Nashville Soccer Club will open its 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign on Wednesday, April 26 at GEODIS Park against San Antonio FC of the USL Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets are available at www.NashvilleSC.com/Tickets. Â
Wednesday’s match will mark the second year Nashville SC has competed in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, following a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Last season the Boys in Gold reached the Quarterfinals after defeating Atlanta United FC and Louisville City FC, before ultimately falling to Orlando City SC 6-5 in penalties.
In the first-ever Open Cup match at GEODIS Park last season, Nashville SC earned a dramatic victory after falling behind 2-0 to Atlanta United FC through the first 50 minutes of action. Nashville stormed back to earn a 3-2 victory in extra-time with a match-winning goal from forward Ethan Zubak.
Earlier today, Nashville SC Head Coach Gary Smith and Zubak spoke to the media to preview the match against. Coach Smith pointed out the quick turnaround Wednesday’s match presents, with the Open Cup match being the first weekday match of the year. Smith also stressed on the importance of the playoff format of the tournament, and the opportunity it presents to win the club its first trophy. Zubak spoke about his excitement to have an opportunity to potentially help the team on Wednesday as he reflected on his sensational match-winning goal last year.
San Antonio FC visits Music City as the reigning USL Championship league winners after finishing the regular season with a league-high 77 points. Residing in the league since 2016, San Antonio FC currently sits in fourth place in the Western Conference.
This year marks the 108th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as the tournament remains the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and the world’s third-longest continuously run national cup tournament. The historic tournament is conducted on a single-game, knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer.
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Nashville SC joined Major League Soccer on Feb. 29, 2020 in front of the largest attendance ever recorded for a soccer match in the State of Tennessee. In its inaugural MLS season, Nashville SC defeated expectations by becoming the second MLS expansion side to win and advance to the Conference Semifinals in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Nashville SC returned to the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in its sophomore season after becoming just the seventh team in MLS history to go unbeaten at home in a season. Nashville SC inaugurated GEODIS Park, the largest soccer-specific stadium in the United States and Canada, in front of a 30,109-sellout crowd on May 1, 2022. For more information, visit NashvilleSC.com and follow the club at @NashvilleSC on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Spotify.
