If Crystal Palace USA is to play a Major League Soccer team this summer, the road will go through New Jersey. Palace (1-4-1) will visit the Premier Development League’s Ocean City (N.J.) Barons on June 12 in the first round of the prestigious Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Established in 1914, the Open Cup is generally regarded as the greatest test of soccer clubs in the United States. For a new franchise like Palace, the Cup berth can be huge for exposure.
“That’s one of the big factors of making a good run in the U.S. Open Cup, is that it gives you a lot of exposure nationally,” Palace sporting director/co-coach Jim Cherneski said. “People follow the results, especially if you play one of the MLS teams.”
To do so, Palace will have to get to the third round, when the MLS clubs join the tournament. First, though, Palace will have to defeat Ocean City, which sits atop the PDL Mid Atlantic Division with a 4-0-0 record.
“We’re excited about it, and we hope to advance into some big games,” Cherneski said. “We’re definitely not looking past this game at all. PDL teams often beat teams in our league, just as teams in our league beat teams above us and into the MLS.”
Since the inception of the MLS in 1996, only once has one of the league’s teams not won the Open Cup ? when the Rochester Rhinos won the 1999 title. At the time, the Rhinos were an A-League club. This year’s tournament features MLS, PDL, USL (divisions I and II) and U.S. Adult Soccer Association (USASA) teams.
PDL?s Ocean City is made up of amateur soccer players in what is essentially a college all-star league.
“It allows you to maintain your college eligibility,” Cherneski explained. “Those teams are typically better than NCAA teams. They’re the best four or five from each school.”
Should Palace move on after the first round, it would play a second-round game June 26. MLS clubs, including 1996 champions D.C. United and the defending champion Chicago Fire, will join the tournament on July 10.
