WVHooligan - Soccer Blog

The 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup officially kicks off tonight with first round coverage all over the country. Lots of interesting regional matches to see.

For those who know me, I am a big supporter of this Cup and really hope it can regain its national importance in the sport. I think we got a nice step forward with the Cup’s winner getting an automatic bid into the CONCACAF Champions League. That means a club in USL 1 or 2 could end up playing in the CCL. As much as it probably would never happen, the thought of it is pretty neat for these smaller clubs.

Like I said, lots of games tonight across the board. Some of you MLS-hopeful cities out there have clubs in your city/region that you should support tonight. The better you support these clubs in this Cup, I think the better your city has a chance at a MLS expansion bid down the road. It won’t guarantee an expansion bid but it certainly won’t hurt to show there is support.

Now as for the list of games:
Carolina Railhawks v Brooklyn Knights
Real Maryland Monarchs v NY Pancyprian Freedoms
Richmond Kickers v Fredricksburg Gunners
Western Mass Pioneers v Boston Olympiakos
Minnesota Thunder v St Louis Lions
Michigan Bucks v Cleveland City Stars
AAC Eagles v Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Rochester Rhinos v RWB Adria
Austin Aztex v Atlanta Silverbacks
Miami FC Blues v Bradenton Academics
Charlottle Eagles v Clearwater Galactics
Charleston Battery v ASC New Stars
Crystal Palace Baltimore v Los Angeles Legends
Harrisburg City Islanders v Yakima Reds
Arizona Sahuaros v Seattle Sounders
Portland Timbers v Hollywood United

No word yet on where the MLS clubs will stack up in the bracket (expect that next week). Also speaking of those MLS clubs, Chicago and Columbus have the final play-in game tonight as well. The winner moves into the tournament. Each MLS club in the tournament enters it in the third round.

You can view the full bracket here at the US Open Cup website.

More coverage on this later on.