The NTX Rayados are once again making a run in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, and tonight they play in Oklahoma against Energy FC, the Oklahoma City team in the USL Championship. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ at 7:30 pm CT.

It is a big jump from playing the NPSL Little Rock Rangers that Reyados beat in a thrilling match last Wednesday but last year, the North Texas Premier Soccer Association (NTPSA) team beat this same Energy FC team before falling to the eventual champions, the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer, so do not count out the amateur club just yet.

Energy FC, who started play in 2014, currently is in 8th place in the USL Championship with 14 points in ten games. This is the sixth appearance for Energy FC in the US Open Cup where they have a 7-5 record and a history of making it far enough to play against MLS competition. Last year's upset victory was the only time they had lost to a team from a lower division, let alone an amateur club. This will be the first Open Cup match for the Oklahoma side in the 2019 Cup.

In last year's match between these teams, played in Dallas, regulation ended tied at 2 before the North Texas side scored three unanswered in extra time.

🗣 ”We just have to go there, work hard, do what we know we can and hopefully get a result.”



Max Gunderson, @kay_okot and @J_Garcia93 feature in the Pre-Match Report ahead of tomorrow’s @opencup 2nd Round!#ForCityAndClub // #OKCvNTX pic.twitter.com/85j6HjKdRT — Energy FC (@EnergyFC) May 14, 2019

As for Rayados, last week's match was the height of sports drama as NTX had to recover from losing a 1-0 lead to score a tying goal deep into stoppage time of regulation before winning via kicks from the mark. Additionally, Reyes Vargas was shown a red card late in regulation and so the North Texas club had to play the entire 30-minute extra time period down a player.

And it wasn't for a lack of ability or desire on the part of the Little Rock club, as their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves and they really peppered the NTX goal throughout the game. But once the game got to the penalty kick shootout, though, the drama ended as the Rayados dominated the kicks from the mark, 4-2, with the NTX goalkeeper starting of the series with a quality save and most of the Rayados' shooters hitting the upper left corner with impressive consistency.

Teams from NTPSA and North Texas, amateur or otherwise, in general, have a history of making noise in the century-old, national knockout tournament. FC Dallas won it all in 2016, and as the Dallas Burn had also won it in 1997. In 2006, Dallas Roma beat two professional clubs before falling to Landon Donovan and the then-defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy. In addition to beating two professional clubs, Roma's run was notable for having to beat Miami FC at UT-Dallas before traveling to Los Angeles to take on Chivas USA. As for NTX Rayados, this is their eighth straight year qualifying for the Open Cup.

NTX Rayados vs OKC Energy FC - 2018 US Open Cup Highlights