Saturday, July 17th
Game 1- OVF Alliance 2 vs Swoosh, 7pm
Game 2- IPS vs Oregon FC, 9pm
George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon
www.OregonSportsBeat.com
The Oregon Open Cup is a single elimination, knock-out style tournament open to all teams in Oregon, regardless of league affiliation. The tournament enters its 3rd year of competition, with 6 teams competing for the title of top team in the state. All tournament games are covered by Oregon SportsBeat, a local sports broadcasting company specializing in live, local, sports. (link here)
What are you looking forward to from this year’s Oregon Open Cup?
I am most excited about the teams we have entered in the 2021 Oregon Open Cup. While we do have some features in our tournament that are unique and make it a really special event, such as great fields and a great streaming partner, it is the teams that ultimately make the tournament what it is, and that’s what I’m most excited about. We will have 3 returning teams, and 3 new teams in this year’s competition.
What can you tell us about the returning teams in this year’s tournament?
I would begin with OVF Alliance, out of Albany, Oregon. You recently wrote a great piece on them (link here) that highlighted their commitment to developing local talent. This team really fits the model that we want to promote; local talent competing at the highest level. OVF Alliance has finished runner-up in each of the first two Oregon Open Cups, so they are definitely hungry, they’re talented and they have to be considered the favorite to win this year’s title.
The second of the returning teams is International Portland Select, or IPS, which has a long, rich history of soccer championships in Oregon. IPS will make the jump to NPSL when it returns to the PNW in 2022, but for now they are transitioning with players from their old, Championship days to a new, younger generation of ballers. IPS brings a highly competitive, established culture to the tournament, and should be a tough out for whoever they face.
Finally, Oregon Football Club out of McMinnville will make their 2nd appearance in this year’s Oregon Open Cup. OFC is a perennial contender for top team in the local Mexican league competitions, and they won the most recent version of the Oregon Premier Soccer League. After losing a heartbreaking penalty shootout in the first round of last year’s Oregon Open Cup, I expect OFC to show up to this year’s competition with a chip on their shoulder.
And what can you tell us about the new teams in this year’s tournament?
We are very excited to have 3 quality, established clubs filling out this year’s competition. The first is Swoosh, who regularly play in, and often win, the Oregon Premier Soccer League. They have highly technical, smart players that play an attractive brand of soccer; fans of the game won’t be disappointed. Their Achilles heel in the past had been getting consistency from a wide age range of players to show up for all the games, so the format of this tournament suits them well.
The second newcomer to this year’s tournament is OVF Alliance’s 2nd team. At this point we know almost nothing about them, other than they come from an area of Oregon that is a hotbed of talent, they have the support of a knowledgeable, structured club behind them, and they have nothing to lose. I think everyone will be interested to see what Logan Hoffman and their club can bring to the competition with their #2 team.
The 3rd new team to the competition is Lane United, out of Eugene Oregon. Lane has been around since 2013 they play in USL2, one of the most competitive leagues around. They bring in solid players from lots of different places, as well as homegrown talent. They have a top notch facility in the heart of Eugene and a strong, loud fanbase. We are very excited to have Lane United making their debut in this year’s tournament.
You mentioned fields at the beginning of this conversation. Can you tell us what you have lined up in that regard?
This year we have landed at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, for our first round games. Newberg is located about an hour southwest of Portland, so it’s a shorter drive for all teams involved. George Fox has a soccer specific, lighted, high quality turf field with stadium style seating. The local Chamber of Commerce in Newberg is hooking our travelling teams up with hotel deals, and the event will be legit with PA system, food carts, and everything you’d expect at a great event.
And you mentioned Oregon SportsBeat is covering the games. What do they offer for fans?
Oregon SportsBeat covers more local sports than anyone around, and they’ve been doing it since 2014. They will offer a free, live stream of all the games (link here) complete with announcers who are familiar with the teams. This is a really important aspect of the tournament, as people these days want and need to have access to the sports they want to see. Oregon SportsBeat is the leader in Live, Local, Sports, and we are thrilled to have them covering the tournament.
Lastly, who’s your favorite to win the 2021 Oregon Open Cup?
Thanks for saving the toughest question for last! I don’t want to answer it, because there are so many quality teams in the tournament. But, I’ll go with OVF Alliance, their #1 team. I think after 2 years runner-up they will finally take home the crown.