Seattle to Host the Atlanta Silverbacks in Third-Round Match at Starfire
RENTON, WASH. – Seattle Sounders FC will start its run at a fourth straight Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship with a third-round match against the Atlanta Silverbacks on Wednesday, May 30. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Wash.Â
Ticket information will be announced tomorrow.
 The Silverbacks are members of the North American Soccer League – the second-tier of American soccer. The Atlanta side defeated the Georgia Revolution (NPSL), 1-0, on Tuesday in Conyers, Ga. Tacoma-native and University of Washington graduate Raphael Cox scored the winner in the second-round match.
 Sounders FC will attempt to become the first club in the tournament’s 99-year history to win four straight Open Cup championships. In 2011, Seattle became the first club in 42 years and fourth altogether to win the Open Cup three consecutive years.
 Sounders FC defeated D.C. United in the 2009 final, the Columbus Crew in the 2010 final, and the Chicago Fire in the 2011 final before a record crowd of 35,615 on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.
 The 99th edition of the U.S. Open Cup includes a 64-team field, which represents the largest pool in the modern era (1995-present). All Division I, II and III professional clubs participated in the tournament proper for the first time ever. The Division I field includes all 16 U.S.-based MLS teams, which is double the representation from the past five years.
 The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s National Championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in U.S. sports history and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world.
  The quarterfinals are set for June 26, the semifinals for July 10, and the final for August 7 or 8.
