After seeing off amateur side Christos F.C., the Black-and-Red now play the New England Revolution in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 on June 28 at Harvard University’s Jordan Field at 7:30 PM.
The two sides have met once this season in league play, at Gillette Stadium on April 22 that ended in a 2-2 draw. Jared Jeffery scored his first and only goal of the season in the 26th minute on a wicked, one touch shot from outside the box. Sebastién Le Toux followed two minutes later with calm chip past goalkeeper Cody Cropper.
In the previous round of the Open Cup, Baltimore’s Christos F.C. gave United everything they had, taking the lead early on a free kick but ultimately falling 4-1 at the Maryland SoccerPlex on June 13. Julian Büscher tied the game at 1-1 with a skillful goal and Lloyd Sam took the lead for the Black-and-Red with a curled shot in the 81st minute. Büscher later added another score, followed by Ian Harkes, who recorded his first professional goal.
Goals from Büscher, Sam & Harkes send United through to the next round of @opencup#USOC17#DCU | #DCvCFC Highlights: pic.twitter.com/F0uYMtpx8E
— D.C. United (@dcunited) June 15, 2017
The next day, New England defeated the Rochester Rhinos 3-0 courtesy of goals from Teal Bunbury, Donnie Smith and Zachary Herivaux. Smith and Herivaux had both recently returned from loan spells with USL sides Charlotte Independence and San Antonio FC.
In league play, the Revs currently sit two spots ahead of United in the Eastern Conference table with 20 points and a 5-5-7 record, but lost 2-0 over the weekend to Toronto FC 2-0, thanks to goals from Drew Moor and a late insurance goal from Sebastian Giovinco.
But Jay Heaps won't be able to field a full-strength lineup in the hopes of rebounding from that loss. Kelyn Rowe, Juan Agudelo and Gershon Koffie have all been called into national team camp (USMNT, USMNT and Ghana, respectively), while Xavier Kouassi is out and Chris Tierney, Daigo Kobayashi and Antonio Delamea are all nursing injuries.
With a victory over New England, United would move on to the quarterfinals of the Open Cup, where they would play host to the winner of the New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union.
