Cosmos Sharpen Tournament Focus

A berth in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is up for grabs.

Teams in the North American Soccer League at present have only one avenue to the CONCACAF Champions League – winning the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup – and the New York Cosmos have no intention of living life in the slow lane.

“Out of all the clubs I’ve played on in United States, this is by far the team that has taken the Open Cup most seriously,” Cosmos defender Hunter Freeman said. “It’s our only way to CONCACAF where MLS teams have three or four ways to qualify. If we don’t win the Open Cup there’s no way.”

On Wednesday night at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y., the Cosmos will face the New England Revolution of MLS in a fifth-round game. A Cosmos victory would send them to the tournament’s quarterfinals, which would stand as the club’s deepest run in club history in the competition.

“Certain clubs take it more seriously than others,” Freeman said. “Seattle has probably been the most serious for the longest time, and some others are starting to. For us, the Open Cup has always been important, and maybe even a little more so because we know that in the early rounds we’re going to play NYCFC and the Red Bulls. That makes that competition even more significant. We want to win those games for our fans, so the club can put its stamp on the history of soccer in what is now a three-team city. It’s about bragging rights, and we’ve come out on the better side the last three years.”

To progress to the fifth round this year, the Cosmos first eliminated Jersey Express then scored a late goal by midfielder Danny Szetela to oust New York City FC, 1-0. Last year the Cosmos defeated NYCFC in a thrilling penalty-kick shootout before losing to the Red Bulls. And in 2014 the Cosmos shocked the Red Bulls, 3-0, in the fourth round.

“I think in the sport of soccer things are very close, there’s not a lot of difference among teams no matter what league they’re playing in,” Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer said. “On any given day anything can happen. When the format is a one-off game it definitely keeps it exciting, it doesn’t matter if you play an MLS team or an amateur team, there’s always a chance. We’ve seen in the Copa del Rey in Spain where they used to have one-off games, but too many tiny teams were making deep runs. Now they’ve gone to home-and-home so the big teams always progress. But I really like the idea of having one-off games. It keeps it exciting. I firmly believe that the difference in skill levels between us and MLS is a pretty narrow gap.”

When the Cosmos take the field Wednesday night, it will have been two weeks between games for the defending champions of the NASL – that one being the victory over NYCFC at Fordham University. New England had a nearly two-week hiatus during the Copa América Centenario before defeating the Carolina RailHawks, 1-0, in an Open Cup match. The Revolution dropped a league game last weekend and are currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference of MLS.

But New England has a multitude of attacking options, led by the recent acquisition of Kei Kamara, along with Teal Bunbury, Charlie Davies, and Juan Agudelo. Lee Nguyen, who played with Freeman when the two were youngsters in Texas, commands the midfield along with Kelyn Rowe. But at this point in the tournament, it is difficult to know if New England coach Jay Heaps will go with a first-choice lineup, or mix in some of his reserve players.

“They’re another team that has a lot of attacking, dynamic players,” Freeman said. “But you never know what team they’re going to put out. I’ve been on both sides when I was in MLS – often times until you get to the last two or three rounds you’re saving some guys. I expect a mixed bag, half starters, half reserve. But it’s not going to be an easy game by any means.”