U.S. Soccer has announced that the Crew will host a third-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match on Tuesday, June 28, at 7:30 p.m., against the winner of a second-round match-up between the Richmond Kickers and Pittsburgh Riverhounds, both of the USL Pro League.
Tickets will be priced at $15 in all seating areas, and will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, June 23, at 10 a.m. A Pre-Sale offering $10 tickets exclusively to Crew Soccer Nation members and Crew Youth Development families will precede the public on-sale. Parking will free of charge for all ticket buyers.
Richmond will play host to Pittsburgh this Tuesday, June 21, at 7 p.m., in the second round, to determine which will advance to meet the Crew. Earlier this week (on June 14), the Kickers defeated the Dayton Dutch Lions (USL Pro), 4-1, and Pittsburgh eked past Chattanooga FC (NPSL), 3-2 in overtime.
The first round concluded on Tuesday, with 16 lower division teams advancing to the second round. The winners of the second round will advance to the third round to face one of the eight qualified Major League Soccer teams.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which is recognized as U.S. Soccer’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament has crowned a champion for 97 consecutive years dating back to 1914. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
The Crew, which advanced to the Final for the third time last season, enters the 2011 U.S. Open Cup looking for its second title in club history. The first came in 2002 at Crew Stadium when Freddy Garcia provided the match’s lone goal in the 30th minute to defeat the 2002 MLS Cup Champion L.A. Galaxy. The Black & Gold fell to Seattle, 2-1, before a record crowd in last year’s Final.
The quarterfinals will be played July 12, followed by the semifinals on Tuesday, Aug. 30 and the 2011 U.S. Open Cup final on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
