The first Semifinal game is this evening when #5 Holbæk Idrætsforening hits the road to take on #9 FC Kingston. All games, both main draw and Bums, have been scheduled. The main runs through March 4th and the consolation bracket through the 6th...not withstanding any tiebreakers.

See you tonight.

As would be expected at this stage of the tournament, the big boys brought their A game tonight as #9 FC Kingston hosted #5 Holbæk Idrætsforening to kick off the Semifinals. Holbæk went into the game with a ton of confidence, having not dropped a game in the knockouts and Kingston came in with a ton of experience, having made it this far in multiple previous Cups. It was the Danes who struck first off a perfect corner kick from Clement Gaard, which found the head of teammate Prescott Madrigal in the 15th to give Holbæk the 1-0 lead. Neither team generated a promising look for the rest of the half except for a missed opportunity by Trashawn High to equalize just before the halftime whistle when his shot sailed high (and wide) of the target, letting the visitors to hold the advantage through the break.

Kingston came out aggressive to open the 2nd half and created a corner kick in the 47th. While Spiro Guerra's shot missed, the Danish club couldn't get the ball out of their zone and the mounting pressure finally paid off. Alvaro Bownell, who was in a tie for the Golden Toe lead, placed himself in solo 1st and drew the game when his low, hard shot from downtown got past Idrætsforening goalie Tony Hari in the 52nd and almost won the game with seconds left after he pushed a ball just beyond the far post in extra time. When it was all said and done, the game ended as a very well played and very even 1-1 tie. Both teams fly to Zealand tonight for the return game tomorrow.

The opener for the #10 FC Trojans of SC/#11 Rushmore FC series also gets played on the 2nd as well as the initial Semifinal game out of the Bums.

All three games are this afternoon and evening so I'll just do them all at the same time. A spot in the Championship is on the line...

After 5 weeks of tournament action, we have our first Championship participant as the 5/9 series concluded this evening. #5 Holbæk Idrætsforening was hoping to continue the recent trend of first-time Cup entrants making the finals but #9 FC Kingston, winners of the FC Dynasty Cup XII tourney over 2 1/2 years ago, gets another shot at the ultimate glory after defeating Holbæk 2-0 and taking the series 3-1. Things went into today dead even after yesterday's 1-1 draw and the Danes had the home field but Kingston made their intentions known in the 6th minute when Benoni Händzel scored his 12th of the tourney, tying his teammate Alvaro Bownell for the scoring title in the process. Then 15 minutes later, Bownell scored his 13th to make the aggregate lead 3-1 and the Kingston defense went into lock down mode for the rest of the contest.

A few attempts by Holbæk came close, especially a shot by Jaquawn Cervantes that forced Kingston goalie Toshitsugu Nagata to make a diving save but they never could bury one into the back of the net as the Danish club will have to settle for the 3rd Place game and reset their sights on the Bronze medal. Meanwhile, Kingston will eagerly await to see who their Championship opponent will be as #10 FC Trojans of SC and #11 Rushmore FC played to a 0-0 draw to start their matchup, leaving everything on the line for Wednesday's game. Both teams had plenty of chances as the teams combined for 41 opportunities but the players of the game were goalies Dantrell Gonzalo and Rej Maria, who had an amazing 23 saves between them. While praising the level of their goalie's play, both coaches admitted in post-game interviews that they had to be better in the scoring third.

Finally, #1 seed Metropolitan Eagles opened the Bums Semifinal with a 2-1 win over #4 Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. in Sweden. Lustrinelli Newquist gave the Metro Eagles a 2-0 lead early in the 2nd half before Cologne was able to net one in the 54th when Marcos Katz beat the trap to give the German side some momentum for the return game tomorrow, which is the only game on the schedule.

Congratulations to Kingston for advancing to the title series and also congrats to Holbæk on making the 3rd Place game in a great tourney run that isn't quite over.

The #1 Metropolitan Eagles defeated #4 Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. in Westphalia this afternoon to advance to the Bums Bracket Finals, which is fitting since the consolation bracket is named for the Screaming Eagles ownership group. The game wasn't really close as a 2-1 aggregate lead swelled to 7-2 by the 48 minute mark. Tomas Bezdek scored a hat trick, putting the Billygoats away before team Captain Mano Araña led a brief comeback that was far too late to make any substantive difference. With the 5-3 win, the Metro Eagles take the series 7-3 and will now wait to see who their opponent will be for the best of the rest.

The main Semifinals resume tomorrow with a Championship spot on the line.