Old friends become foes. The longstanding rivalry between Western Pennsylvania and Ohio continues. The Riverhounds will meet the Columbus Crew next round.
US Soccer announced the draw for the fourth round of the US Open Cup this Thursday, and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds have been matched with MLS originals the Columbus Crew. The date and time for the match has yet to be announced, but is tentatively set for June 11 or 12.
In their 16 years of competing in the US Open Cup, the Hounds have never faced Columbus. The club’s overall US Open Cup record against MLS opponents is 1 win, 4 losses, with their lone victory coming in 2001 against the Colorado Rapids. The 2001 tournament also marks the deepest run into the USOC the Riverhounds have ever made, as the team went all the way to the Quarterfinals before being dispatched in a 3-2 extra time loss to DC United.
The last time the Pittsburgh Riverhounds faced an MLS opponent in the Lamar Hunt Open Cup was in 2015. It was DC United with a knockout win, once again, and it took place in extra time, once again, as the Hounds went out of the tournament at the hands of a 3 to 1 defeat.
Columbus and Pittsburgh don’t have a competitive history with one another, but rather a history of cooperation. In 2016 and 2017, Columbus and Pittsburgh had a formal affiliation deal, resulting in MLS players like Ben Swanson, Marshall Hollingsworth, Lalas Abubakar, and Zack Steffen getting significant playing time at Highmark Stadium. This season, Crew goalkeeper Ben Lundgaard is on loan with Pittsburgh.
BREAKING: Riverhounds To Become Affiliate for MLS' Columbus Crew
The Riverhounds had been drawn into a ‘Mid-Atlantic’ pool of teams for the fourth round USOC 2019 draw. The other possible opponents were DC United and the Philadelphia Union.
Here are the 8 eight regional pools for the #USOC2019 fourth-round draw that will take place this morning. pic.twitter.com/ZZsLAGGNcO
— Joe Tansey (@JTansey90) May 30, 2019
The hosting venue was also assigned by random draw, assuming a team has a venue suitable to US Soccer for an Open Cup match. Of the remaining 11 USL And NPSL teams left in the Open Cup, 3 will be hosting MLS teams; Saint Louis FC will host the Chicago Fire, Memphis 901 FC welcomes Orlando City FC, and USL originals Charleston Battery will host MLS upstarts Atlanta United.