THIRD ROUND
FC New York at New York Red Bulls
June 28, 8 p.m. ET – Red Bull Arena; Harrison, NJ
Video/Audio: Video: New York Red Bulls; Audio: TBA
Chicago Fire at Rochester Rhinos
June 28, 7:35 p.m. ET Sahlen’s Stadium; Rochester, N.Y.
Video/Audio: Video: USL Live; Radio: Rochester
FC New York 
The club is an expansion side playing in USL Pro.
First Round: Western Mass Pioneers (PDL) 0:3 FC New York (USL Pro) The expansion New York side dominated the First Round match Tuesday against Western Mass, with Jhonny Arteaga scoring all three goals in the 3-0 victory. Recap [+]
Second Round: NY Pancyprian Freedoms (USASA) 0:0 (AET, 5:6 PK) FC New York (USL Pro) The two Big Apple clubs played to a stalemate and needed extra rounds of penalties to decide the tiebreaker. In the seventh round, a shot from the Freedoms rang off the post, sending FC New York through. Recap [+]
Path to the Open Cup: Automatic entrant from USL Pro.
This Month in USL Pro: In a light month for the club, it has been feast or famine in league play, just as it has been in the two rounds of Open Cup play. They opened the month with a 1-1 draw against visiting Charleston June 3 on an equalizer from Graciano Brito. They then blanked Dayton June 10, on tallies from Troy Cole, Jhonny Arteaga and Gary Boughton, before falling 2-0 at home to Richmond. Idle between the opening two rounds of the Open Cup, New York returned to league play at home last Friday with a scoreless draw against Richmond. They are currently in fourth place in the USL Pro National Division with a 3-5-5 overall record.
Open Cup History: First appearance in the tournament.
New York Red Bulls
How They Qualified: Automatic entrant from top six MLS finish in 2010.
This Month in MLS: In a continuation of a lengthy road run, the Red Bulls fell 4-2 in Seattle Thursday despite pulling even from a two-goal hole on a Dane Richards strike and own goal. They then traveled to Chicago Sunday and played to a 1-1 draw, with Joel Lindpere tallying the opening goal in the 40th minute. New York came away with a dramatic come-from-behind 3-3 draw at Portland June 19. Down 3-1, Thierry Henry scored in the 73rd minute, but it was a Timbers handball that led to a Dwayne De Rosario penalty kick in second half stoppage time. They opened the month with a 1-1 draw at home against the Columbus Crew June 4, in which they allowed a 92nd minute equalizer after leading since Mehdi Ballouchy’s ninth-minute strike. They rebounded from the setback a week later on June 10 with a 2-1 victory at home against the New England Revolution. The Red Bulls were the recipient of an own goal and Thierry Henry delivered the second before the Revs answered. Their final game before Round 3 on Sunday saw the Red Bulls nearly pick up their first-ever win at Toyota Park, but Chicago’s Marco Pappa equalized in the 58th minute and both teams had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Joel Lindpere scored the lone goal for New York.
Last Five: D-L-D-W-D | Season record: 5-3-9 (4-1-3 at home), tied for second place in Eastern Conference, sixth overall.
Open Cup History: The Red Bulls have come close early in their history, with trips to the Semifinals in 1997, 1998 and 2000, but have never won the US Open Cup. The closest they came was in 2003 when they lost to the Chicago Fire in their only trip to the championship game. Since then, it’s been a series of short runs in the tournament, with a 1-5 record the last five times they have qualified, including a pair of upsets to third division clubs (Crystal Palace Baltimore, Harrisburg City Islanders), and two more to second division teams (Charleston Battery, Rochester Rhinos). New York did not qualify in 2007 or 2009.
PRO ERA RECORDS: 12-12-1 (1-0 in PKs) | 2-2-0 vs. 3rd Division teams
Rochester Rhinos
Founded in 1996, the Rhinos are arguably the most successful professional club outside of Major League Soccer, winning three professional second division titles in six league finals appearances. The club, which has also reached the Open Cup Final twice and won it in 1999, has never failed to qualify for the tournament.
First Round: Phoenix SC (USASA) 1:2 Rochester Rhinos (USL Pro) The Rhinos took the initial lead through JC Banks in the 27th minute of the First Round Tuesday, and Anthony Hamilton doubled the advantage from the spot in the 55th. Visiting Phoenix SC made it a tense finish with a strike midway through the second half to make it 2-1, but Rochester’s defense held on. Recap [+]
Second Round: Rochester Rhinos (USL Pro) 1:0 Harrisburg City Islanders (USL Pro) In a showdown of two league foes, it looked as though the match was headed to overtime before Kendall Jagdeosingh was taken down in the box for a late penalty, which was converted by Tony Donatelli in the 89th minute. Recap [+]
Path to the Open Cup: Automatic entrant from USL Pro.
This Month in USL Pro: Rochester finished unbeaten on the month, with a stoppage time winner from JC Banks against Dayton Saturday evening. Rochester traveled to Pittsburgh last week to blank the Riverhounds 3-0 June 17, on first half goals from Rich Costanzo, Andrew Hoxie and Drew Cost. They opened the month with a two-game visit to Antigua, winning 2-1 June 3 on a pair of Hoxie goals, and nabbing a last-minute 2-2 draw two nights later with equalizers from Donatelli and goalkeeper Neal Kitson. They returned home for a 1-0 victory against Harrisburg June 11 on a strike from Jagdeosingh. The Rhinos are in first place in the National Division with a 7-4-3 record.
Open Cup History: The club is most famous for its 1999 US Open Cup championship run with four victories over MLS clubs (Chicago, Dallas, Columbus, Colorado) after needing overtime to defeat PDL side New York Freedoms 2-1. The Rhinos also reached the final in their debut season in 1996, beating Tampa Bay and Colorado before falling to DC United in the final at RFK Stadium. Rochester also advanced versus MLS opposition in 2004, edging New England in penalties after a 1-1 draw, and 2005, topping New York 3-1. Both games were in the Fourth Round. The Rhinos reached the Semifinals for a third time in 2009, eliminating Columbus via penalties in a Third Round 1-1 draw and downing third division Wilmington 2-1 in the Quarterfinals, before being eliminated 2-1 by DC. Last year Rochester blanked the PDL Dayton Dutch Lions 2-0 and third division Pittsburgh Riverhounds 3-0 before falling 2-1 to the Crew in the Third Round. The Rhinos also have the distinction as the lower division club that has eliminated the most MLS teams with nine. (7-10-4 overall, 2-2 in PKs)
PRO ERA RECORD: 27-12-5 (3-2 in PKs) overall | 18-3-5 vs. pro teams (all as 2nd Division franchise) | 7-10-4 (2-2 in PKs) vs. MLS
Chicago Fire vs. Rochester Rhinos: This will be the third all-time meeting between the Chicago Fire and the Rochester Rhinos in the tournament. In 1999, fresh off their Open Cup title in their inaugural season the year prior, the Fire were stunned by becoming the first of what would be four consecutive MLS upsets by the Rhinos. Yuri Alnutt scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win for the Rhinos in the Third Round, as they would move on to replace the Fire as Open Cup champions that year. In the 2005 Quarterfinals, they would meet again, but this time it was the Fire that would move on. Samuel Callabrero and Doug Miller traded goals in regulation, but the match would have to be decided by penalty kicks, and the Fire won 5-4.
Chicago Fire
How They Qualified: Seeded fourth overall, the Fire opened the play-in tournament in the second round of the western bracket of MLS qualifying. They defeated the defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids March 30 with a 2-1 victory. Gaston Puerari, who was recently sold to Atlas (Mexico), scored the opening goal moments before the break, with Andre Akpan answering back in early in the second stanza. In the haze remaining from flares set off at the hour mark, defender Jalil Anibaba let loose a shocking 45-yard strike that surprised the keeper and proved to be the winner. Trailing San Jose by two goals in the finale for the bracket, Chicago’s Orr Barouch pulled a goal back in the 61st and Yamith Cuesta leveled terms in the 76th, sending the match to penalties, where two Earthquakes rang shots off the crossbar in a 5-4 decision to send the Fire to the Open Cup.
This Month in MLS: Chicago played to a scoreless draw at home against Real Salt Lake Wednesday in the first of two games on the week. They hosted New York on Sunday, rallying for a 1-1 draw on a strike in the 58th minute from Marco Pappa, who just returned from the Gold Cup. The Fire played its fourth league match of the month June 18, when they traveled to New England and drew the Revolution 1-1, with Dominic Oduro scoring the opening goal. They opened the month with a scoreless draw at home against the Seattle Sounders June 4, and repeated the outcome June 9 against fellow play-in qualifier Sporting Kansas City in the MLS debut of LiveStrong Sporting Park. Sean Johnson recorded both shutouts. The club extended an unbeaten streak to five games with a 1-0 road victory June 12 against the Columbus Crew, with a stoppage time winning goal from Cristian Nazarit and Johnson registering a third consecutive clean sheet. Last Five: D-D-D-W-D | Season Record: 2-4-11 (1-3-5 Away), tied for sixth in Eastern Conference, 15th overall.
Open Cup History: The Fire are one of the most successful Pro Era teams, winning the Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2003, 2006) and finishing runner-up in 2004. The team has qualified for the Open Cup every year since their founding in 1998. However, since the 2006 Cup title, the team has only won one game in the tournament since, going 1-3-1 (0-1 in PKs). Two of those four losses came against third division teams (Wilmington in 2009, Charleston in PKs in 2010), as did their sole win (Cleveland in 2008), with their other losses against MLS’s DC United (2008) and second division Carolina RailHawks (2007). Last year, the team played a scoreless draw against the Charleston Battery in the third round, then couldn’t find the net in a penalty shoot, losing 3-0.
PRO ERA RECORD: 25-8-3 (2-1 in PKs) | 4-1-1 (0-1 in PKs) vs. 3rd Division teams
2011 US Open Cup Quarterfinal Scenarios
NY Red Bulls / FC NY at Chicago Fire
Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill. – 8:30 pm ET
OR
NY Red Bulls / FC NY at Rochester Rhinos
Sahlen’s Stadium – Rochester, NY – 7:35 pm ET