The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced today that the the Chicago Fire will meet the Rochester Rhinos in the 3rd Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Sahlen Stadium in Rochester, NY on Tuesday, June 28 at 6:35 p.m. CT. The match will be streamed live on Chicago-Fire.com and USLlive.com.
The Fire have qualified for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for 14 consecutive seasons, since the club’s inception in 1998. The Men in Red have taken pride in competing in the U.S. Open Cup, and its results reflect that mindset. Since 1998, the Fire have racked up an impressive 26-9-2 record in Open Cup play, which has helped the squad reach the semifinal round on seven out of 13 occasions and the tournament’s final five times. The 2006 title marked the ninth time a team from Chicago won the Open Cup and made the Fire one of five teams to capture the crown at least four times in the tournament’s nearly century-long history.
The Chicago Fire PDL side ran out to a 1-0 lead in their 2nd Round U.S. Open Cup at the Madison 56ers Tuesday night before the game was delayed in the 18th minute when lightning struck near Breese Stevens Field in Madison, Wisc. After a nearly two-hour delay, the game was postponed by the U.S. Soccer Match Commissioner. As a result, according to the tournament’s bylaws, the match will be replayed in its entirety Wednesday afternoon at 4pm CT. The winner of the game will advance to the tournament’s 3rd Round where they’ll pay a visit to Sporting Kansas City at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park next Tuesday, June 28 or Wednesday, June 29.
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, which is recognized as U.S. Soccer’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. The tournament has crowned a champion for 95 consecutive years dating back to 1914. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
