CHICAGO (Monday, June 19, 2005) – U.S. Soccer announced the third round pairings for the 2005 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup today. Four teams from the United Soccer Leagues First Division and four from Major League Soccer will play the winners of the June 29 second round games.

The third round opens with one match on Tuesday, July 12 with the balance of the matches scheduled for Wednesday, July 13. A full schedule is listed below.

MLS expansion teams Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA will enter the U.S. Open Cup for the first time on July 13, with RSL facing either the Chicago Fire Premier of the PDL or the Minnesota Thunder of USL1. Chivas USA will travel to face either the El Paso Patriots of the PDL or the Charlotte Eagles of USL2. FC Dallas and the Chicago Fire of MLS will also enter the tournament in the third round as the two teams to miss the playoffs last season. The eight remaining MLS teams enter the tournament in the fourth round on August 3.
   
The first round of the 2005 Open Cup concluded on Wednesday, June 15, as eight teams secured spots in the second round of the tournament. With overtime switching away from golden goal, two games saw a total of four overtime goals as each team to play in an overtime game scored, forcing penalty kicks. In penalties, the Des Moines Menace (PDL) and Salinas Valley Samba (USASA) topped the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL2) and Sonoma County Sol (USASA), respectively.

Every other game in the first round was decided by multiple goals. The upset of the tournament so far was the USASA regional qualifier out of Indiana, the Reggae Boyz, who topped the USL2 Cincinnati Kings by a 4-2 scoreline. The shot of the day came off the foot of Orange County Blue Stars (PDL) defender Tyson Wahl, who struck a 35-yard ball that chipped the goalkeeper to find the back of the net. Unfortunately this was a back pass that resulted in a long own goal as the team from the OC fell to the El Paso Patriots (PDL) 3-1.

Geographical pairings and host proposals received from each club determined match-ups, as they will through the quarterfinals of the tournament. Possible pairings for the fourth round will be announced after the completion of the second round.

At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team which advances deepest in the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. 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.

2005 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule/Results

Qualifying Round

#	Date	Teams	Venue	Result
1	June 8	Roma at Cocoa Expos	Cocoa Expo Sports Center; Cocoa, Fla.	7-2
2	June 8	Salinas Valley Samba at Cascade Surge Salinas advances 4-2 on PKs	McCulloch Stadium; Salem, Ore.	1-1 4-2 PKs

First Round

#	Date	Teams	Venue	Result
3	June 15	Baltimore Colts at Richmond Kickers	Sports Backers Stadium; Richmond, Va.	0-3
4	June 15	Azzurri FC at Roma	Pennington Field; Bedford, Texas	2-5
5	June 15	Ocean City Barons at NY G-A Atlas	St. John's University; Jamaica, N.Y.	3-0
6	June 15	Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Des Moines Menace Des Moines Advances 4-2 on PKs	Waukee Stadium; Waukee, Iowa	1-1 (4-2)
7	June 15	AAC Eagles at Chicago Fire Premier	Jacobs High School; Algonquin, Ill.	1-4
8	June 15	Orange County Blue Star at El Paso Patriots	Patriot Stadium; El Paso, Texas	1-3
9	June 15	Salinas Valley Samba at Sonoma County Sol Salinas advances 6-5 on penalty kicks	Ernie Nevers Field; Santa Rosa, Calif.	2-2 (6-5)
10	June 15	Cincinnati Kings vs. Indiana Reggae Boyz	Kuntz Memorial Stadium; Indianapolis, Ind.	2-4

Second Round

#	Date	Teams	Venue	Result
11	June 29	Salinas Valley Samba at Seattle Sounders	Starfire Sports Complex; Tukwilla, Wash.	1-3
12	June 29	Chicago Fire Premier at Minnesota Thunder	James Griffin Stadium; St. Paul, Minn.	1-2
13	June 29	Reggae Boyz at Western Mass Pioneers	Luistano Stadium; Ludlow, Mass.	0-5
14	June 29	Richmond Kickers Future at Virginia Beach Mariners	Va. Beach Sportsplex; Virginia Beach, Va.	0-3
15	June 29	Roma at Wilmington Hammerheads	Legion Stadium; Wilmington, N.C.	0-5
16	June 29	L.I. Rough Riders at Ocean City Barons	Carey Stadium; Ocean City, N.J.	0-4
17	June 29	Charlotte Eagles at El Paso Patriots	Patriot Stadium; El Paso, Texas	4-1
18	June 29	Charleston Battery at Des Moines Menace	Waukee Stadium; Waukee, Iowa	2-3

Third Round

#	Date	Teams	Venue	Result
19	July 12	Seattle Sounders at Portland Timbers	PGE Park; Portland, Ore.	0-2
20	July 13	Real Salt Lake at Minnesota Thunder	James Griffin Stadium; St. Paul, Minn.	4-6 (ot)
21	July 13	Chicago Fire at Western Mass Pioneers	Lusitano Stadium; Ludlow, Mass.	3-1
22	July 13	Va. Beach Mariners at Rochester Rhinos	Frontier Field; Rochester, N.Y.	1-2
23	July 13	Wilmington Hammerheads at FC Dallas	Univ. of Texas-Dallas; Dallas, Texas	1-3 (ot)
24	July 13	Ocean City Barons at Richmond Kickers	Sports Backers Stadium; Richmond, Va.	4-8
25	July 13	Chivas USA at Charlotte Eagles	Davidson College; Davidson, N.C.	3-2 (ot)
26	July 13	Des Moines Menace at Atlanta Silverbacks	DeKalb Memorial Stadium; Clarkson, Ga.	5-1

Future Dates
Fourth Round             Aug. 3        Third Round winners vs. 8 MLS
Quarterfinals             Aug. 24        Fourth Round winners
Semifinals                 Sept. 14        Quarterfinal winners
Final                        Sept. 28        Semifinal winners

Qualified Teams
MLS (12): Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, MetroStars, New England Revolution, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes;

USL Division I (8): Atlanta Silverbacks, Charleston Battery, Minnesota Thunder, Portland Timbers, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Seattle Sounders, Virginia Beach Mariners

USL Division II (6): Charlotte Eagles, Cincinnati Kings*, Long Island Rough Riders, Pittsburgh Riverhounds*, Western Mass Pioneers, Wilmington Hammerheads

USL Premier Development League (8): Cascade Surge*, Chicago Fire Premier, Cocoa Expos, Des Moines Menace*, El Paso Patriots, Ocean City Barons, Orange County Blue Star*, Richmond Kickers Future 

USASA (8): AAC Eagles* (Chicago, Ill.), Azzurri FC* (Reg. III; Dallas), Baltimore Colts* (Reg. I; Fallston, Md.), NY Greek American Atlas* (Reg. I; Bayside, N.Y.), Roma (Reg. III; Garland, Texas), Salinas Valley Samba (Reg. IV; Salinas, Calif.), Sonoma County Sol* (Reg. IV; Santa Rosa, Calif.), Indiana Reggae Boyz (Reg. II; Indianapolis, Ind.)
 
*Indicates eliminated team

- ussoccer.com -