Wisconsin Soccer Central

For the third straight year, the Croatian Eagles are the Wisconsin Open Cup champions.

But both the Croatians and Bavarian SC, who were beaten by the Eagles 3-1 in the 2014 state final on Oct. 26 in Franklin, will be playing host to U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region II quarterfinal matches this afternoon.

The Croatians will face Illinois club AAC Eagles at 1:30 p.m. at Croatian Park in Franklin, while the Bavarians will welcome another Illinois side, reigning regional champion RWB Adria, to their complex in Glendale for a 2 p.m. kickoff.

Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay) and Philip Suprise (Milwaukee Pius) both were involved in two goals in the state final as the Croatians claimed their regional berth by topping the Bavarians in the Wisconsin Open Cup final for the second straight year.

The Bavarians, meanwhile, were a late addition to the Region II field. They appealed to regional officials for permission to replace the Cincy Saints after the Ohio team withdrew from the competition. The quarterfinal draw already had been completed and Region II officials opted to keep the draw the same, giving the Bavarians a home match.

CROATIAN EAGLES 3:1 (2:0) BAVARIAN SC

Suprise, who was influential in Croatians' 5-0 win over North Shore United in the semifinals, helped the home side get started early in the state final.

Playing as an outside midfielder, he got the ball out wide on the right, went around a defender and played a low, hard ball on the ground that Walls redirected past Bavarians goalkeeper Matt Schmidt (Racine Horlick/UW-Milwaukee) just 10 minutes in.

"That was a good start," said Croatians manager Alex Toth, whose team has outscored opponents 43-3 in winning all nine of their matches this fall in all competitions.

The Eagles doubled their advantage just before halftime, as Scott Widule (Kettle Moraine) headed in a cross from Walls at the back post. Widule started on the right side of midfield in the Croatians' 4-2-3-1 after scoring twice off the bench in the semifinals.

"When you have a guy who is scoring goals, you want to try to find a way to get him on the field," Toth said. "And not only that, he's another guy that's got a lot of pace."

Bavarians manager Patrick Hodgins, meanwhile, lamented the goal.

"We didn't clear a corner very well, then we left a guy open on the back post, gave him a free header," said Hodgins, the former coach of the Croatians' Under-23 team. "Against teams like Croatians, you can't give them chances like that. They were able to capitalize on them, and we had some chances in the first half that we didn't get on the end of."

To that point, Kyle Zenoni (Hartland Arrowhead/UW-Milwaukee) looked to be in alone on Eagles keeper Bryce Boyd (Milwaukee Marquette/UW-Milwaukee), but a Croatians defender raced back just in time to thwart the opportunity, and Bojan Jovicic (Milwaukee Hamilton/UW-Parkside) had Boyd off his line but his chip was just over the crossbar.

Hodgins switched the Bavarians out of their 4-2-3-1 when the teams came out for the second half, and the move paid dividends.

"That really, for us, started opening up the game," said Hodgins, who was forced into an early sub in the first half when Craig Posselt (Milwaukee Thomas More/UW-Parkside) suffered a serious knee injury.

"We felt like we were having a little better run of the ball than we were in the first half, we were creating more chances, and the pressure that we were putting on the midfielders to win the ball wasn't giving them as much time to play as they wanted."

And eventually the Bavarians cut their deficit in half. Stefan Scoon (Racine Horlick/UW-Whitewater) had the ball on the left side, cut into the box and curled a shot past Boyd to the far post from 15 yards out to make it 2-1 with about 15 minutes remaining.

"We had some opportunities to put the game away earlier in the second half and we didn't do it," Toth said. "They're a good squad and ... you had to be concerned that at some point they might be able to break through. And they were pressing."

Zenoni had to be subbed out just after the goal - he's an assistant for the UW-Milwaukee men's team and had to get to the Panthers' match that night - and Hodgins pushed another attacker into the midfield and went to three in the back in search of an equalizer.

But it was Suprise once again. He burst into the box and was taken down by Bavarians center back Billy Meier (Racine St. Catherine's/UW-Milwaukee) for a penalty kick in the 90th that Jason Willan (Menomonee Falls) finished to restore a two-goal lead. The 42-year-old Willan has been struggling with a knee injury, but played the final 10 minutes.

Scoring twice in stoppage time to force extra time seemed highly unlikely, but the visitors had one more chance in the final seconds. Croatians center back Billy Von Rueden (Milwaukee Marquette/Marquette) was called for a handball in the box and Scoon stepped to the spot. But Boyd palmed away the shot and the final whistle blew.

"It was a good, hard-fought battle," Toth said. "Bavarians played well. They never gave up, played really hard. We finished some of the chances that we needed to and just kind of weathered their pressure. It wasn't as pretty as I'd like, but it was the result I want, so I'm happy with that."

The Region II tournament normally is held in the spring, but was moved up this year because the U.S. Soccer Federation made changes to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup schedule for 2014. While the format and berths haven't been announced, typically the two regional finalists receive spots in the tournament.

The Bavarians have qualified for the U.S. Open Cup six times since 1995, the most berths for any USASA team during what is considered the tournament's Modern Era.

CROATIAN EAGLES: Bryce Boyd; Mike Vukovic, Mike Narciso, Billy Von Rueden, Donnie Crego; Scott Raymonds, Tony Patterson; Scott Widule (Gustavo Mena 46), Tony Walls (Ilya Ksenidi 65), Philip Suprise; Andrew Wiedabach (Jason Willan 80).

BAVARIAN SC: Matt Schmidt; Giovanni Luna, Billy Meier, Brett Dietz, Nathan Sabich; Stefan Scoon, Craig Posselt (Adam Schultz 25); Ryan Morrissey, Kyle Zenoni (Dona Lado 75), Paul Marx (Martin Castro 65); Bojan Jovicic.

2014 USASA REGION II OPEN CUP

(Home team listed first)
Quarterfinals
Sunday, Nov. 10
Croatian Eagles vs. AAC Eagles (Ill.), 1:30 p.m. at Croatian Park, Franklin
Bavarian SC vs. RWB Adria (Ill.), 2 p.m. at Bavarian Complex, Glendale
Schwaben AC (Ill.) vs. FC Indiana, 2 p.m. in Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Saturday, Nov. 16
Des Moines Menace (Iowa) vs. KC Athletics (Kan.), 2 p.m. in West Des Moines, Iowa
Semifinals
To be completed by Nov. 24
Des Moines Menace or KC Athletics vs. Bavarian SC or RWB Adria
Schwaben AC or FC Indiana vs. Croatian Eagles or AAC Eagles
Final
To be completed by Dec. 8
Semifinal winners

RECENT WISCONSIN OPEN CUP CHAMPIONS

2003: Bavarian SC
2004: Bavarian SC
2005: Milwaukee Kickers
2006: Croatian Eagles
2007: Bavarian SC
2008: Bavarian SC
2009: Bavarian SC
2010: Milwaukee Kickers
2011: Bavarian SC
2012: Croatian Eagles
2013: Croatian Eagles
2014: Croatian Eagles