Here Come the Big Boys: MLS teams enter US Open Cup today

Open Cup Digest #15

The 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup opened play back in March, but now it's finally time for the big boys to show up. Sixteen teams from Major League Soccer will join the tournament today and tomorrow, and each one will face a lower-division side that won in the Third Round last month.

The 16 first-division and 16 lower-division sides were divided into eight groups, each with four teams: Two from MLS, two from other leagues. As a rule, the MLS teams are geographically close to home — with the major exception of New York Red Bulls, who will open the tournament in Colorado. (More on that below.)

Only two teams from the Tri-State Area will play in this round. After Westchester SC of USL League One was knocked out in the Third Round by Detroit City FC, New York City FC and the Red Bulls are the local clubs teams now in the tournament. And both are on the road this round by virtue of being “unseeded” by US Soccer during the tournament’s initial draw.

The winners this week will advance to the Round of 16, which will be played on May 20 and 2. Because of the groupings, the matchups for the Round of 16 are already determined. For the two local teams, that means that if New York City advance they will play the winner of Philadelphia Union vs Indy Eleven as the away team, and if Red Bulls advance they will play the winner of FC Dallas vs AV Alta FC.

The tournament can be watched on the CBS family of networks, with all 16 games of the Round of 32 can be streamed live on Paramount+. A handful of games are also available for free on CBS Sports Golazo Network – including both the Red Bulls game today and the NYCFC game tomorrow – and on standard television via CBS Sports Network. CBS will also be producing more content over the next two days, including game previews.

Read on as we take you through each match of local interest in this week’s Round of 32, before making some iron-clad Open Cup predictions.

A first-time meeting between one of USL’s oldest teams and New York City. The MLS side will be playing at one of America’s best soccer venues in Highmark Stadium, which is located on the banks of the Monongahela River. It’s a stadium with a view, in this case of the Pittsburgh skyline.

The Riverhounds haven’t gotten off to the best start this season, with only two wins and six goals in seven games. The offense has been struggling, and didn’t look any better last weekend after losing 2-0 to North Carolina FC. Only Daniel Griffin has scored multiple times, and he has just two goals. Goalkeeper Eric Dick has two clean sheets this season, but both of them came in March.

The organization has yet to win a league championship, although they did win the regular season title back in 2023. That same year, the Hounds beat the New England Revolution in a cupset during a home match in the US Open Cup. The team entered this year’s competition in the Third Round alongside a majority of USL Championship teams, and advanced past Columbus Crew 2 thanks to an early Griffin goal.

The Riverhounds are led by head coach Bob Lilley, who is in his eighth season with the team. Last season, the coach celebrated his 400th professional win. For reference, Bruce Arena has the most wins of all Major League Soccer (MLS) coaches with 331 after last weekend.

New York City are coming off a hard-fought 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati at Citi Field, holding what had been the best team in the Eastern Conference scoreless. Forward Alonso Martínez missed his penalty in that game, but is showing that the contract extension he signed in February is worth it as he leads the team in goals this season with six.

But New York City’s greatest asset is goalkeeping. Averaging 4.0 saves per game, Matt Freese continues to be one of the best in the league. The defense around him can usually hold well, but Freese’s play this season is impressive. If he plays, New York City will have the advantage. 

Ironically, it's going to be tough for NYCFC to beat the US Open Cup results put up last year by the reserve side. NYCFC II team advanced from the First Round all the way to the Round of 16, winning four games before getting knocked out by USL Championship side New Mexico United. NYCFC II earned a $25,000 bonus for being the Division III team to advance the farthest in the tournament.

The winner of this game will play the winner of the other matchup in the Landon Donovan Group, either Philadelphia Union or Indy Eleven, in the Round of 16 on May 20 or 21. NYCFC is last in hosting priority for the next round, meaning the Boys in Blue will be on the road once again should they advance.

Prediction: As much fun as it would be to pick against NYCFC, especially with the team’s history against lower-division sides, it’s hard to see them struggling on Wednesday. The Hounds will have home-field advantage, but if Martínez plays I don’t expect them to contain him. Give me New York City, 3-1.

The defending USL Championship Final winners host the defending MLS Cup finalists. Poetic isn’t it?

The Switchbacks went all the way last year, capping off their 10th season with a championship win over Rhode Island FC. It came from a culmination of efforts: From opening up a soccer-specific stadium in 2021, to elevating former Philadelphia Union Academy man James Chambers from assistant to head coach in 2024, to making tons of roster moves. However, the offseason has been tough, with the Switchbacks losing players such as forward Ronaldo Damus, midfielder Devon "Speedy" Williams, and midfielder Jairo Henríquez.

Meanwhile, the defense continues to be a huge issue. Defender Matt Mahoney, a native of Buffalo, NY,  has been with the team since its transformation began back in 2021, and is still trying to lead the four-man backline. However, the team around him isn’t playing in sync. Haitian international Garven Metusala and fullback Akeem Ward are not consistently going the full 90 minutes, and are being beaten on the field. It doesn’t help that the Switchbacks still try to press aggressively but are ranked 18th in the league in terms of actually winning the ball upfield.

The Switchbacks are caught in what you might consider a typical cup hangover: A lot of good players departed after increasing their stock last year, and the new talent is still trying to find a system that works. The team’s roots can be traced back to Eastern Pennsylvania, with ties to both the Philadelphia Union and Reading United AC in USL League Two. Much like the Union, the Switchbacks are system-heavy and have a hard time adapting to changes.

That’s why the Switchbacks started 2025 with only one win and four draws through eight games, including a 1-1 result last weekend at home to Phoenix Rising FC.

The Red Bulls aren’t having a great start to 2025, either. Suffering from an extensive injury list, the roster rotations have caught up to head coach Sandro Schwarz’s side. RBNY has only won two games since the end of March, dropping results to New England Revolution before they were good and DC United. The Red Bulls fell to Inter Miami 4-1 over the weekend in their biggest competitive loss of the year.

Red Bulls Boss Sandro Schwarz on ‘Creating Emotions’ in the U.S. Open Cup

Michael Battista sat for a chat with head coach Sandro Schwarz about his Red Bulls (MLS) entering the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 32 and the importance of building atmosphere, emotion and identity

U.S. Soccer

Some of the struggles can be traced to when Scotland national team midfielder Lewis Morgan suffered a left knee injury back in March and underwent surgery. The loss of the team’s biggest goal scorer has, to put it lightly, noticeable. New addition Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting leads the team with five goals, and captain Emil Forsberg is behind him with three. But Choupo-Moting isn’t consistent, and Forsberg isn’t a goal-scorer as much of a playmaker.

Besides Morgan, other players such as midfielder Cameron Harper, defender Dylan Nealis, midfielder Daniel Edelman, and forward Serge Ngoma have all been hit by injuries.

Overall, the Red Bulls are a poster child for mediocrity right now. The team has four wins through eleven games this season, and is winless on the road. The loss on Saturday against Inter Miami amplified that point.

As part of the Paul Caligiuri Group, the winner of this game will play the winner of FC Dallas vs AV Alta FC of USL League One. That game will take place in the Round of 16 on May 20 or 21. Should RBNY win, they will host as they have priority over the other teams.

Prediction: Morgan is still about a week away from returning to play, but even without him New York’s struggling offense should be enough to handle the Switchbacks. While Colorado Springs has a nice offense, New York’s best asset is its defense — that is, when Raheem Edwards isn’t playing. Give me Colorado losing to a New York team in the USOC for a second year in a row and RBNY getting its first win away from Harrison in 2025, 2-0.

Other Round of 32 Matches to watch

Welcome to the latest edition of the I-4 Derby, a feud with animosity that dates back over a decade and spans different levels of the US Soccer pyramid. It doesn’t matter that OCSC has a perfect record in competitive matches against the Rowdies, with seven wins in seven meetings. This is a blood feud.

The Rowdies are struggling this season with only one win in the USL Championship, but expect a packed house at Al Lang. Just keep Ralph’s Mob away from Iron Lion Firm and Ruckus supporters groups from Orlando.

Before last year, Indy Eleven had never won a road match in a decade of playing in the US Open Cup. But in 2024 they beat a Major League Soccer team when they took down Atlanta United 1-2 on the road in the Quarterfinals. With that win, they became the second Indiana side to make the tournament semifinals in its 100-year history.

This year, they start the tournament playing against a Supporters’ Shield contender in the Philadelphia Union. Indy only has one win this season but people have doubted them before. Again, whoever wins this game will play the winner of Hounds vs NYCFC.

Amateur Cup Update

While the 110th edition of the US Open Cup rages on, the 101st edition of the National Amateur Cup is quietly taking place across the country as well. Why does this matter? Because the national champion will automatically qualify for the 2026 US Open Cup.

I've been helping to cover the tournament over on TheCup.us for the last few years, meaning there’s no one better to get you up to date on where locals stand.

Organized and run by the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), the NAC is comprised of four regional tournaments across the country. The one that matters to Hudson River Blue readers is Region I, which encompasses the northeastern United States and is in the middle of its own Amateur Cup tournament. The winner of that tournament will join three other regional champions in Milwaukee, WI later this summer for a weekend knockout tournament to determine the champion.

The defending national champions are Astoria’s very own New York Pancyprian-Freedoms, the three-time Open Cup champions who knocked off FC Cincinnati 2 in this year’s Open Cup. Large wins in the first two rounds, aided with four goals by forward and Port Jefferson Station native James Thristino, have helped New York cruise up until this point. Even though the team was on the road in both games, they won by a combined scoreline of 10-1.

On the other side is a familiar face: Lansdowne Yonkers FC. The team from just north of New York City are two-time National Amateur Cup champions, and they have been clinical in qualifying thus far. They logged two wins with a combined scoreline of 7-1, each with a different goal scorer — including former Ireland U-19 captain Séamas Keogh. The Bhoys are trying to win the national title for the first time since 2021 and return to the Open Cup for the first time since 2023.

Pancyprians and Lansdowne are scheduled to face off in the regional semifinals on Sunday, May 18. As of now, the Freedoms are scheduled to host but no venue or time has been announced. Expect the game to take place at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University.

The winner of that game will advance to the Region I Amateur Cup final on Saturday, June 14, to face the winner of the other semifinal between Pennsylvania West Chester United SC and Maryland’s Christos FC.

Both New York teams recently met in the Eastern New York State Soccer Association Manning Cup final, the tournament for teams playing in the eastern portion of the state. After a 1-1 game, Yonkers prevailed 6-5 in a penalty kick shootout. In the league, they both sit near the top of the American Premier Soccer League’s Metropolitan Conference table.