Bad news for the lower division teams playing in the Second Round Tuesday. Their Third Round opponents are in good form. With the New York Red Bulls’ dramatic come-from-behind 3-3 draw Sunday night in Portland, the qualified Open Cup teams have not lost to a non-qualified opponent in their last 33 matches.
That is an unbeaten streak for the eight teams that dates back to a 1-0 loss by the Columbus Crew in Portland and a 2-1 Chicago Fire loss in Philadelphia on May 21, making the streak at least a month long considering the next match is not until Wednesday, June 22. The streak is 36 matches if you also include the three other matches with Cup-qualified teams that night.
Part of that streak since the 21st includes nine games in which two Cup-qualified teams played one another. Four of them finished tied. In games versus non-qualified teams the Open Cup bound MLS sides are 10-0-14. Open Cup teams have registered 17 shutouts during that span, nine versus non-qualified teams.
Since the Third Round pairings were announced Wednesday, the MLS sides set to make their entry June 28-29 have gone 5-0-3 as each played a non-qualified team this week.
How does that translate into the MLS tables? The top four spots in the Western Conference are comprised of teams playing in the US Open Cup this year. They also sit in the top five (three-way tie for fifth) in the league overall. The Eastern Conference is a different story with New York in first and Columbus third. Chicago is sixth and Kansas City, due to its lengthy start on the road, is last in the entire league.
Will the streak continue as they begin preparing for the Third Round? Kansas City, Chicago, Seattle and New York all have two matches in the coming week, which will certainly create lineup debates. Here is a look at the Cup-qualified team matches this week (Open Cup teams in bold)…
Wednesday
Sporting Kansas City at Philadelphia
Real Salt Lake at Chicago Fire
Thursday
New York Red Bulls at Seattle Sounders
Saturday
Los Angeles Galaxy at San Jose
Portland at FC Dallas
Vancouver at Sporting Kansas City
Toronto at Real Salt Lake
Sunday
New York Red Bulls at Chicago Fire
New England at Seattle Sounders
Colorado at Columbus Crew
The Streak (Away-Home)
June 19
NY Red Bulls 3-3 Portland Timbers
June 18
FC Dallas 2-1 Chivas USA
DC United 1-1 Real Salt Lake
LA Galaxy 3-1 Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew 2-0 Houston Dynamo
Chicago Fire 1-1 New England Revolution
Seattle Sounders 1-0 Toronto FC
June 17
San Jose Earthquakes 0-1 Sporting KC
June 12
Chicago Fire 1-0 Columbus Crew
Sporting KC 4-1 FC Dallas
June 11
Vancouver Whitecaps 2-2 Seattle Sounders
Toronto FC 2-2 LA Galaxy
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Philadelphia Union
June 10
New England Revolution 1-2 NY Red Bulls
June 9
Chicago Fire 0-0 Sporting KC
June 8
Real Salt Lake 1-2 Columbus Crew
June 4
Vancouver Whitecaps 0-2 Real Salt Lake
Seattle Sounders 0-0 Chicago Fire
New England Revolution 0-1 FC Dallas
Columbus Crew 1-1 NY Red Bulls
Sporting KC 0-0 Toronto FC
June 3
DC United 0-0 LA Galaxy
May 28
Seattle Sounders 2-1 Real Salt Lake
Sporting KC 1-1 Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas 2-2 Houston Dynamo
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 Chicago Fire
LA Galaxy 1-0 New England Revolution
Chivas USA 3-3 Columbus Crew
NY Red Bulls 1-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
May 25
Houston Dynamo 0-1 LA Galaxy
FC Dallas 1-0 Seattle Sounders
Colorado Rapids 2-2 NY Red Bulls
May 22
Real Salt Lake 0-0 FC Dallas
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