The 106th U.S. Open Cup is underway.
GAMEDAYYYYY! Tonight at 7pm we take on @TheVillagesSC in the second round of the @opencup. Admission is FREE! See you at Al Lang!#TogetherRowdies pic.twitter.com/P9czgsCTgT
— Tampa Bay Rowdies (@TampaBayRowdies) May 14, 2019
There have been 63 clubs to win the tournament; but, only one has been based in Florida. The St. Petersburg Kickers won the 1989 U.S. Open Cup in extra time over Greek America AA in St. Louis.
In the three decades since, Florida clubs have made a run– including the Miami Fusion’s run to the final in 2000– but none have lifted the trophy.
The second round kicks off tonight with the first of 22 matches. Two of those contests feature Florida teams:
The Tampa Bay Rowdies, another USL Championship team, will host The Villages SC in an inter-Florida matchup.
Florida Soccer Soldiers, a semi-pro team from Broward County that competes in the United Premier Soccer League’s Southeast Conference, travels to North Carolina to face USL Championship side Charlotte Independence .
Florida Soccer Soldiers entered the U.S. Open Cup in the First Qualifying Round. The club has defeated Miami Sun FC, Red Force FC, Hurricane FC and used a forfeit win over America Soccer Club just to advance to the first round. Once there, Florida Soccer Soldiers pulled off a cupset by topping Miami FC, despite conceding a goal in the first 10 minutes
A genuine #Cupset. ?@SoccerSoldiers charged past @NPSLSoccer pro side @TheMiamiFC to book a date in the #USOC2019 Second Round. GAME ? HIGHLIGHTS ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/eIdn8jV4Be
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 9, 2019
If Florida Soccer Soldiers pulls off another upset, it would hit the road again face either the Richmond Kickers or North Carolina FC in the third round. Meanwhile, if the Tampa Bay Rowdies advanced they would host NTX Rayados on May 29 or travel to Norman, Okla. to square off against OKC Energy on May 29.
Of the 14 Florida-based entrants in this year’s tournament, four remain: Florida Soccer Soldiers, The Villages SC, Tampa Bay Rowdie and Orlando City. Orlando City, along with the 21 other Major League Soccer teams based in the United States, will enter the Open Cup in the fourth round.