2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Second Round Draw Live at www.us-soccer.com on June 5, 1 P.M. ET

CHICAGO (Wednesday, May 31, 2000) - The United States Soccer Federation and the U.S. Open Cup Committee will conduct the second round draw for the 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup live via the internet at www.us-soccer.com on June 5 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

CHICAGO (Wednesday, May 31, 2000) - The United States Soccer Federation and the U.S. Open Cup Committee will conduct the second round draw for the 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup live via the internet at www.us-soccer.com on June 5 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Prior to the draw, the U.S. Open Cup committee will break the teams up into two geographic regions, as much as possible, placing 16 western teams in one half of the brackets and 16 eastern teams in the other half. Each half of the bracket will also see eight of the 16 qualified teams seeded (including six MLS clubs and two A-League teams).

The 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will have bracketing similar to a tennis tournament, with 32 teams being drawn together in the second round. The teams will then play through their brackets into the finals.

Major League Soccer: All 12 MLS teams will begin play in the second round, which has been extended from previous seasons, when eight select clubs joined the competition in the third round.

A-League: The following eight A-League teams have qualified for the second round: Charleston Battery, Hampton Road Mariners, Minnesota Thunder, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Rochester Raging Rhinos, San Diego Flash, Seattle Sounders, Tennessee Rhythm. There is still one A-League spot to be determined for the second round which will be completed by June 3.

D3 Pro League: The following six D3 teams have qualified and will advance to the next round: Cape Cod Crusaders (Hyannis, Mass.), New Jersey Stallions (South Toms River, N.J.), Riverside County Elite (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Stanislaus United Cruisers (Modesto, Calif.), Texas Rattlers (Dallas, Texas) and Wilmington Hammerheads (Wilmington, N.C.). There is one match remaining to be played in Group 5 between the Carolina Dynamo and the Northern Virginia Royals on June 2. Delaware currently leads the group with 13 points followed by the Royals with nine points.

First Round: The Chicago Sockers, Central Florida Kraze, Mid Michigan Bucks and San Gabriel Valley Highlanders are the four Premier Development League teams that have qualified for the Open Cup's first round, where they will face off against the following four USASA teams: Bavarian Leinenkugel (Reg. II, Wis.), Jerry D's (Reg. I; Md. ), Mexico S.C. (Reg. IV; Calif.) and Uruguay S.C. (Reg, III; Fla.). The winner of each match will advance as one of the four spots available to amateur teams in the second round. The four round one matches will be completed by June 6.

Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is an 87-year-old-single-elimination tournament based on similar competitions played across the world concurrent with domestic league action.

In 1999, the U.S. Open Cup was renamed the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to honor the long-time soccer supporter and pioneer. Hunt, the owner of the Kansas City Wizards and Columbus Crew of MLS and the owner of the Dallas Tornados of the old NASL, was one of the sports first major ownership figures and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

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2000 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP DRAW PREVIEW

Potential Alignment For Draw

West	East
1. Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS) 2. Dallas Burn (MLS) 3. Chicago Fire (MLS) 4. Colorado Rapids (MLS) 5. San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) 6. Kansas City Wizards (MLS) 7. * A-League seed TBD 8. * A-League seed TBD	1. D.C. United (MLS) 2. Columbus Crew (MLS) 3. Tampa Bay Mutiny (MLS) 4. Miami Fusion (MLS) 5. New England Revolution (MLS) 6. N.Y./N.J. MetroStars (MLS) 7. * A-League seed TBD 8. * A-League seed TBD
* Four of the nine A-League qualifying teams will be seeded after qualifying concludes on June 4.
Qualified Teams
* Seattle Sounders (A-League) * San Diego Flash (A-League) * Tennessee Rhythm (A-League) * Minnesota Thunder (A-League) * A-League TBD (Richmond or Milwaukee) Texas Rattlers (D3) Stanislaus United (D3) Riverside County Elite (D3) Amateur team TBD (First Round) Amateur team TBD (First Round)	* Charleston Battery (A-League) * Hampton Road Mariners (A-League) * Rochester Raging Rhinos (A-League) * Pittsburgh Riverhounds (A-League) Wilmington Hammerheads (D3) New Jersey Stallions (D3) Cape Cod Crusaders (D3) Winner of D3 Group 5 (Delaware or N. Virginia) Amateur team TBD (First Round) Amateur team TBD (First Round)

FIRST ROUND MATCHES
Date	Matchup	Venue	Kickoff (ET)
June 4	Mexico S.C. (USASA, Reg. IV; Calif.) @ San Gabriel Valley (PDL)	Glendale, Calif.	8 p.m.
June 5	Uruguay S.C. (USASA, Reg. III; Fla.) @ Central Florida Kraze (PDL)	Orlando, Fla.	7 p.m.
June 6	Bavarian Leinenkugel (USASA, Reg. II; Wis.) @ Chicago Sockers (PDL)	Arlington Heights, Ill.	8:30 p.m.
June 6	Jerry D's (USASA, Reg. I; Md.) @ Mid Michigan Bucks (PDL)	Saginaw, Mich.	8:30 p.m.

The Calendar:

June 5 - Draw for the second round live on www.us-soccer.com at 1 p.m. ET.

June 6 - (First Round): Four USASA and four PDL teams face off against each other in an abbreviated first round to be completed by June 6.

June 14 - (Second Round): An expanded second round with 32 teams competing in 16 matches across the country. The matches are paired geographically and cross-league as much as possible. The matches will be determined by a blind draw on June 5, after the 32 teams have been divided into western and eastern brackets by the U.S. Open committee. Breakdown of teams is as follows: MLS (12 teams), A-League (9), D3 Pro League (7) and the first round winners (4).

July 25 - (Third Round): The 16 winners from the second round will continue through their brackets and will be paired against each other in eight games.

August 9 - (Quarterfinals): The eight survivors from the third round will continue through their brackets and will be slotted against each other in four matches.

August 23 - (Semifinals): The winners of the semifinals advance to the final.

October 22 - (Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final): The match date for the 2000 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final has been tentatively set for Oct. 22 at the home of one of the two finalists.

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