The winner will play the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer on June 14.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Fans may already be looking forward to facing the New England Revolution on June 14. However, the Rhinos first need to get past GPS Omens (MA) of the Bay State Soccer League. Kickoff is set for 7:05 pm Wednesday.
GPS Omens already played twice in the 2017 edition of the Open Cup, both on the road. Omens defeated PDL side GPS Portland Phoenix 2-0 in the First Round and outlasted Boston City FC of the NPSL 2-1 in the Second Round.
The Rhinos defeated FC Motown; another amateur side, 3-0 in an extremely comfortable victory on May 17th. Sofiane Tergou scored less than 2 minutes into 2017 debut having just came back from winning an indoor title and getting married in France. Jochen Graf would double the lead five minutes later and the Rhinos never looked threatened. Rayane Boukemia finished the scoring in the 85th minute with his first professional goal. Kyle Morton earned the clean sheet in his first professional start.
Having had an unplanned 18-day break, the Rhinos are now the victim of fixture congestion. This will be their fourth match in 14 days and just the beginning of a crazy stretch of games. Including a Fourth Round clash against New England, the Rhinos will play a total of 9 matches in 31 days.
Rochester has only lost one match all season, and are one of just four teams in the USL with one loss or less. The Rhinos have notably never lost to lower-league opposition, with a career 16-0-0 record against such teams.
GPS Omens have been described as “white collar underdogs” who are usually stuck inside law offices and boardrooms with difficulty getting together for training.
The Boston-area club started its cup run with a qualification win over fellow BSSL side Southie FC last fall. Rochester Rhinos defeated Southie 7-0 in the 2016 US Open Cup Second Round and GPS Omens beat them 4-2 on the road in September in Open Cup qualifying. Omens then traveled to Connecticut and defeated Newtown Pride FC to qualify for the 2017 Open Cup.