With the World Cup qualifiers complete for the USMNT, the action in US Soccer turns towards the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The 104th edition of the tournament enters the fourth round on Tuesday, as the remaining 19 sides (all from MLS) join the existing teams still alive. Here is a look at the five most intriguing matchups drawn together for this round.
An interesting battle of Ohio clubs. The Crew won the Cup back in 2002, but have been slowly seeing their cross-state rival grow in popularity. The MLS’ Crew drew an average of 17,125 fans last season while FC Cincinnati in the USL pulled in 17,834. As one of the 12 cities currently bidding for a spot in MLS’ expansion to 28 teams, Cincinnati are thrilled at the chance to prove themselves against the top flight Crew.
This could be the most likely upset of an MLS club in round four. The Dynamo have struggled on the road all year, and will not be playing their best XI in Cary, NC. On the flip side, North Carolina FC (formerly known as the Carolina Railhawks) have a history of upsetting MLS clubs in the Cup.
In 2013 they beat the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA before falling to Real Salt Lake in the quarterfinals. The next season, they beat Chivas USA and the LA Galaxy yet again before losing to FC Dallas in the quarterfinals. NCFC’s team and crowd will be focused on adding another MLS side to their upset collection.
There are many issues with the current cup format, one of those being the repetitive nature of matchups due to regionalizing early rounds. That said, having an extra New York derby isn’t something to complain about. This will be the two sides' first meeting in 2017. While both clubs have strong academies and depth, they may be tempted to start more first team players than normal considering the opponent.
The cinderella story of this year’s Cup centers around Christos FC from the Maryland Major Soccer League. The club topped fellow lower division Fredericksburg FC, before upsetting USL’s Richmond Kickers and the PDL’s Chicago FC United. They now get to host three-time cup winners D.C. United. Can the minnows continue their surprising run or will DC trot out the starters to avoid any chances of an embarrassment?
In 2015 the Sounders hosted the Timbers in Tukwila (just south of Seattle), also in the fourth round, in a match dubbed the ‘Red-Card Wedding’. The match went to extra time at 1-1, before the Timbers prevailed 3-1. However, the real story was the ref sending off three Seattle players during the match, including the famous incident of Clint Dempsey tearing up the ref’s notebook. Dempsey was banned from the Cup for two years, so we unfortunately want get to see him in the sequel. Tuesday night this is the game you want to be streaming.
You can catch all 16 of the Round four games on the US Soccer, as well as many of the club’s official websites. The draw for the fifth round will take place on Thursday.
