Pittsburgh Riverhounds MatchDay: Seeking Third Win In US Open Cup Tournament

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds seek their third victory this season in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup action as they take the pitch tonight against the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

The fourth-round tournament match will be at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois at 7:30 p.m. CDT. For members of the Steel Army who could not make the trip to the Windy City, it will be streamed live on Chicago-Fire.com

Since 1998, Chicago has won the U.S. Open Cup championship four times while putting together an incredible 33-11-4 record in the tournament. Those four championships are the record for teams in the MLS era, with the last title coming in 2006. It was 2001 when these two squads met for the first and only time, and the Fire defeated the Hounds 3-2 at Wheaton College

The Fire (2-4-8, 14 points in MLS) will be without forward/midfielder Patrick Nyarko and defender Gonzalo Segares tonight as both are out with ankle injuries.

One player that Chicago head coach Frank Yallop has back for tonight is forward Mike Magee, who is fresh off the IR list. Magee had two goals and an assist in three matches in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup tournament.

Pittsburgh (1-7-5, 8 points in USL Pro) began cup play in the second round with a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls U23 squad. They were next able to beat RWB Adria from Chicago by a scoreline of 3-2 after extra time to set up tonight’s match against the Fire. This present run matches the best ever for the Riverhounds, who last reached this stage in 2003.

For Hounds’ forward Collins John, who leads the team this season with five goals across all competitions, it will be a homecoming as he played for the Fire in 2010. Also, interim head coach Nikola Katic is a former Fire PDL defender.

John is joined by forwards Jose Angulo and Jhonny Arteaga along with midfielders Daniel Earls, Rob Vincent, and Kevin Kerr, who each have a goal for the Riverhounds in 2014 Open Cup action.

It is not a given that every MLS team moves on in the fourth-round of the tournament. The USL Pro’s Rochester Rhinos defeated the defending Open Cup champion D.C. United 1-0 on Tuesday night in a fourth-round contest.

Meanwhile, another three MLS teams have been taken out of USOC competition as the North American Soccer League’s Atlanta Silverbacks beat Real Salt Lake 2-1; the NASL’s Carolina RailHawks defeated Chicas USA in a penalty shootout 3-2; and the NASL’s New York Cosmos shut out the New York Red Bulls 3-0.

Pittsburgh returns to USL Pro action on Sunday, June 22 at Highmark Stadium when they host the second-place Richmond Kickers (7-1-6, 27 points) at 3 p.m.