The New York Red Bulls will face the Wilmington Hammerheads of the United Soccer League's Second Division in their first game of the 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Hammerheads earned the right to face the Red Bulls by defeating the USL First Division's Atlanta Silverbacks 2-1 on Wednesday night.
With goals by Kevin Nylan and Chris Bagley ensuring the Hammerheads' progression into the fourth round - where eight MLS squads, including the Red Bulls, join the tournament - New York will travel to Legion Sports Complex in Wilmington, N.C., on Aug. 2 for a 7:30 p.m. ET showdown.
Although Wilmington is currently in second-to-last place in the USL-2, it has beaten league foe, Charlotte, PDL side Virginia Beach and Atlanta to get to this point.
"They're pulling off the upsets and obviously, they have a good team to do that so we have to go down there prepared, knowing that they're going to be flying and coming at us with all that they have," said Red Bulls interim head coach Richie Williams.
Historically, New York has had mixed success in the competition. While the team reached the finals in 2003, New York has not passed the fourth round in each of the past two seasons, falling to the Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL-1) 3-1 last year.
In Open Cup competition, New York has faced Wilmington once in the past. In the second round of the 2000 tournament, New York beat the Hammerheads 2-1 behind Mark Chung and Clint Mathis goals.
Altidore trains with squad
For the first time during the regular season, 16-year-old forward Josmer "Jozy" Altidore trained with the Red Bulls squad on Thursday. Altidore, who was the 17th overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, has missed time with the team due to academic and youth national team commitments.
Altidore most recently played with the U.S. U-20s in a two-match series against Canada last week. The forward, who was born in nearby Newark, N.J., but calls Boca Raton, Fla., home, scored in the team's 2-1 win over the Canadians on July 7 and played the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 tie two days later.
"It was a great experience," Altidore said. "Any time you get to play for your country, you've got to raise your level [of play] up and that's what I did and I was very successful up there in Canada."
In his short career in MLS, Altidore has done well playing for New York's reserve squad, scoring three goals in four games.
Altidore spoke with Williams about training with the team more and the young forward expects to come to the join the team permanently later this season, while completing his work for his diploma. Currently, Altidore is set to graduate in December.
"He's obviously played well with the 20's and with the reserves," said Williams. "The only problem that there is, is that he doesn't train with us the whole week so it's hard to bring him in and [then] all of a sudden, bring him into the first team."
For now, Altidore wants to help the Red Bulls in any way he can, enjoying and learning from the experience of playing in MLS.
"We're going through a rough stage right now and I'm trying to be patient and be positive," Altidore said. "My time will come [when I'm] up here."
Altidore will be available for the team's next game against Colorado at Giants Stadium at 2 p.m. ET on Friday.
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