Reading United hosting Philadelphia Lone Star, West Chester United traveling for U.S. Open Cup first round

Three local amateur teams in the 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup learned their opponents on Wednesday for the first round of the competition.

Reading United will host Philadelphia Lone Star at Alvernia University on Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. A day earlier, West Chester United will travel to face FC Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University. Counting local qualifying, the game will be West Chester’s fifth straight away contest in their current U.S. Open Cup campaign.

A total of 38 teams will participate in the first round, including six USL League One pro clubs and 32 open division teams from USL League Two, National Premier Soccer League and local qualifiers.

Reading United, the Philadelphia Union’s USL League Two affiliate, is in the competition for the 11th straight season after finishing making it all the way to the league final last season. They defeated Christos FC in the first round last year on penalties after a 1-1 draw but fell to Richmond Kickers on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the second round. Both games were played at Alvernia.

West Chester United is back in the competition for the second time after making it to the second round in 2016. They advanced on penalties at Fredericksburg FC and then lost at home to Harrisburg City Islanders in the second round.

Philadelphia Lone Star is also back in the competition for the second time after losing at Ocean City No’reasters 3-1 in the club’s first Open Cup appearance in 2017.

The Philadelphia Union, runner ups in 2018 for the third time in club history, will enter the competition along with the other U.S.-based MLS teams in the fourth round.

The full list of pairings is available at the U.S. Soccer website.