U.S. Open Cup | Indy’s Jon Busch Has Been There, Won That

Photo credit: Indy Eleven/Matt Schlotzhauer

As Indy Eleven’s elder statesman and a past winner, no one would be surprised if the club’s coach, Tim Hankinson, asked Jon Busch to speak to his teammates before the club’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game against visiting Louisville City FC on Wednesday night.

As a 25-year-old in his first year with Columbus of the MLS, he backstopped the Crew to a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy in the final on Oct. 24, 2002. The Galaxy was playing for its second piece of silverware in a week, having won the MLS title four days earlier.

“The final was in Crew Stadium, L.A. had just won MLS Cup and was on a hot streak,” Busch told NASL.com. “We hadn’t played a game in almost two weeks [after being eliminated in the playoffs on Oct. 12]. From what I remember, it was a one-sided game.”

The Galaxy peppered the Crew with 19 shots, four of which forced Busch to come up big to preserve a scoreless deadlock, and then the lead. Columbus scored the game’s only goal on a clear and cold autumn evening when Brian West’s right side cross was deflected by Galaxy goalkeeper Matt Reis to Freddy Garcia. The Guatemalan forward collected the rebound and fired a low shot from seven yards out in the 30th minute.

“You look at the roster back then – Brian McBride, Brian Maisonneuve, Jeff Cunningham, John Harkes, Kyle Martino, Edson Buddle – guys who had unbelievable MLS careers, but for a majority it was the only Cup we raised in our careers,” Busch said. “It was so very special because of the group we had. I was fortunate, as one of the young guys, to be around those guys and to see how much it meant to them. It really showed the young guys. It meant a lot to us but meant so much more to them.

“When you’re young you don’t understand how hard it is to win in any sport. To sit beside a guy like Maisonneuve after the game and watch a grown man, who had given everything to the sport, sit there and have tears in his eyes, it really hit me hard, just how difficult it is to win trophies. It was special.”

The one-and-done tournament, which began as the National Challenge Cup in 1913-14, is the oldest soccer tournament in the nation and one of the oldest competitions in the world. The 103rd edition of the Open Cup started with 91 clubs drawn from amateur, USL, NASL, and MLS U.S.-based clubs. In addition to Busch, Jacksonville coach Tony Meola played on Kansas City’s Cup-winning team in 2004; and Michael Lahoud, now with Miami FC, was part of the Philadelphia team that went to the Cup final the last two years running, losing each time.

Indy remains alive in the race for first place in the NASL Spring Season, though a draw at Jacksonville last weekend put a crimp in the undefeated club’s hopes of overhauling the Cosmos. Busch said that the coaches and players did not begin talking about the Cup match until their trip home from Florida on Sunday.

“The thing I like about Hank is that he’s not one to throw out second teams in these games,” Busch said. “It means a lot to him, he knows the history. For me, the history of this Cup, over 100 years, is amazing. We trained today [Tuesday], we’ll look at some video, but not much has changed in the day-to-day preparation. Tomorrow in the locker room we’ll talk about the history.”

Although Busch has started all eight of Indy’s Spring Season games, allowing only seven goals and notching two shutouts, he is not entirely certain that Hankinson will write his name at the top of his roster sheet.

“If he wants me, I’m ready,” he said. “For me, this is special and I take it seriously. It’s not a throwaway game. I’m preparing like I’m going to play and we’ll see what the gaffer wants.”