New Minnesota Entry into Amateur Side of US Open Cup Competition
Inside Minnesota Soccer had learned through regular reader Lighting Striker, AKA Neal, that Minnesota has an entry to the amateur side of the US Open Cup and that game will be played today at NSC. According to Ben O’Brien, Vice President of the Minnesota Soccer Association, the parent organization of all adult amateur soccer played in the State, that team is a 4th division MASL team called the Minnesota Hawks (not the Blackhawks). The game will be played today, May 9, 2009, at NSC on field A3 at 3:30 PM. The MN Hawks will host a Nebraska team, effectively beginning a regional campaign that could eventually lead them to the regional championships.
The Rochester Thunder PDL team, who start their season tonight, also start their competition in the Cup which is based this year in a playoff system using regular season games. The games are all in May and start tonight.
MAY
Saturday May 9 Rochester Thunder @ Des Moines Menace 8:30 PM (OCQ) – Valley Stadium
Sunday May 10 Rochester Thunder @ St. Louis Lions 6:00 PM (OCQ) – Tony Glavin Complex
Friday May 15 Real Colorado Foxes @ Rochester Thunder 8:00 PM (OCQ)- Rochester Community Technical College
Saturday May 23 Kansas City Brass @ Rochester Thunder 8:00 PM (OCQ) – Rochester CTC
(OCQ) stands for Open Cup Qualifier.
Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is entering it’s 96th tournament in 2009.
The U.S. Open Cup is very similar to domestic cup competitions popular throughout Europe, South America and the rest of the world. Cup competitions, which usually run concurrent with a country’s league season, are open in the early stages to any club that can qualify, giving local amateur teams a chance to compete against the best teams a country has to offer.
Comments are closed.