CHICAGO (Thursday, June 10, 2004) – The Dallas Burn, Columbus Crew and six A-League teams have learned their potential opponents and venues for the third round of the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as U.S. Soccer announced third round pairings today.
In addition to the two MLS sides, the Atlanta Silverbacks, Charleston Battery, Minnesota Thunder, Portland Timbers, Richmond Kickers and Rochester Raging Rhinos will enter the competition on June 30 from the A-League. Theses eight teams will face the eight winners from the second round, which will be played June 15. Complete U.S. Open Cup schedules, results and news are available on the competition page of ussoccer.com.
Geographical pairings and host proposals received from each club determined match-ups, as they will through the quarterfinals of the tournament. Possible pairings for the eight remaining MLS teams that enter in the fourth round will be announced after the completion of the second round.
Second & Third Round Pairings/Schedule
Round 2
| # | Date | Teams | Venue;City | Time |
| 9 | June 15 | San Diego Gauchos at Boulder Rapids Reserve | Pleasant View Field; Boulder, Colo. | 6 p.m. MT |
| 10 | June 15 | Sacramento Knights at Utah Blitzz | Rice-Eccles Stadium; Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:30 p.m. MT |
| 11 | June 15 | Syracuse Salty Dogs at South Jersey Barons | Winslow High School; Tansboro, N.J. | 6 p.m. ET |
| 12 | June 15 | DFW Tornadoes at Virginia Beach Mariners | Va. Beach SportsPlex, Virginia Beach, Va. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 13 | June 15 | Chicago Fire Reserves at New Hampshire Phantoms | S. New Hampshire Univ.; Manchester, N.H. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 14 | June 15 | Cape Cod Crusaders at Western Mass Pioneers | Lusitano Stadium; Ludlow, Mass. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 15 | June 15 | Cocoa Expos at Wilmington Hammerheads | Legion Stadium; Wilmington, N.C. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 16 | June 15 | Charlotte Eagles at Carolina Dynamo | MacPherson Stadium; Browns Summit, N.C. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
Round 3
| # | Date | Teams | Venue;City | Time |
| 17 | June 30 | Portland Timbers at Utah Blitzz | Rice-Eccles Stadium; Salt Lake City, Utah | 7:30 p.m. MT |
| 18 | June 30 | Boulder Rapids Reserveat Minnesota Thunder | James Griffin Stadium; St. Paul, Minn. | 7 p.m. CT |
| 19 | June 30 | Wilmington Hammerheads at Charleston Battery | Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, S.C. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 20 | June 30 | Atlanta Silverbacks at Carolina Dynamo | MacPherson Stadium; Browns Summit, N.C. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 21 | June 30 | Virginia Beach Mariners at Dallas Burn | Old Panther Stadium; Duncanville, Texas | 7 p.m. CT |
| 22 | June 30 | Cape Cod Crusaders at Richmond Kickers | Sports Backers Stadium; Richmond, Va. | 7 p.m. ET |
| 23 | June 30 | Syracuse Salty Dogs at Columbus Crew | Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, Ohio | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 24 | June 30 | Chicago Fire Reserves at Rochester Raging Rhinos | Frontier Field; Rochester, N.Y. | 7:35 p.m. ET |
The first round of the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came to a close on June 8 as a pair of Premier Development League squads topped the Region III United States Adult Soccer Association qualifiers. Azzurri of Dallas had a 2-1 advantage with less than five minutes to play, but the Cocoa Expos came from behind on an equalizer in the 86th minute and an overtime winner in the 93rd. Back in Azzurri's hometown, the Dallas-Ft. Worth Tornadoes topped Legends FC 3-1 after a scoreless first half.
On June 2, the Carolina Dynamo, Cape Cod Crusaders, Chicago Fire Reserves and South Jersey Barons of the PDL all moved on in the tournament with multi-goal victories over regional qualifiers from the USASA. Out West, the contests were much tighter with the Boulder Rapids Reserve (PDL) staging a come-from-behind 2-1 win over regular Open Cup participant Chico Rooks (USASA). In the closest first round tilt to date, the Sacramento Knights of USASA's Region IV topped the Spokane Shadow of the PDL on a penalty kick just one minute into overtime for a 2-1 win.
At the conclusion of the first round, Julian Nash of the Chicago Fire Reserves leads all scorers with six points, on two goals and two assists. In 2003, Amado Guevara of the MetroStars had the most goals in the tournament (4) and the most overall points (10).
At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money broken down as follows: $100,000 to the champion, $50,000 to the runner up and $10,000 to the team which advances deepest in the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor long-time soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Results
Round 1 Results
| # | Date | Teams | Venue;City |
| 1 | June 2 | Boulder Rapids Reserve 2, Chico Rooks 1 | Rooks Stadium; Chico, Calif. |
| 2 | June 2 | Sacramento Knights 2, Spokane Shadow 1 (OT) | Joe Albi Stadium; Spokane, Wash. |
| 3 | June 2 | Allied S.C. 0, South Jersey Barons 5 | Winslow H.S.; Tansboro, N.J. |
| 5 | June 2 | Chicago Fire Reserves 5, S.A.C. Wisla 1 | Redmond Recreational Complex; Bensenville, Ill. |
| 6 | June 2 | Cape Cod Crusaders 4, N.Y. Greek American-Atlas 1 | St. John's University, Queens, N.Y. |
| 8 | June 2 | Milwaukee Bavarians 1, Carolina Dynamo 5 | MacPherson Stadium; Browns Summit, N.C. |
| 4 | June 8 | Azzurri 2, Cocoa Expos 3 (OT) | Cocoa Sports Complex; Cocoa, Fla. |
| 7 | June 8 | Legends FC 1, DFW Tornadoes 3 | Pennington Field; Bedford, Texas |
Schedule
Fourth Round July 20 Third round winners vs. remaining eight MLS teams
Quarterfinals Aug. 4 Fourth round winners
Semifinals Aug. 24 & 25 Quarterfinal winners
Final Sept. 22 Semifinal winners
Teams Still in the Hunt
MLS (10): Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Dallas Burn, D.C. United, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution, MetroStars, San Jose Earthquakes
A-League (8): Atlanta Silverbacks, Charleston Battery, Minnesota Thunder, Portland Timbers, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Syracuse Salty Dogs, Virginia Beach Mariners
Pro Soccer League (6): Charlotte Eagles, New Hampshire Phantoms, San Diego Gauchos, Utah Blitzz, Western Mass Pioneers, Wilmington Hammerheads
Premier Development League (7): Boulder Rapids Reserves, Cape Cod Crusaders, Carolina Dynamo, Chicago Fire Reserves, Cocoa Expos, DFW (Dallas-Ft. Worth) Tornadoes, South Jersey Barons
USASA (1): Sacramento Knights (Calif.; Region IV)
Did you know?