STATESBORO, Ga. – South Georgia Tormenta FC’s 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup run continues this Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. ET, versus Charlotte FC. After obtaining its first-ever Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup home win against USL Championship side Rio Grande Valley FC on April 5. South Georgia now enters the Third Round for the second consecutive year to take on its second Major League Soccer side in less than a year.
Tormenta FC will look to obtain its first competitive win against a Major League Soccer side after falling to Inter Miami CF 3-1 in the Fourth Round of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup. Kazaiah Sterling scored the team’s first-ever goal against an MLS team.
In 2023, Tormenta FC secured a 2-1 Second Round victory in the 2023 U.S. Open Cup after defeating Rio Grande Valley Toros FC of the USL Championship at Optim Sports Medicine Field from Tormenta Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. With the win against RGV, South Georgia remain unbeaten against USL Championship teams in the national competition after defeating the Charleston Battery and the Birmingham Legion FC in 2022.
Last Friday, Tormenta FC obtained its first-ever victory against One Knoxville SC in Friday’s 2-0 win in Knoxville, Tennessee. Matheus Cassini scored and assisted in Friday’s road victory, while Jackson Khoury scored his third goal of the season and is now the leading goalscorer for Tormenta FC. Matheus Cassini scored his first goal for South Georgia in Friday’s win while also adding his first assist of the season. Cassini’s goal ranked number five in SportsCenter’s edition of the Top 10 on April 21.
To note, South Georgia has only been defeated twice on the road since September 2022. (Sept. 7, 2022 @ Richmond Kickers; April 15, 2023 @ Lexington SC.) The Statesboro side remains one of the most impressive sides in the USL and will look to get its first victory against a Major League Soccer side this Tuesday.
Tormenta FC and Charlotte FC will inaugurate Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup coverage on CBS SPORTS GOLAZO with the game being the first Third Round Open Cup game to stream on the network. In addition, Tormenta FC will be the only Division III team streamed on the network in the Third Round of the national competition.
In its second year as a professional franchise, Charlotte FC’s passionate fans have allowed them to be among the league leaders in attendance in 2023. Despite only getting its first home win of 2023 nine games into the season, the Charlotte side will look to get its third win against a USL League One team after defeating the Greenville Triumph and the Richmond Kickers in 2022. The Third Round fixture will be Charlotte FC’s first home U.S. Open Cup game after going on the road to Greenville and Richmond last year.
Now in its 108th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer’s National Club Championship – has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.
Orlando City SC are defending Open Cup champions, having earned the club’s first tournament title thanks to a 3-0 victory against second-division (USL Championship) side Sacramento Republic FC on September 7, 2022 in a Final played before a capacity crowd at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium.
usopencup.com is the official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Fans can also follow the competition on Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.
HOW TO WATCH & FOLLOW:
CBS SPORTS GOLAZO NETWORK, the free 24-hour soccer streaming network, will stream the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round match between MLS side Charlotte FC and USL League One club South Georgia Tormenta FC live on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Network, with a robust lineup of live matches and studio shows, is available free on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports App and Pluto TV, as well as on Paramount+.
