Ocean City Nor'easters Learn First Round Opponent For 104th U.S. Open Cup

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Ocean City Nor’easters men’s soccer team will play its first match in the U.S. Open Cup since 2014 when it welcomes Junior Lone Star FC to the pitch at Carey Stadium on Wednesday night, May 10, 7:30 p.m.

The winner will face the Harrisburg City Islanders in the second round of the 104th annual Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on May 17. A complete list of the first round matchups and the potential second round matchups is posted at thecup.us.

"It's a great draw for us to have an opportunity to play in front of our home fans to kick off the US Open Cup," Nor'easters Sporting Director Tim Oswald said in a release issued by the team Wednesday night. "We are very proud and honored to be taking part in this historic event once again and are hopeful to add another historic cup run to our resume. What makes this tournament so exciting is that anything can happen in a single-elimination format. You lose and you go home."

Against Junior Lone Star FC, the Nor’easters will be seeking their first cup win since 2013’s 1-0 upset of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. It is their eighth overall appearance in the tournament.

Modeled after England's FA Cup, the US Open Cup is the second-oldest continually-operating soccer tournament in the world and has been the national championship for the United States since it launched in 1913. The tournament is open to professional and amateur teams from Major League Soccer (MLS) to Sunday beer league teams and everything in between.

A record 99 teams qualified for this year’s tournament, with 21 coming from the Premier Development League (PDL), which Ocean City is a member.

Ocean City was 9-5-0 in the regular season last year, and won the Eastern Conference championship, paving the way for their inclusion in this year’s competition.

Junior Lone Star FC is competing in the tournament for the first time. It qualified by winning two qualifying matches last fall.

Junior Lone Star FC has two different senior teams. One competes in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), and the other is part of the Philadelphia Premier Soccer League (PPSL). Junior Lone Star FC have won the last two PPSL titles, and four of the last six.

The first round of the tournament consists of 56 amateur teams playing in 28 games. The winners advance to the second round, where 24 professional teams from the United Soccer League (USL) and the North American Soccer League (NASL) enter the competition.

Harrisburg plays in the USL, and advanced to the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open Cup, falling to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS), 3-2.

In 2007, Harrisburg defeated Ocean City, 2-1, in the second round of the tournament at Carey Stadium.

MLS teams enter the competition in the fourth round. The championship game is scheduled for Sept. 20. FC Dallas is the defending champion.

Patch file photo