The US Open Cup's fifth round will come to a close on Wednesday evening, with two more quarterfinal places at stake. Be sure to check below for previews of the New England Revolution's clash with their affiliate Rochester Rhinos and the all-MLS game between Chicago and Colubmus. Also be sure to check out all the latest US Open Cup coverage from MLSsoccer.com, and see who the winning teams will face in the quaterfinals.
New England Revolution vs. Rochester Rhinos
Wednesday, June 25, 7:30 pm ET
Stevenson Field, Brown Univresity, Providence, R.I.
Watch FREE on RevolutionSoccer.net
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The familiarity of playing their USL PRO affiliates will not affect the New England Revolution much when they host the Rochester Rhinos on Wednesday night.
Although the Revs did recall Alec Sundly for depth purposes prior to their win over Richmond last week, both loanees Luis Soffner and Jossimar Sanchez will remain cup-tied to the Rhinos.
“We have a great dialogue with Rochester,” said Revs coach Jay Heaps. “You always think this can happen when you know the brackets. Once the whistle blows, it’s the game of soccer.”
Even though the Revs return to MLS play just three days after their date with the Rhinos, don’t expect Heaps to make any drastic changes to his lineup.
“We’ll have enough guys that we feel that can play two games in a row,” said Heaps. “It changes a little bit, but not a ton.”
The last time these two clubs met, New England defeated Rochester, 5-1, in the third round of last year’s Open Cup.
Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew
Wednesday, June 25, 8:30 pm ET
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
Watch FREE on Chicago-Fire.com
Chicago Fire Outlook:
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – After overcoming the relative unknown of the USL PRO's Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a rain-shortened game in the last round, the Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop insists he will prepare his team in the same manner for the visit of the more familiar Columbus Crew to Toyota Park in the fifth round of the US Open Cup on Wednesday.
“We know more about these players but our preparation and our views on the game are exactly the same as they were last week,” Yallop, who must plan without Patrick Nyarko (knee/ankle) and Lovel Palmer (hamstring).
“We want to win, we are at home in a cup competition we want to do well in, so nothing changes from our side of things, I expect us to have a good result, obviously against a quality opponent, but we want to try and move on in this cup.”
Columbus Crew Outlook:
A decimated Columbus Crew team – reportedly only 16 players – will travel to Chicago on Wednesday to face Fire in the fifth round of the US Open Cup.
Among the absences are a number of key players who are rehabbing various injuries: Wil Trapp, Federico Higuain, Agustin Viana and Matt Lampson will all stay in Columbus.
Despite the absences, the Crew will be attempting to avenge their elimination from the 2013 tournament by Chicago in the same round – a 2-1 loss that was also played in Toyota Park.
New addition Alvaro Rey will also be unavailable for the Crew, as his inclusion in the Canadian Cup for Toronto FC left him cup-tied for the US Open Cup as well, per tournament rules. The club is also unable to recall several loanees with the Dayton Dutch Lions, who are also cup-tied.
The Crew squeaked by Indy Eleven last week, when an extra-time winner gave a nine-man Crew team an improbable 2-1 victory to move them through to the round of 16.
