Portland Hearts of Pine Face Off Against Rhode Island FC in Round 3 of U.S. Open Cup
Last year's juggernaut expansion side in the USL Championship will pay Hearts of Pine a visit
Portland Hearts of Pine knocked out Hartford Athletic in Round 2 of the U.S. Open Cup match. After facing amateur club CD Faialense in Round 1, a Hartford Athletic side that is trying to come together as a team in Round 2, Portland will now face a Rhode Island FC team that took the USL Championship by storm in their first year of existence.
Round 3 is when the top 16 teams from the USL Championship enter the competition. Rhode Island FC finished 5th in the Eastern Conference standings. In the playoffs, they advanced all the way to the Final, where they lost to the Switchbacks 3-0.
Led by the Dirigo Union, the last two matches in Lewiston, ME, have been arguably the best atmosphere in the competition this year. Round 2 attendance against Hartford Athletic was announced at 3,002.
The Hearts had their hands full with Hartford Athletic and managed to pull off the cupset in dramatic fashion. Rhode Island FC and the Hearts have already met twice in the preseason to the rumors of hotly contested match ups.
The allure of such a matchup has drawn the eyes of CBS, which will televise the cup match on Paramount+ and the CBS Golazo Network.
Will the Rhode Island faithful travel en mass to Lewiston, ME and match the energy of the Dirigo Union? Get your leave approved from work now for the following day and take your kids out of school for a day. Travel to Lewiston and feast on what will be a hotly contested New England soccer cup matchup in round 3 of the U.S. Open Cup on April 15th at 7 PM.