CHICAGO – Sixty-two teams will take the field across all parts of the U.S. during the weekend of Oct. 16-17 as action resumes in Open Division Local Qualifying for the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, U.S. Soccer’s national championship.

Forty of these sides will be playing their first game in the competition.

Eleven slots in the 2022 Open Cup, set to open March 22-23, will be available to the local amateur squads left standing after four qualifying rounds. The history-filled annual tournament, holding its 107th edition, is the only high-profile event in American team sports that grants amateur sides the opportunity, should they advance far enough, to face professionals in meaningful competition.

In the Southeast Region, the game originally drawn as a first qualifying round match between City Soccer FC (Fla.) and Miami Sun FC (Fla.) played Sept. 18 was reclassified to a second qualifying round contest following the withdrawal from the tournament by Miami Beach Club de Fútbol on Sept. 16. City Soccer FC emerged a 3-2 winner and will next play in the Southeast Region’s third qualifying round Nov. 20-21.

As teams in the Northeast and Central regions will play no more than three qualifying rounds, the schedule for these areas was shifted earlier so that the fourth qualifying round takes place during the Nov. 20-21 window, avoiding play in mid-December for some of the coldest parts of the country.

Open Division Local Qualifying is conducted on a single-game, knockout basis. Matchups are determined geographically to minimize travel time and expense, with random selection used when practicable to determine opponent pairings. Home teams are determined via random selection. Pairings for subsequent rounds are determined and announced after each preceding round of games has taken place.

2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – Open Division Local Qualifying Schedule

Sept. 12-19: First Qualifying Round (Southeast, West), Second Qualifying Round (Central, Northeast)
Oct. 16-17: Second Qualifying Round (Southeast, West), Third Qualifying Round (Central, Northeast)
Nov. 20-21: Third Qualifying Round (Southeast, West), Fourth Qualifying Round (Central, Northeast)
Dec. 18-19: Fourth Qualifying Round (Southeast, West)

 

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.