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 The draw for the 2012 Wisconsin Open Cup was held Tuesday night, with the Milwaukee Kickers getting a bye into the final.
The Croatian Eagles will play host to Bavarian SC later this month for the right to face the Kickers for the title. If Bavarians advance, they will host the final; if the Croatians prevail, the Kickers will be the host. Dates for the matches were not announced. The state champion earns a spot in next spring's U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region II Open Cup, and the top two finishers in that tournament traditionally qualify for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
In fall 2009, the Kickers topped the Bavarians 3-1 in the state final – they were the only teams to enter the 2010 competition. Last fall, Bavarian SC was the lone entrant for the 2011 state tournament but inadvertently wasn't entered in the Region II event last spring.
All three teams play in the Wisconsin Adult Soccer Association's Major League, the state's top amateur men's league. The Croatians are 2-0-0 during the fall portion of league play, while the Bavarians are off to a 2-1-0 start and the Kickers are 0-3-0. The Croatian Eagles beat the Kickers 1-0 on Oct. 2 and are scheduled to play at the Bavarians on Nov. 6, while the match between the Kickers and Bavarians was postponed Sept. 25 and is yet to be rescheduled. The trio of teams also entered the 2006 state competition, held in fall 2005, with the Kickers beating the Bavarians 2-1 before being eliminated by the Croatians 5-4 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie in the final. Croatians went on to claim their third berth in the U.S. Open Cup in 2006, following appearances in the National Challenge Cup in 1943 and '45.
Bavarians, who knocked off the Kickers in state Open Cup finals in fall 2006, '07 and '08, have qualified for the U.S. Open Cup six times since 1995 – a record for an amateur team during the tournament's "professional era."
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