FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will begin play in the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup next Tuesday, May 29, when the team travels to face the Harrisburg City Islanders in a third-round match. The game will be played at the Skyline Sports Complex and will kick off at 7 p.m. The venue for the teams’ match was decided by a coin flip last week.
Harrisburg, which plays in USL-PRO, advanced to the third round behind tonight’s 2-0 victory over the Long Island Rough Riders, which plays in the PDL. The Revolution, along with the other 15 U.S.-based MLS teams, will enter the U.S. Open Cup bracket in the third round next week.
The U.S. Open Cup has existed for 99 years and incorporates American soccer clubs of every level - ranging from Major League Soccer pro teams to the amateur leagues. The annual event also ranks among the oldest cup competitions in the world. The single-elimination tournament was born as the National Challenge Cup, and was modeled after England’s Football Association Cup.
The Revolution is the 2007 U.S. Open Cup champion, a title that was the club’s first-ever cup tournament title. New England defeated FC Dallas, 3-2, in Frisco, Texas, to win that match. The Revs have an 11-10-3 all-time record in U.S. Open Cup matches.
