EL PASO, Texas – El Paso Locomotive FC will make the trip to Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday, April 5 for a second-round matchup against Union Omaha of USL League One in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT.
The nation’s largest and oldest soccer tournament, now in its 108th edition, is open to any team, professional and amateur, and has crowned a champion every year since 1914 except for 2020 and 2021. The opening rounds are primarily made up of top amateur and semi-pro teams who’ve battled through five qualifying rounds to clinch a spot in the Open Cup proper. In the second round, teams from the USL Championship, USL League One, National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) and MLS Next Pro enter to face each other and winners of the first round. Those that advance from the second round move to the third round where clubs from Major League Soccer enter, providing clubs from lower divisions a unique opportunity to test themselves against top division teams.
Union Omaha – now under the helm of former El Paso assistant coach Dominic Casciato – will look to make the match a tough one for El Paso. The Omaha side won both the regular season and league titles in 2021 and made it to the 2022 Open Cup quarterfinals, knocking out Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire and Minnesota United along the way before eventually going out 6-0 to Sporting Kansas City.
Despite their recent success, however, El Paso’s Head Coach and Technical Director Brian Clarhaut welcomes the extra competition and will look to lead the club to its first ever Open Cup win.
“We are excited about competing in such a historic competition as the U.S. Open Cup and look forward to going to Omaha, which will be a highly competitive game given the nature of this tournament.” Clarhaut said.
The 2023 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2024 Concacaf Champions League and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally-contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize.