In the early 1960s, the U.S. Open Cup was almost exclusively the domain of the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals. The Ukes – as they were known – won the national title four times and appeared in two further Finals between 1960 and 1966.
The driving force for the first two of those triumphs was the Argentine-born son of Ukrainian immigrants, Mike Noha. When he landed in Philadelphia he spoke no English, but Noha was fluent in putting the ball in the back of the net. His performance in the 1960 Open Cup Final is perhaps the greatest feat of goal-scoring in the century-plus history of the tournament.
“In 1960 we were incredible, the best around, and Mike Noha was a really good player for us,” said Alexandre Ely, the National Soccer Hall of Famer and Philadelphia Ukrainians midfielder. “He had a good shot and really was just a fantastic player.”
Already tearing up the American Soccer League (ASL), where he went on to win the league’s 1960 scoring crown, Noha helped the Ukrainians kick off that year’s U.S. Open Cup campaign by scoring once in a 4-1 win over amateur side Little Club of the Philadelphia League. The Ukes then swept past another local amateur outfit, Tiroler SC, 4-0 on braces by Stan Dlugosz and substitute Al Didrikson.
Having already hit the Newark Portuguese net three times in an ASL regular season match in December, Noha found the Newark goal four more times in a 9-0 Open Cup decision on March 20. It was one of the biggest routs in Open Cup history considering that both teams played in the same league.
Dlugosz started the scoring 20 minutes in. Jackie Ferris claimed two goals and Ossie Johnson and Mike Campo one each as the balls fell into goalkeeper John Ingram’s net almost as quickly as the snow accumulated on the Ukrainians’ home field at 29th and Clearfield in Philadelphia.
The Ukes followed that up with their third straight Open Cup shutout, blanking the Cleveland Hungarians 6-0. Ozzie Jethon led the way with a brace, scoring in each half. Eugene Krawec, Campo and Ferris all scored before Noha put the finishing touches on the result with a shot from long range with 10 minutes left in the game.
Philadelphia had to get through two more ASL opponents in order to reach the Final, and neither proved to be the pushover the Newarkers were earlier.
Ferris opened the scoring for the Ukrainians, getting around 1958 Open Cup Runners-up Baltimore Pompei goalkeeper Cyril Hannaby 10 minutes into the game. Larry Shurock equalized in the 30th minute, sending a long shot to the right side past Didriksen, a versatile all-around athlete playing in goal that day.
Noha netted the winner, sending a 55th minute penalty kick past Hannaby for his seventh goal in five Open Cup matches that year.
The two-game Eastern Final series against Fall River, who had gotten past the Ukes in 1959 to advance to that year’s Open Cup Final, was tightly contested. The opener, played in front of 1,040 during a steady downpour at Fall River Stadium, ended 1-1 – making it one of only five games (three draws, two losses) the Ukrainians didn’t win over the course of all competitions in 1959-60.
Dlugosz put the Ukrainians up 1-0 in the 40th minute and Fall River tied it on a penalty kick by Jack Sharples a minute later. Noha, who’d already clinched the ASL scoring title by that point, was so tightly marked he didn’t manage a shot.
Back on home turf a week later, and playing in front of a crowd of 5,000 at 29th and Clearfield, Noha led the Ukrainians to a 2-0 win.
Fall River goalkeeper Hank Noga suffered a groin injury in the 15th minute and was replaced by Jack Arruda. Three minutes later, Noha found Jack Ferris in front of the goal and the Ukes had a 1-0 lead.
Noha then scored Philadelphia’s second goal on an individual piece of brilliance 15 minutes later, dribbling from midfield and beating three defenders before finishing with a 15-yard screamer.
The Philadelphia inside right was a one-man wrecking crew in what was only the second Open Cup Final played in the City of Brotherly Love. And the Ukrainians needed his output to get past an impressive Los Angeles Kickers side at Edison Field.
The Kickers’ U.S. National Team star Al Zerhusen opened the scoring with a header 15 minutes in. Five minutes later, Noha dribbled past four defenders and scored from eight yards out. Werner Staacke’s penalty kick again gave the Angelinos the lead, but Noha knotted things up once again, putting in a loose ball coughed up by Kickers goalie Vic Ottaboni.
At the hour mark, Eberhard Herz – who was an invited guest at the 2024 U.S. Open Cup Final when LAFC beat Sporting KC to a first title last year – sent a 20-yard shot into the corner of the Ukrainians net. That was the last time the side from LA would be out front. Noha answered via a penalty kick in the 78th minute after a handball by Hugh Evans.
With less than a minute to go, Campo found the net with a potential game-winner for the Ukes, but it was called back for offside and sent the game to extra-time.
Ten minutes into the second overtime period, Noha took a pass from Alex Falk and scored from 18 yards. While the goal was enough to seal the win, the Argentine ace wasn’t finished doing what he did best. He added another marker six minutes later.
His astonishing five goals in the Final gave Noha 13 goals in eight Open Cup games in 1960, to go along with the 16 he scored to lead the American Soccer League in the 1959-60 season.
Despite a streak that saw them unbeaten in 22 games across the Open Cup and ASL play, the Ukrainians finished second to Staten Island-based Colombo in the ASL standings that year. But neither Noha nor the Ukrainians were done yet.
Helped by his seven goals in the early rounds, the Ukrainians captured their second straight Open Cup title in 1961, beating another Los Angeles team – this time the LA Scots – 5-2 in the second game of the total-goals Final series after the first leg ended in a 2-2 tangle.
After disputing an equalizing goal Al Zerhusen, Noha was ejected from the first game of the Final by referee Gradus Brenjes. He refused to leave the field, touching off what local papers called a riot. The Ukrainian star ultimately was suspended for one year by the U.S. Soccer Federation.
The Ukrainians were knocked out of the 1962 Open Cup in the Eastern Finals by eventual winners New York Hungaria, but they came back to claim a third crown in 1963. Noha scored nine goals in that edition of the tournament, which was still known as the National Challenge Cup at the time.
Noha was capped once for the U.S. National Team, playing in a 10-0 loss to England at Downing Stadium in New York in 1964. He was called in for a World Cup qualifying camp in 1965, but did not play in that game against Concacaf rivals Mexico.
He left Philadelphia after the 1964 season and knocked around with several teams in Chicago’s National Soccer League for nearly a decade, scoring in Open Cup matches for the Chicago Lions in 1967 and 1972 and Chicago Hansa in 1969. During his career, he also spent some offseasons playing in Canada with Toronto Ukraina, Toronto Roma, Montreal Ukraina and Montreal Inter.
Charles Cuttone is a writer/author, historian and three-time winner of the National Soccer Coaches Association writing award.