hoffman |
Partain Kiffe Hall |
|||
| October 22, 2017 West | Swope Park Rangers | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) | Phoenix Rising FC | Kansas City, Missouri |
| 3:00 pm CDT | Didic 109' |
Report | Drogba 99' |
Stadium: Children's Mercy Victory Field Attendance: 912 Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr. |
| Penalties | ||||
| Selbol Duke Belmar Moloto |
Lambert Dia Awako Mala |
|||
| Note: Match was postponed due to lightning and heavy rain after the first half,[3] Second half was played the following day. | ||||
| October 21, 2017 West | Reno 1868 FC | 0–1 | OKC Energy FC | Reno, Nevada |
| 5:45 pm PDT | Wehan 32' |
Report | Wojcik 41', 90+1' |
Stadium: Greater Nevada Field Attendance: 4,342 Referee: Victor Rivas |
| October 21, 2017 West | San Antonio FC | 2–1 | Tulsa Roughnecks | San Antonio, Texas |
| 7:30 pm CDT | McCarthy 55' Elizondo 61'Guzmán 90+4' (pen.) |
Report | Gee 23' Ayala 53'Levin 90+2'Rivas 90+2' |
Stadium: Toyota Field Attendance: 7,019 Referee: Timothy Ford |
Conference Semifinals
edit| October 28, 2017 East | Louisville City FC | 1–0 | Rochester Rhinos | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 pm EDT | Jimenez 52' Ownby 77'Ranjitsingh 90+1' |
Report | Felix 55' |
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 7,117 Referee: Victor Rivas |
| October 28, 2017 East | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | New York Red Bulls II | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 7:30 pm EDT | Hristov 26' Portillos 35'Guenzatti 39'Cole 42'Pickens 57'Vingaard 62'Restrepo 66'Paterson 116' |
Report | Bonomo 58' (pen.), 93' Flemmings 86'Ndam 96' |
Stadium: Al Lang Stadium Attendance: 5,119 Referee: Joseph Dickerson |
| October 28, 2017 West | Swope Park Rangers | 1–0 | Sacramento Republic FC | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 4:00 pm CDT | Maher 39' Belmar 46' |
Report | Kiffe 41' Ochoa 67' |
Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 1,248 Referee: Ramy Touchan |
| Note: Match was moved to Papa Murphy's Park due to challenges at Children's Mercy Victory Field.[4] Then it was switched again to Children's Mercy Park.[5] | ||||
| October 28, 2017 West | San Antonio FC | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (1–4 p) | OKC Energy FC | San Antonio, Texas |
| 7:30 pm CDT | Elizondo 7' 97' Gordon 51'Castillo 112' |
Report | R. Dixon 72' Wojcik 85' |
Stadium: Toyota Field Attendance: 7,032 Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr. |
| Penalties | ||||
| Guzmán Castillo Reed |
Angulo Brown Hyland Wallace |
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Conference Finals
edit| November 4, 2017 East | Louisville City FC | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) | New York Red Bulls II | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 7:30 pm EDT | Ownby 12' Craig 96' |
Report | Flemmings 57' |
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 10,047 Referee: Sorin Stoica |
| Penalties | ||||
| Smith DelPiccolo Totsch Jimenez Ballard |
Bonomo Martínez Valot Mines Kutler |
|||
| November 4, 2017 West | Swope Park Rangers | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (7–6 p) | OKC Energy FC | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 7:30 pm CDT | Didic 53' |
Report | Barril 79' Daly 90+3'Wojcik 113' |
Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 3,012 Referee: Robert Sibiga |
| Penalties | ||||
| Selbol Duke Belmar Moloto Hernandez Barnathan Storm Musa Didic Maher Zendejas |
Angulo Brown Hyland Wallace M. González D. Gonzalez Daly Wojcik Bond Fink Cochran |
|||
USL Championship
edit| November 13, 2017 Final | Louisville City FC | 1–0 | Swope Park Rangers | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 9:00 PM EST | Lancaster 88' Kaye 90+3'McCabe  90+8' |
Report Report |
Musa 17' Didic 24' |
Stadium: Louisville Slugger Field Attendance: 14,456 Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero |
| Note: Niall McCabe was sent off from the bench | ||||
Championship Game MVP: Paolo DelPiccolo (LOU)
Top goalscorers
edit
References
edit- ^ "USL Announces 2017 Conference Alignment". United Soccer League (USL). January 9, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
- ^ "2017 USL Cup Playoffs Matchups Set". United Soccer League (USL). October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
- ^ "Lightning, Heavy Rain Postpones Swope Park, Phoenix". United Soccer League (USL). October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- ^ "Who Will Host Sacramento Republic, Swope Park Rangers Playoff Game?". sacramento.cbslocal.com. CBS13. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
- ^ "Children's Mercy Park to Host Rangers, Republic FC". www.uslsoccer.com. United Soccer League (USL). October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
- ^ "USL playoff statistics". Retrieved November 13, 2017.