Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup

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Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup
Lamar hunt pioneer cup.png
The Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup initial logo
TypeCup awarded to the team with the most aggregate goals per year
First meetingMarch 11, 2007
Friendly
Dallas 0–3 Columbus
Latest meetingSeptember 23, 2023
MLS regular season
Dallas 1–1 Columbus
Stadiums
Statistics
All-time recordColumbus: 6
Drawn: 5
Dallas: 3

The Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup is a Major League Soccer (MLS) series between FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew. The series is named after the late Lamar Hunt, who was one of the league's early major investors and a key supporter of American soccer. Initially, the series was contested between the two teams still owned by the Hunt Sports Group (Sporting Kansas City was also previously owned by the Hunt Sports Group, but was sold before the Pioneer Cup began). However, Columbus was sold in 2013, and thus FC Dallas remains the only MLS team still owned by the Hunt Sports Group. The Pioneer Cup is the second event in American soccer named after Lamar Hunt, whose name is also given to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Contents

The first two editions of the Pioneer Cup were single preseason matches. The inaugural edition was played on March 11, 2007 at Pizza Hut Park (now known as Toyota Stadium), with Columbus defeating Dallas 3–0. [1] Proceeds from the game went to the charity Dallas SCORES. [2] The second edition of the Cup was played on March 20, 2010, at Pizza Hut Park with Dallas defeating Columbus 2–1 in heavy snow. [3] [4]

In 2011, the Pioneer Cup was changed to a two-game, aggregate-goal series played during the regular season. The first leg was played at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on April 1, 2011. The Crew took advantage of FC Dallas going one man down in the 33rd minute to win 2–0. The second and deciding leg was played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, on July 2, 2011, with Dallas winning 2–0. Tied 2–2 on aggregate, Columbus regained the Pioneer Cup with the tie being broken by all-time head-to-head goals, 6–4 in favor of Columbus.

When Major League Soccer restructured scheduling ahead of the 2012 season, Columbus and Dallas would play only once in the regular season. Therefore, the Cup was changed to a one-game, winner-take-all contest. In the event of a draw, the all time head-to-head goals tiebreaker remained. In the 2013 edition, Columbus scored four goals with three different scorers to win the Cup for the second straight year. The 2014 contest was a bit more lackluster than previous encounters. An early summer thunderstorm suspended the start of the match and then eventually postponed it to the following day after a Columbus fan was struck by lightning and injured prior to the game being started. [5] The game was played the next day on a hot afternoon, but no player from either side could find the net in a match then ended scoreless. Due to the scoreless draw, Columbus retained the Cup for the third year in a row due to the all-time head-to-head goals tiebreaker being 12–7 in Columbus' favor.

Columbus played their last match with FC Dallas in 2019 at the Historic Crew Stadium (known as Mapfre Stadium at the time) on March 16, 2019. Columbus would later move to Lower.com Field in July 2021. [6]

In the 2021 MLS season, neither Columbus nor Dallas would play each other for the first time since 2009 due to the small number of inter-conference matches taken place between Eastern and Western conference teams.

Winners

YearWinnerColumbus ptsDallas ptsNote
2007Columbus Crew 30Won in pre-season
2010FC Dallas12Won in pre-season
2011Columbus Crew22Won via head-to-head goals tie-breaker (6–4)
2012Columbus Crew21Won in regular season
2013Columbus Crew 42Won in regular season
2014Columbus Crew11Retained via head-to-head goals tie-breaker (13–8)
2015FC Dallas03Won in regular season
2016Columbus Crew11Retained via head-to-head goals tie-breaker (14–12)
2017Columbus Crew21Won in regular season
2018Columbus Crew00Retained via head-to-head goals tie-breaker (16–13)
2019Columbus Crew10Won in regular season
2020Columbus Crew22Retained via head-to-head goals tie-breaker (19–15)
2021None00No matches were held
2022None00No matches were held
2023Columbus Crew11Retained via head-to-head goals tie-breaker (20–16)
2024None00No matches were held

Match results

  Columbus win  Dallas win  Draw

DateVenueScoreCompetitionAttendanceRef.
March 11, 2007 Pizza Hut Park 3–0Preseason friendly
March 20, 2010Pizza Hut Park2–1Preseason friendly [4]
April 1, 2011 Crew Stadium 2–0MLS regular season14,459 [7]
July 2, 2011Pizza Hut Park2–0MLS regular season20,074 [8]
May 12, 2012Columbus Crew Stadium2–1MLS regular season11,120 [9]
September 29, 2013FC Dallas Stadium4–2MLS regular season11,422 [10]
June 29, 2014Columbus Crew Stadium0–0MLS regular season20,617 [11]
September 6, 2015Mapfre Stadium3–0MLS regular season20,217
April 2, 2016Toyota Stadium1–1MLS regular season13,174 [12]
August 26, 2017Mapfre Stadium2–1MLS regular season18,379 [13]
September 15, 2018Toyota Stadium0–0MLS regular season16,030 [14]
March 16, 2019Mapfre Stadium1–0MLS regular season9,687 [15]
October 3, 2020Toyota Stadium2–2MLS regular season3,572 [16]
September 23, 2023Toyota Stadium1–1MLS regular season17,948 [17]
CLB winsDrawsFCD wins
653

References

  1. Hunt, Steve (March 11, 2007). "FC Dallas fall to Crew in Hunt tribute". FC Dallas. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  2. Hunt, Steve (March 10, 2007). "Hoops, Crew set to honor Hunt". FC Dallas. Retrieved July 14, 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. Carrick, Buzz (March 4, 2010). "Pioneer Cup Returns". 3rd Degree. 3rdDegree.net. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Crew falls to FC Dallas in Lamar Hunt Cup". Columbus Crew. TheCrew.com. March 24, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  5. "Soccer | Crew: Firefighter struck by lightning; game rescheduled for today". Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  6. "Columbus Crew SC 1-0 FC Dallas". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  7. "Crew beat FCD for first win of the season". Major League Soccer. TheCrew.com. April 1, 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  8. Casner, Robert (July 2, 2011). "Match Recap: FC Dallas 2, Columbus 0". FC Dallas. FCDallas.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  9. "Recap: Miranda, Crew rally past 10-man FC Dallas 2–1". MLSsoccer.com. May 12, 2012. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012.
  10. "Recap: Crew draws closer to playoff picture with key road win". September 29, 2013. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  11. "Black & Gold draw FC Dallas at home in postponed match". MLSsoccer.com. June 29, 2014.
  12. "FC Dallas 1, Columbus Crew SC 1 | 2016 MLS Match Recap". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  13. "Columbus Crew SC 2–1 FC Dallas". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  14. "FC Dallas 0-0 Columbus Crew SC". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  15. "Columbus Crew SC 1-0 FC Dallas". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  16. "FC Dallas 2-2 Columbus Crew SC". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  17. "DALvsCLB 09-23-2023". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved September 27, 2023.