For the first time ever, Philadelphia Union will welcome Pittsburgh Riverhounds for a first-ever Keystone State Showdown in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16. Get your tickets now by clicking here or tune in on Paramount +.
“In order for something to become a rivalry, there needs to become a history. I think this is the first step towards creating history.”
That was Head Coach Bradley Carnell’s opening message in his press conference ahead of Philadelphia Union’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup match against Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Wednesday night at Subaru Park.
The Keystone Clash is the first of its kind – despite the four and a half hour drive between cities, Philadelphia Union’s first team has never faced the USL Championship side. Instead, the club’s only history against the Riverhounds is on the Union II side, with the pair most recently competing back in October 2020. The only current Union players that were part of that match were Quinn Sullivan and Nathan Harriel, who are both expected to be part of Wednesday’s matchday roster.
So far in May, Pittsburgh’s only goal across all competitions was their late game winning goal against New York City FC in their first Open Cup match. Otherwise, they haven’t hit the back of the net since their 2-1 loss to Loudon United on April 19th.
Regardless of the opponent and their recent form, this will be a match etched in Pennsylvania soccer history, and it’s one Carnell and his crew aim to finish on the right side of.
“The goal of the team was to advance in the Open Cup, and it's another chance to get a trophy, and it’s always good when you get a trophy,” the elder Sullivan said after training on Tuesday.
“The team wants to win, and we're super focused on that. Obviously, I played against Riverhounds before, so for me, it's like a flashback to when I was with Union II, too.”
The midweek match comes amidst a busy Major League Soccer stretch that’ll resume just three days later. On Saturday, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will visit Subaru Park for their second meeting this season, but for now, the team's focus is locked on the match ahead.
“I think it's premature to start talking about rivalries, but two Pennsylvania teams coming against each other, for sure I think there's a little bit of pride at stake, and they've got a lot to prove. We want to continue our journey. It's always the massive game for them that I think they're the furthest non-MLS team that's got to this point now,” Carnell said.
“They are having a great run so we told the boys, there’s no sense in underestimation because we went through what we did to get to this point last time around against Indy Eleven. By no means are we going to let the guards down. This is a serious game, and we're treating it as such.
