Charlotte Independence hosts Carolina Core in U.S. Open Cup

CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE

Harrison Clark and the Charlotte Independence will host Carolina Core Tuesday in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in Matthews.

As the English F.A. Cup, the oldest national club championship winds towards the end of its 153rd anniversary campaign, the 110th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is just underway with the second round beginning on Tuesday evening around the country.

That includes the Charlotte Independence hosting the Carolina Core at the Matthews Sportsplex Stadium with a 7:30 p.m. first kick.

The Jacks progressed with a tenacious 3-2 win after extra time in the rain and cold against the Long Island Rough Riders, a USL 2 side. After conceding the opening goal, Charlotte leveled the score at 1-1, went ahead 2-1, gave up an equalizer, and finally clinched the match on Rafael Jauregui’s winner in the 108th minute, just moments after giving up the lead so close to the end.  

“It was a tough game,” said assistant coach Gabriel Obertan, who moved from the pitch to Mike Jeffries’ bench after last season. “They made our lives really tough. College players are getting better and better. So, I was not surprised that the level was good.”

Said Jeffries: “These teams are always difficult. Credit to Long Island, they played well. I thought our guys showed a lot of character to come back from the goal down. We right away pulled the third goal back in extra tine and I thought we managed the game pretty well, so credit to our guys.”

The Core advanced with a 4-2 win over defending UPSL champions Soda City, based in Columbia, S.C. The High Point MLS Next Pro team led 4-0 before giving up two late goals.

“These competitions are one game at a time, because if you lose, you go home.” Core coach Donovan Ricketts told TheCup.us. “This is a competition that we want to push as far as we can and we earmark this competition because we want to face an MLS opponent this year, so we’re taking it seriously.”

Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is the second oldest continually operating cup competition in the world (Irish Cup is the oldest). The F.A. Cup was paused during the first and second world wars, with 143 Cup finals being played as of last season.

These Cup matches come just as the Independence are still finding out who they are as the 2025 USL One season is only two weeks old.

After downing the Richmond Kickers in their home opener two weeks ago, the Jacks drew 0-0 with the Chattanooga Red Wolves last Friday which has them level with four other teams on four points. The top two teams – FC Naples (8 points) and Richmond (6) have played two more matches, so standings are moot this early in the season.

Charlotte will be at Greenville Triumph on Saturday for their first league road game of the season.

“Our mentality is brilliant,” said captain Clay Dimick, “and I think that’s one thing that is going to carry us throughout the season.” 

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