U.S. Open Cup Qualifer Preview: Pittsburgh City United FC vs Roc City Boom, 3 p.m.

Photo courtesy Ed Thompson

US Open Cup Qualifying Round Two

Pittsburgh City United FC vs Roc City Boom

Saturday, September 18, 2021  |  3 p.m.  |  No Offseason Sports Field (Russelton, PA)

Coverage:  Follow @JohnKrysinsky on Twitter for updates

Match Preview

On the field, in UPSL Rust Belt Division competition, Pittsburgh City United FC have started off its inagural season on a positive note, winning three of its first four matches.

Now, they turn their attention to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying round where they’ll face Roc City FC.

Club owner Michael Monsour, who has been serving as the team’s interim coach, was excited about the prospects of getting his squad into the qualifying rounds.

“The Lamar Hunt US Open offers fourth division teams like ours the opportunity to compete against teams at the highest level of US Soccer. We have been fortunate to establish a roster capable of competing against the best and we are honored by this opportunity provided by US Open committee to do just that.”

More on Roc City Boom 

The Boom, like City United, are also a UPSL club which plays out of Rochester, New York, out of the Northeast Conference’s Western NY Division. In contrast to PCUFC, they feature a roster made up entirely of local (Western NY) based players who competed previously at a variety of college programs, mostly NAIA, DII and DIII, in that region.

The ownership group is the one that brought the Rochester River Dogz to the NPSL in 2016. Recognizing that there was a gap in Rochester soccer between the professional ranks and lower level amateur soccer. Their crowning achievement on the field was qualifying for the 2018 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, becoming the 1^st amateur team from Rochester to qualify for the Cup in over 45 years.

Roc City’s Head Coach is Marc Mandell along with assistants Jimmy Gaffney and Srikar Bakshi.