There were 39 games played (and one delayed) on the weekend of October 26 and 27 as the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Qualifying Rounds took another step closer to whittling down the 14 teams that will move on to next year’s Tournament Proper from an original field of 114 Qualifying Round entrants.
There will be seven direct places to the 2025 Tournament Proper on the line on the Third Qualifying Matchday on November 16 and 17 – with 13 of those 14 competitors now known following this weekend’s Second Qualifying Matchday. One of the teams is still yet to be determined after the Azteca FC v. Colorado Rovers game was postponed due to equipment failure.
Qualifying Matchday Two also saw 26 teams move through with wins in their respective Second Round games – and they’re now two more wins away from their own place in the Tournament Proper.
West Chester United SC – the powerful Pennsylvania-based amateurs coached by Blaise Santangelo – led the way on Saturday with a 6-0 drubbing of the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals, descendents of the legendary club that won four U.S. Open Cup crowns in the 1960s.
Joshua Luchini and Ridge Robinson each scored a pair of goals in a lopsided win that sees the West Chester side one win away from a second consecutive trip to the 2025 Tournament Proper.
Another six-goal performance from the NY Renegades FC knocked out Long Island’s Leros SC (6-0) in Islip while Southern Indiana FC are now also one win away from a place in the Tournament Proper with a 5-0 triumph over Kentucky’s Bowling Green FC. The historic Pa.-based Vereinigung Erzgebirge booked their do-or-die Final Round game with a 4-2 win over Kensington Soccer Club on the road – the same scoreline that saw Maryland’s Steel Pulse FC move past VA Revolution Pro and one step from a place in the Tournament Proper.
Eight other clubs will play for a place in next year’s Tournament Proper on the Third Qualifying Matchday in November are. Dalton United of Georgia, who beat Charlotte’s Mint Hill FC via shootout, Maryland’s Aegean Hawks FC (2-0 over MSI Pro), FCY New York of Buffalo and Colorado favorites Harpos FC. Perennial amateur powers Lansdowne Yonkers FC moved through to the Third Matchday and Final Round with a 3-1 win over fellow NYC side Zum Schneider FC 03 while, nearby, New Jersey Alliance FC beat Alloy Soccer Club 6-1 in Clifton. Virginia Dream squeaked past fellow VA-based side Alexandria Reds 2-1 and, last but not least, Cambridge-based CD Faialense of the Boston-area Bay State Soccer League eased past Project Football 4-1.
One of the weekend’s scheduled Third Round games, between Azteca FC and Colorado Rovers, was postponed and will be played at a later date and time to be determined.
There were a number of mismatches among Matchday Two’s Second Round games – with Laguna United FC’s (CA) 14-0 rout of Trojans FC standing out for sheer volume of goals. FC America CFL Spurs of Florida put six past Kissimmee Soccer Club without reply while Tulsa Athletic – underdog heroes of the 2023 Open Cup – beat Bartlesville Buffaloes 4-0 at their home of Hicks Park.
Chicago House AC – aiming for a place in their third-straight Tournament Proper – put themselves two wins away with a simple 2-0 result over crosstown UPSL-based rivals Chicago Strikers. Another familiar face to Open Cup fans, Miami United FC, bested River Miami FC 5-0 while Seattle-based Sharktopus FC lost a thriller in extra-time to Portland’s Deportivo Rose City (5-4).
The 39 games of the Second Qualifying Matchday were capped off with free-scoring action out West.
Jordan Rojas nabbed all three in Chula Vista FC’s 3-0 win over FC Balboa while International San Francisco – hunting a place in the Tournament Proper for a second-straight year – were helped in their come-from-behind 5-3 OT win over JASA RWC with a hat-trick from former Open Cup Semifinalist and Chicago Fire ace Matt Fondy.
O'Shea's FC 6-2 Atletico Miami Internacional FC
Kissimmee Soccer Club 0-6 FC America CFL Spurs
Harbor City FC 4-0 Deportivo Lake Mary FC
Naples United U23 2-3 Red Force FC
West Chester United SC 6-1 Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals
MSI Pro 0-2 Aegean Hawks FC
Dalton United3-3 (4-3) Mint Hill FC PKs
New Jersey Alliance 6-1 Alloy SC
Palm Beach Flames SC 2-1 Miami Soccer Academy
Tulsa Athletic 4-0 FC Bartlesville Buffaloes
Kensington Soccer Club 2-4 Vereinigung Erzgebirge
Hurricane FC 0-4 Pinecrest Premier SC
Chicago Strikers 0-2 Chicago House AC
United SC 2 - 2 (4-5) Wisloka Chicago - PKs
San Diego Internacional 2-1 City SC San Diego
Laguna United FC 14-0 Trojans FC
Bay Valley Suns Sports Club 2-1 Napa Valley 1839 FC
Irvine FC 4-0 Playmaker FC
Las Vegas Legends FC 6-1 Soccer Academy Nevada
Sharktopus Football Club 3-3 (4-5 AET) Deportivo Rose City
Austin Thunder 0-1 210 FC
Pittsburgh Dynamo 0-1 FCY New York
Azteca FC – Colorado Rovers Postponed
Steel Pulse FC4-2 VA Revolution Pro
FC Denver 0-2 Harpos FC
Inter Nona SC 2-0 International Soccer Association
Miami United FC 5-0 River Miami FC
D'Feeters Kicks Soccer Club 1-4 FORO SC
Zum Schneider FC 03 1-3 Lansdowne Yonkers FC
Leros SC 0-6 NY Renegades FC
Project Football 1-4 CD Faialense
Houston Regals SCA 3-2 ASC New Stars
Bowling Green FC 0-5 Southern Indiana FC
Holac FC 1-2 Washington Athletic Club
Virginia Dream FC 2-1 Alexandria Reds
FC Folsom 1-3 Real Galt FC
Modesto City Football Club 0-7 Valley 559 FC
FC Balboa 0-3 Chula Vista FC
Next Level Soccer 2-1 UDA Soccer
JASA RWC 2-2 (3-5 AET) International San Francisco
Angelo Maduro is a senior reporter at large for usopencup.com