US Open Cup Third Round Pairings announced

This afternoon the USSF announced the pairings for the second and third rounds of the 2022 US Open Cup. The Legion will host the winner of Georgia Revolution FC and Southern States SC on a date yet to be determined.

Both teams are in the National Premier Soccer League. The NPSL is technically in the fourth tier of the US soccer pyramid, although that is not officially recognized by USSF. Even so, the Legion theoretically has a guaranteed easy draw.

The NPSL has 92 teams in four regions, further broken down into local conferences. Players are mostly college players who want the experience while keeping college eligibility and so is largely amateur, although there are a few professional players in the league.

The Georgia Revolution is probably familiar to some Legion fans. Based in McDonough (an Atlanta suburb) the team had an ongoing rivalry with the Birmingham Hammers, even competing for a trophy, the I-20 Cup, a couple of times before the Hammers moved to the PDL. Last season the Revolution finished first in its conference, also winning the conference playoffs before losing in the regional semifinals. The Revolution has already started its 2022 in earnest, playing a friendly against Atlanta United in Athens on January 30th. United won that game 4-0 despite being without most of their starters due to international duty and a few injuries.

Southern States is located in Hattiesburg, MS, but there is not a great deal of information available on the team. In 2021 they finished third in the Gulf Coast Conference of the NPSL. They won the conference playoffs, but only by virtue of the New Orleans Jesters having to scratch due to COVID, a situation Legion fans are only too well aware of. They went on to win the regional semifinal, then losing in the regional final to Tulsa Athletic, who progressed all the way to the national final (which Tulsa lost).