IMAGE, USSOCCER.COM

by JAKE NUTTING

The schedule for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has yet to even be announced, but the New York Cosmos want to assure their supporters that the team’s recently dropped North American Soccer League schedule will not be in conflict with any round of the tournament.

Cosmos COO Erik Stover has informed the media that the team’s scheduled showdown with the San Francisco Deltas on September 20 has been written in pencil rather than ink to avoid a clash with the Open Cup final on the same night. The NASL and the Cosmos’ new hosts at MCU Park have left open dates to reschedule the match with the expansion Deltas should the Cosmos make a miracle run to the Open Cup final, according to Stover.

U.S. Soccer has not yet revealed the schedule nor the competition format for this year’s Open Cup. In recent years, the previously third-tier United Soccer League entered the competition one round before the NASL. With the NASL and the USL now sharing provisional sanctioning at the D2 level, the tournament will likely need to adjust how and when each lower league enters.

Stover’s desire to quell any unrest over the Open Cup before it even has a chance to form is understandable after last year’s frustration’s with Hofstra University. The school refused to allow the Cosmos to host any of their Open Cup matches at James M. Shuart Stadium last year, forcing the team to move their matches to the much smaller field at Belson Stadium in Queens. The reduced capacity of Belson and inability to find another suitable venue would have likely forced the Cosmos to cede their right to host their Quarterfinal round matchup should they have advanced past the New England Revolution in the Round of 16.

Getting out ahead of any potential conflict with the Open Cup is an attempt to reassure supporters that the team will continue to value the competition highly under new owner Rocco B. Commisso. Both the team and its supporters have placed significant importance on the historic competition over the last three years, as it allows them the best opportunity to prove themselves against their local Major League Soccer rivals and also offers the only path to the CONCACAF Champions League.