Tormenta FC to Face Rio Grande Valley FC in U.S. Open Cup

February 16, 2023 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – South Georgia Tormenta FC News Release

STATESBORO, Ga. – The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced the dates for the Second Round of the 108th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. For the first time in club history, South Georgia Tormenta FC’s professional team will host a U.S. Open Cup match in Statesboro, Georgia, hosting USL Championship side Rio Grande Valley FC from Optim Sports Medicine Field at Tormenta Stadium. A time will be announced in the coming weeks. The match will mark the first encounter between both teams.

In 2022, Tormenta FC returned to the national competition, where the USL League One team defeated Championship side Charleston Battery in the Second Round and Championship side Birmingham Legion in the Third Round. Following the two wins, Tormenta FC took on its first-ever Major League Soccer side in competitive action, reaching the Round of 32 of the national competition, playing Inter Miami CF in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Twenty-four Division II and 22 Division III pro teams will see their first tournament action starting in the Second Round, all 14 winners from the First Round are guaranteed a professional opponent in the Second Round of the Open Cup. The Second Round begins on Tuesday, April 4, and concludes on Thursday, April 6.

To note, Tormenta FC’s Second Round matchup in the U.S. Open Cup is included in 2023 Season Ticket packages. Tickets to the match will soon be available to the public.

Now in its 108th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – U.S. Soccer’s National 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 is 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.

The 2023 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2024 Concacaf Champions League, and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally-contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize.

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