Men’s Oregon Open Cup semi final action- Lane United and OVF Alliance set to face off for the championship game

There were two semi-final matches for the Oregon Men’s open cup, and they were both played on Saturday, July 24th at George Fox University in Newberg Oregon. The first game was between Lane United and FC Swoosh. Lane United already had a spot coming into this game, while FC Swoosh on the other hand had to fight for it. Swoosh previously defeated Oregon Valley Futbol Alliance 2 (OVF alliance 2) on July 17th, with a final score of 3-0. Two out of those three goals in that quarter-final match-up came from Swoosh Striker Jordan Jones, who is a well-rounded talent- I gifted him the nickname “tank” because of his size and strength. Jones also has a great touch and good control of the ball- he is also speedy. However, Lane United shutdown Jones and company/ and co. last Saturday night. Jordan Jones didn’t score at all in the semi-final match up against Lane United; Lane United’s defense was like a brick wall, there was no getting past it. FC Swoosh had few opportunities in the game against Lane United. A key moment was when Swoosh player John Hanscom missed a shot in the 22nd minute- his shot barely missed and smashed off of the crossbar. Lane United netted three goals against Swoosh- Henry Cromack scored twice for LU, in the 38th and in the 75th minutes. Milan Bobek also scored in the 45th minute (for Lane United). They would go on to defeat Swoosh 3-0, advancing to the Oregon Cup final, which will be played tonight, July 28th, at 7:30 PM.

The Semi-final matchups between Lane Utd vs FC Swoosh & OVF Alliance vs IPS FC

The second semi-final match up last Saturday was between the seeded OVF Alliance and International portland select FC (IPS). IPS earned their spot in the semi-final game by defeating Oregon FC(OFC) in penalty kicks, 5-4 on July 17th. The OVF-IPS game opened up with a lot of action- there were many goals scored in the first half alone. In the 5th minute, forward Mo Thiam scored a bottom right net banger, and then 6 minutes later, in the 11th minute, Thiam laced a beautiful ball into the middle that his teammate, midfielder Brendan Herb finished. OVF started off the game on fire, but in the 30th minute, IPS player Elijah White made the game interesting and scored a goal. Five minutes after that, IPS winger Eric Hernandez scored off of a sweet free kick that looked like it was intended as a pass at first, but it ended up in the back of the net. In the 35th minute the game was tied at 2-2. (11 minutes later), right before the end of the first half, none other than the man of the match, Mo Thiam scored again in the 45th minute. The halftime score was an astounding 3-2. OVF forward Mo Thiam scored once again in the 76th minute, which completed his impressive hat trick. The last goal of the night came from defender Robbie Smith, who scored in the 92nd minute, which capped off OVF’s 5-2 victory over IPS. The men’s Oregon Open Cup championship match tomorrow will be a good one- it will be between OVF Alliance and Lane United at 7:30 PM. You can attend the game because spectators are free, or you can watch the action live at Oregonsportsbeat.com. Exact address of where the game is being played is: 1953 North Center Street, Newberg, OR 97132.

Click HERE or on the image below for the livestream of the Men’s Oregon Open Cup on Oregon Sportsbeat