Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Riverhounds to face Columbus Crew 2 on the road to begin 2025 U.S. Open Cup quest

by
Pittsburgh Soccer Now
April 4, 2025

Riverhounds will be on the road to face Columbus Crew 2 out of MLS Next Pro in the Third Round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a matchup revealed this afternoon during U.S. Soccer’s televised draw on CBS Sports Golazo Network.

The match will be played on either Tuesday, April 15 or Wednesday, April 16, with the exact date and time expected to be finalized later today.

This will be the first-ever competitive matchup for the Hounds against a team from MLS Next Pro, the third-division league that launched in 2022. The Hounds did face Crew 2 in this year’s preseason, taking a 1-0 win at a snow-covered Highmark Stadium on Feb. 16 behind a goal by Jorge Garcia.

The Hounds have faced Crew 2’s parent club, MLS’s Columbus Crew, twice previously in the Open Cup. The Crew came out on top 1-0 in Columbus in 2019, but the Hounds turned the tables to win 1-0 in Pittsburgh in 2023 to advance to the quarterfinals for only the second time in club history.

Winners from the Third Round will advance to the Round of 32, where the advancing teams will be joined by 16 MLS clubs entering the competition.