November 20 – The US Open Cup is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States having first been played in 1914.
Last weekend 21 qualifying matches took place with seven teams reaching next year’s tournament while the remaining 14 clubs advanced to all-or-nothing Fourth Rounders on December 7-8.
Following that Fourth and Final Round of Qualifying in December, the complete field of 14 teams – from an original field of 114 Qualifying Round entrants – will be known.
Befitting a cup competition, five of the seven teams that booked their place in next year’s Tournament Proper this weekend will be making their debuts.
CD Faialense, the historic club from the outskirts of Boston, made easy work of visiting FCY New York of Buffalo with a 3-1 win. France-born former UMASS Lowell standout Yanis Lakhlifi scored a stunning hat trick for the Cambridge-based side who play out of the Bay State Soccer League.
Southern Indiana FC also scored three in a 3-0 result over Georgia’s Dalton United to book their place in next year’s Tournament Proper – the 110th edition of the U.S. Open Cup.
Clifton-based UPSL club New Jersey Alliance scraped over the line in a back-and-forth thriller against Maryland’s Steel Pulse FC to book their first place. Late goals in regulation and extra-time saw the contest end 2-2 before holding their nerve in a 4-2 penalty shootout victory for the Garden Staters.
Virginia Dream may only be in their third year as a team, but they’re as good as their name. With help between the sticks from 2013 Open Cup-winning goalkeeper Bill Hamid – a long-time MLS standout with D.C. United, the Falls Church, VA-based side, known for the style of their kits as well as their play, edged out fellow Virginians Aegean Hawks FC 2-1. Mike Akinkoye and Nicholas Likulia did the scoring.
It was the same scoreline (2-1) that pushed West Chester United SC through at the expense of historic Vereinigung Erzgebirge. Long-time coach Blaise Santangelo’s men were the only one of the five teams that booked their place on Saturday that won’t be making a debut in the Tournament Proper. Kenneth Roby and Joshua Luchini claimed the goals for the Pennsylvania-based club.
NY Renegades FC faced a tough test to book their debut in the 2025 Tournament Proper – up against Open Cup regulars and national amateur powers Lansdowne Yonkers FC on Sunday. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after extra-time on Long Island with the UPSL-based Renegades coming out on top via a decisive 4-1 scoreline in the penalty shootout.
Harpos FC – who’ve become an institution in Colorado’s amateur soccer scene since first qualifying for the Open Cup back in 2015 – earned a 2-0 win against neighbors and rivals Azteca FC in an all Colorado-Premier-League showdown. Adam Mickelson scored one and assisted on the other as Harpos made a return to the Tournament Proper by halting a 13-game unbeaten Azteca FC run in Qualifying.
The seven teams that qualified for the Tournament Proper via this November Matchday will be joined by seven more at the conclusion of Matchday Four (Dec. 7 -8). Those 14 teams will join USASA National Amateur Cup winner NY Pancyprian Freedoms, UPSL Spring Champion Soda City FC, and 16 teams from the National League Qualifying Track, split between the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and USL League Two.
Their prize will be a potential draw against an MSL team.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1734894953labto1734894953ofdlr1734894953owedi1734894953sni@o1734894953fni1734894953