Wisconsin Soccer Central

For the 21st year, many of the state's top adult soccer players – young and older – will converge on the Madison area for Madison United's President's Cup tournament Saturday and Sunday.

"Every good player that I know in Milwaukee is coming over to play in the President's Cup," said Tommy Markovic, the general manager for defending Men's Over-30 champion FC Tipsy. "There's always certain weekends that you circle on your calendar when it comes to adult soccer, and the President's Cup is one of them."

All four champions from last year's event are among the 84 teams playing in this year's event – Cosmos FC (Men's Open), Ten (Women's Open) and FC Gherkin (Men's Over-38) joining FC Tipsy in looking to claim back-to-back titles at what is believed to be the Midwest's largest indoor tournament.

Play kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday at BreakAway Sports Center in Madison and 9:30 a.m. at Keva Sports Center in Middleton, with the opening day's final matches set to start at 6:30 p.m. – each team will play two group games on Saturday.

Action begins at both locations at 8 a.m. Sunday with one final pool match for each team, followed by playoffs in all four divisions. The finals are scheduled for 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Keva.

Madison United founder Keith Binns, the schedule coordinator for the men's divisions, said the event was full by Dec. 15 – the earliest the field has been filled. In 2012, the event included a record 88 teams, but tournament committee favors the current size.

"We decided that 84 is the optimal number. We're not going to try for any more," Binns said. "One year we had 88 and we kind of stretched things a little bit, started at 7:30 Saturday morning, but we decided that, no, 84 fits."

While many teams will be familiar names – Madison United, Forest City (Ill.) and Bares United will extend their streaks of playing in every President's Cup – there is at least one big absence. Chichitas, which won seven consecutive Women's Open titles and eight in a nine-year stretch between 2003 and '11, isn't entered this year.

Tournament director Jamie Brud, who oversees the 24-team Women's Open division, said that several of the players who were part of those Chichitas teams are expected to play on other teams this weekend – including new entry Badgerland Supply.

The Men's Over-30 competition again looks to be getting stronger each year.

Keeper Goals, which has won five President's Cup titles, is back after sitting out last year – they claimed the crown in their most recent appearance in 2012. Bottoms Academy also is part of the 16-team field; the team made the playoffs in the Men's Open last year. "I would imagine that would make them pretty tough," Binns said.

FC Tipsy, which features mainly players from Milwaukee-area club Croatian Eagles, plays in the same league with Keeper Goals and fellow entry Internationals.

"We seem to get more Milwaukee teams each year," Binns noted.

At least two of the newcomers in the 32-team Men's Open field are from the Milwaukee area: Dehydrated United, a team made up of several recent UW-Milwaukee, Marquette and UW-Green Bay players, and the Red Dogs, whose roster is expected to include several members of the Milwaukee Sport Club side that plays in the Wisconsin Soccer Leagues Major Division.

Chicago-area club Wings sent their Under-23 team to the President's Cup last year and didn't get out of group play; this year, they've entered two teams, including their top squad. And the tournament once again is an international affair, as Sleeping Giant FC from Thunder Bay, Ontario, is fielding a team in the Men's Open. Two other newcomers are Carleton (Minn.) and Team Northwoods, from the Green Bay area.

Binns acknowledged that he doesn't know much about those teams – "The only name we get is the guy who registers them. We try to check it out," he said – which sometimes can make group placements and scheduling a challenge.

"You try not to cram too many good teams into one division," Binns said. "Last year, talk about a Group of Death. We had Cosmos, Madison Fire and Milwaukee Sport Club all in the same group. But Sport Club called themselves Zizou, and Cosmos, we didn't know who they were – and we wound up with three really good teams in the same group."

Cosmos FC ended up winning the group and went on to beat the Fire in the final, keeping the local side from becoming the first team to win three consecutive Men's Open titles at the tournament. The Fire have two teams entered in the Men's Open division this year, with the Madison Fire Juniors joining the original side.

There are two rules changes for this year's tournament.

Essentially, field players aren't allowed to slide tackle – the only exceptions are to score a goal or to keep a shot out, and those are only allowed if there isn't an opposing player in the vicinity. Goalkeepers can slide, but only in their own penalty area.

And if any playoff matches are tied after the 25-minute game and a sudden-death, 5-minute overtime, the penalty kicks to determine the advancing team will be taken from the top of the D – roughly 11 yards from the goal, compared the penalty spot of 8 yards. Penalties during matches still will be taken from the penalty spot.

President's Cup champions

Defending champion: Cosmos (defeated Madison Fire 2-0 in final)

Sunday's playoff schedule: Round of 16 - (Game 21) Lincoln 1st vs. Adams 2nd, 1 p.m. K1; (Game 22) Adams 1st vs. Lincoln 2nd, 1 p.m. K2; (Game 23) Jackson 1st vs. Jefferson 2nd, 1:30 p.m. K1; (Game 24) Jefferson 1st vs. Jackson 2nd, 1:30 p.m. K2; (Game 25) Tyler 1st vs. Monroe 2nd, 2 p.m. K1; (Game 26) Monroe 1st vs. Tyler 2nd, 2 p.m. K2; (Game 27) Madison 1st vs. Washington 2nd, 2:30 p.m. K1; (Game 28) Washington 1st vs. Madison 2nd, 2:30 P.M. K2. Quarterfinal 1 - Game 21 winner vs. Game 23 winner, 4 p.m. K1; Quarterfinal 2 - Game 22 winner vs. Game 24 winner, 4 p.m. K2; Quarterfinal 3 - Game 25 winner vs. Game 27 winner, 4:30 p.m. K1; Quarterfinal 4 - Game 26 winner vs. Game 28 winner, 4:30 p.m. K2. Semifinals - Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 3 winner, 5:30 p.m. K1; Quarterfinal 2 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner, 5:30 p.m. K2. Final - Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. K2.

Groups

• Jackson: Madison Fire, Milwaukee Bavarians, Loras, Velociraptors.
• Washington: Cosmos FC, Paradigm FC, Hamms Premium, Oshkosh Gold.
• Jefferson: Croatian Eagles 2, La Resistance, UD Alumni, Red Dogs.
• Adams: Madison United Tigers, Racine, Sleeping Giant FC, Galloping Ghosts.
• Madison: Croatian Eagles 1, Wings Black, UWO Alumni, Carleton.
• Tyler: QC Iowa, Madison United Lions, FC Magic, Team Northwoods.
• Lincoln: SNC Alumni, Fire SC, Red Rock, Fox in the Box.
• Monroe: The Dinos, Dehydrated United, Madison Fire Juniors, Wings Red.

Defending champion: Ten (defeated Megna Financial 4-3 in final)

Sunday's playoff schedule: Wild card matches - Four games, 12:00 and 12:30 p.m. K1-2. Quarterfinal 1, 3 p.m. K1; Quarterfinal 2, 3 p.m. K2; Quarterfinal 3, 3:30 p.m. K1; Quarterfinal 4, 3:30 p.m. K2. Semifinals - Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 3 winner, 5 p.m. K1; Quarterfinal 2 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner, 5 p.m. K2. Final - Semifinal winners, 6 p.m. K1.

Groups

• Hillary: Megna Financial, Velocity, Valley Magic, Oshkosh Black.
• Eleanor: Ten, UW-Eau Claire, 99 Problems, OGT Strikers.
• Martha: Kicking and Screaming, Duhawks, Evolution, Badgerland Supply.
• Jackie: UW-La Crosse, Team Box Fan, Madison United, UWO Alumni.
• Nancy: FC Barrington, UW-Whitewater Alumni, Oshkosh Gold, Antique Tap.
• Michelle: WSC Majors United, Old P'Cocks, Peanut Gallery, Duhawks Alumni.

Defending champion: FC Tipsy (defeated Smoky's Blue Rockets 6-1 in final)

Sunday's playoff schedule: Quarterfinal 1 - Reagan 1st vs. Ford 2nd, 3 p.m. B1; Quarterfinal 2 - Clinton 1st vs. Roosevelt 2, 3 p.m. B2; Quarterfinal 3 - Roosevelt 1 vs. Clinton 2nd, 3:30 p.m. B1; Quarterfinal 4 - Ford 1st vs. Reagan 2nd, 3:30 p.m. B2. Semifinals - Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 3 winner, 4:30 p.m. B1; Quarterfinal 2 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner, 4:30 p.m. B2. Final - Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m. K2.

Groups

• Reagan: Pro Roofing, Chivas, FC Tipsy, Bottoms Academy.
• Ford: Milwaukee Brewers FC, Smoky's Red Rockets, St. Charles Celtics, Rock Vegas.
• Clinton: Smoky's Blue Rockets, Mota FC, Madison United, Keeper Goals.
• Roosevelt: Madison Fire, Vilas Rangers, Beer FC, Internationals.

Defending champion: FC Gherkin (defeated Diablos in final)

Sunday's playoff schedule: Wild card 1 - Eisenhower 1st vs. Carter 2nd, 2:30 p.m. B1; Wild card 2 - Bush 2nd vs. Eisenhower 2nd, 2:30 p.m. B2. Semifinals - Carter 1st vs. Wild card 2 winner, 4 p.m. B1; Bush 1st vs. Wild card 1 winner, 4 p.m. B2. Final - Semifinal winners, 6 p.m. K2.

Groups

• Carter: Madison United, St. Charles Celtics, Milwaukee Bavarians, Euro FC.
• Eisenhower: Albanian Eagles, Hooligans, Forest City Kickers, Phoenix FC.
• Bush: Diablos, Celtics, FC Gherkin, Bares United.