HOUSE HOSTS EDGEWATER CASTLE IN 1ST ROUND LAMAR HUNT US OPEN CUP QUALIFYING MATCH
Chicago, Illinois, September 18, 2024 – The U.S. Soccer Federation announced today the matchups and schedule for the first round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament qualifying. Chicago House A.C. will host Midwest Premier League foe Edgewater Castle on Saturday, October 5. The match will be played at Benedictine University at 7:00 PM central time. Tickets are available online here. House fans who have purchased 2025 Premier or House Gold season tickets for all men’s and women’s teams games at Elmhurst University will receive tickets for all US Open Cup matches at no additional cost. Season tickets are available on the House website here.
When Edgewater travels across Chicagoland to face House in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifier, this will be the second time the clubs will face each other in qualifying. On October 21, 2023, House took down the Rooks 3-1 at Chicago’s Taft High School on goals by Alejandro Mentasti, Captain AR Smith and Nico Williams.
“The knockout format of the US Open Cup and its qualifying rounds offers the most dramatic matches in American soccer,” House Managing Partner and four time US Open Cup Champion Peter Wilt said. “Hosting our friendly Midwest Premier League rivals at Edgewater in a first round match, in my opinion, is too soon,” Wilt said. “Teams that are in the same League, same conference and same division who played each other in the same tournament a year ago should not be matched until the final round of qualifying, but I’m sure both teams will be prepared for a great game,” Wilt said.
Chicago House A.C. will be playing in its third straight U.S. Open Cup qualifying tournament, entering the competition after qualifying for the tournament proper each of the two previous years. House earned a spot in the historic tournament through a four round qualification process in the fall of 2022 and 2023. Of the record 114 amateur sides who enter qualifiers this year, only 14 teams will advance to play in the tournament proper next spring. After receiving a first round qualification bye the last two years, House won its three remaining rounds each year to reach the tournament proper.
After finishing its 11-game 2022 schedule with ten straight matches undefeated, House began a Cinderella US Open Cup run of five straight matches undefeated before falling to Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire in 2023. In 2023, House also qualified for the final round of 2024 US Open Cup tournament. House has played three professional sides in the Open Cup proper, beating Forward Madison of USL1 in 2023 and falling to Chicago Fire of MLS in 2023 and Minnesota United 2 of MLS Next Pro in 2024.
In a match that will go down as one of the most dramatic in Chicago House History, and quite possibly U.S.O.C. qualifying history, House defeated Brockton F.C. United in Randolph, MA on December 17, 2022 to qualify for the 2023 tournament proper. Brockton scored an early goal in the fifth minute of play and slowed things down playing a strong, defensive game in hopes of holding on to a 1-nil lead. With darkness falling over the pitch quickly, House launched a strong offensive attack putting a barrage of balls on goal late and leveled the match at 1-1 on a goal by House captain, A.R. Smith, in the 81st minute. After a shortened overtime period, due to extreme darkness, the game was decided in the ninth round of penalty kicks on a save by Chicago’s Halterman, sending House back home with a victory and a banner that read, ‘QUALIFIED.’