 |
| Carolina RailHawks vs. Chivas USA - U.S. Open Cup - Peter Koutroumpis, PKS Consulting LLC |
The Carolina RailHawks host Chivas USA in the Round-of-16 match of the 100th Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on Wednesday.
With a 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy back on May 29th, the RailHawks earned a return rematch with Chivas, who beat Carolina 2-1 in last year’s U.S. Open Cup meeting, the first-ever competitive match between the two clubs.
The Goats tallied the 2-1 victory over the RailHawks in that game on penalty kick scored during stoppage time, making this year’s Carolina squad want to advance to the quarterfinals even more.
“We have a lot of guys (back) from last year,” Kupono Low said.
“I thought last season we did very well going forward – we scored a lot of goals. With the lead we gave up some of the goals later in the game, so this year we’re focusing on playing the whole 90 minutes, being a little more disciplined. Defensively, that’s created the success we’ve had this season.”
Carolina comes into the game with a 2-2-1 (W-T-L) record in their last five games while Chivas has struggled with a 1-0-4 record during the same span.
“They have a little fire in them, they want to do something well in this Open Cup,” Low continued.
“For us, and potentially teams that don’t finish in the top of the table for the MLS, there’s a lot at stake. I’m sure there’s players on their team still fighting for starting positions, same as ours. It’s gonna’ be a battle.”
The RailHawks will continue to show why they are currently atop the NASL standings and hope to use their success in Cup play to prove that they belong competing against any team.
“Teams like us in the NASL, we put a lot into it (US Open Cup),” Low continued.
“It’s our opportunity to get recognized on a higher stage and it also gives us the opportunity to get us into the Champions League. Lower divisions like us are fighting for that and we put all of our chips on the table and go for that Open Cup. It’s going to come down to the final minute to decide who’s going to go on to the next round.”
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to the tournament’s quarterfinal round against the winner of the match between Real Salt Lake and the Charleston Battery.
---
Recent Soccer news from the Raleigh Sports Examiner on Examiner.com:
