On Wednesday night Atlanta United mark history once again in their inaugural season as they make their debut in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against the Charleston Battery at Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University. The match is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be streamed live online at atlutd.com/live.
Tickets are still available for the match and can be purchased here.
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was founded in 1914 and is the oldest soccer competition in the United States and the third longest-running soccer tournament in the world. Open to all amateur and professional soccer teams in the United States, the annual tournament is knock-out style meaning single elimination through each round. This year’s field includes 99 teams from 30 different states making it the largest field the tournament has ever seen.
Charleston Battery and Atlanta United both receive automatic qualification to the tournament and round “byes” because their leagues are classified in the top two tiers of the U.S. Soccer system (MLS, USL, or NASL). Wednesday Atlanta will host their USL affiliate Charleston in the fourth round of this year’s tournament.
The winner of the U.S. Open Cup qualifies directly for the CONCACAF Champions League (formerly the CONCACAF Champions Cup), a tournament of the league champions and cup winners from North, Central America and the Caribbean.
For more information regarding the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, click here.
Atlanta United (MLS)
Atlanta United are in the midst of their inaugural season as a 2017 expansion club in Major League Soccer (Tier 1 in the U.S. Soccer system). Currently 5-6-3, Atlanta sit in 8th place in the Eastern Conference standings. With a total of 28 goals thus far on the season, the expansion side lead the entire league in the scoring charts. Spearheaded by leading scorer and one of the league’s top playmakers in Miguel Almirón, Atlanta are turning heads and establishing themselves early on as a force to be reckoned with in MLS.
Charleston Battery (USL)
Charleston Battery have enjoyed another solid start to their 2017 season in the United Soccer League (Tier 2 in the U.S. Soccer system). The Battery sit atop the Eastern Conference with an 8-2-3 record, led by midfielder Justin Portillo and Atlanta United on-loan striker Romario Williams who has tallied 10 goals so far this season.
The Charleston Battery signed as Atlanta United’s USL affiliate in 2016 and renewed that partnership for the 2017 season allowing the teams to freely move players back and forth, offering more competition for player development. All 22 teams in MLS (with the exception of Minnesota United) currently have a USL affiliate. For more information on the MLS/USL partnership program, click here.
How to Follow (Wednesday, June 14 | 7:30 p.m. EST)
- Watch: The match will be live streamed at atlutd.com/live
- Play-by-Play: Follow the match play-by-play via the Atlanta United App (Download here)
- Social Media: Follow @ATLUTD on all our social channels for exclusive content surrounding the match
