Independence, Carolina Core, and Asheville City to Host First Round Open Cup Matches in March
North Carolina soccer fans will have three opportunities to catch the Cup in March; Charlotte FC will join the other Carolinas teams later in the competition. Also: Ascent switch healthcare sponsors.
Today, U.S. Soccer announced the first round fixtures for the 2026 edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup — and while fewer Carolinas teams than expected will compete this year, all of North Carolina’s lower-league clubs will host a first-round tie.
On Wednesday, March 18, at 6:30 PM ET, Asheville City SC of USL League Two will host Greenville Triumph SC of USL League One at Greenwood Field on the campus of UNC Asheville in a rematch of last year’s nail-biter, which went to penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in regulation and added time. Also at 6:30 PM ET, Charleston Battery of the USL Championship will host Badgers FC of the United Premier Soccer League.
Then, on Thursday, March 19, Carolina Core FC of MLS NEXT Pro will host National Premier Soccer League side Virginia Dream FC at 6:00 PM ET at Truist Point in High Point, N.C.
Kicking off 30 minutes later at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews is the team that knocked the Core out of the Open Cup last year: the Charlotte Independence. They’ll take on Ristozi FC of the NPSL.
Charlotte FC of MLS will enter later in the tournament.
The Amateur teams participating in the 2026 First Round include the 16 survivors from last fall’s Open Cup Qualifying Rounds, reigning 2025 USASA National Amateur Champion West Chester United SC of Pennsylvania, the UPSL Spring Champion Tennessee Tempo FC and Northern California legends El Farolito, winners of the John Motta Trophy given to the amateur team who reaches farthest in the previous year’s Open Cup. There are also nine teams from USL League Two who qualified via last year’s league results and four more from the NPSL.
Of note for North Carolina soccer fans: Cruizers FC of the NPSL will replace Hickory FC due to the 2025 NPSL champions changing leagues. Based on US Soccer’s own announcements, Soccer Sheet had previously reported Hickory FC would compete despite the rule.
Additionally, due to the club’s hiatus from USL play, North Carolina FC will not compete in the 2026 edition of the Open Cup.
The 2026 U.S. Open Cup format will feature seven rounds – one fewer than recent editions – to avoid overlap with the FIFA Men’s World Cup calendar.
The 32 winners from the First Round will face off in a Second-Round matchup on March 31 or April 1. Each of the 16 teams that advance from the Second Round will face one of the 16 Division I professional teams from Major League Soccer who enter in the Round of 32 on April 14 or 15, including Charlotte FC, which is eligible to host based on the team’s 2025 Supporters’ Shield standings.
The final 32 teams will play down to a field of four semifinalists in May before the competition breaks until the semifinals on September 15 or 16. The Final match is slated for Wednesday, October 21.
The complete starting field of 80 teams for the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is competing for a $1 million purse, with a place in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup also up for grabs.
No North Carolina team has ever qualified for the Open Cup final; will this be the year?
The Magic of the Cup
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has crowned U.S. Soccer’s national champion since 1914. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and is open to professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the U.S. was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. The 2026 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn a berth in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. Nashville SC of MLS is the defending U.S. Open Cup Champion. The 110th edition of the tournament concluded on October 1, 2025, with NSC defeating Austin FC to claim the Tennessee club’s first piece of major silverware.
After last year’s match in Asheville, Soccer Sheet spoke with fans, players, and club officials from the Triumph and Asheville City about the match and the magic that can only happen in the Open Cup.
“The environment here in Asheville was awesome, you know, this is one of the things we love about the Open Cup,” said Doug Erwin, vice chairman and chief brand officer for the Triumph. “You get an atmosphere like this, where it’s packed in, you get something that we don’t always get in League One, which is a close driving distance to bring a lot of away fans. I think that’s one of the great things about the Cup, and when you play one of these pre-pro teams [like Asheville City] that has to get their roster last second, you never know what kind of team you’re gonna have to face, but you know they’re gonna be fighting.”
Veteran Asheville City midfielder Izaiah Vignali was one of those last-second players who kept the game close.
“We got a quality team that came in very short notice and we had a couple days to get together, and everyone bonded super quickly, and you could see in training that we were ready to go for a game day,” said Vignali. “I think today we showed it on the field that we can clearly compete. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get the result that we wanted, but it was good to take them all the way, though, to the penalties.”
The 2026 edition of the Cup kicks off Tuesday, March 17; the full first round schedule is available here.
Carolina Ascent Switch Healthcare Sponsors
Yesterday, OrthoCarolina and Tryon Medical Partners announced both organizations will serve as the "Official Healthcare Providers” of the Carolina Ascent FC, Charlotte’s professional women’s soccer team. OrthoCarolina physicians will provide the orthopedic care for Carolina Ascent players, while Tryon Medical Partners will provide them with comprehensive primary care and women’s healthcare.
Novant Health was formerly the back of shirt sponsor for the Ascent; a club spokesperson told Soccer Sheet that Novant’s status as front-of-kit sponsor for the Ascent’s sibling club, the Charlotte Independence, is unchanged; OrthoCarolina was previously a front-of-kit sponsor for the Independence.
Philip Poole, head coach of Carolina Ascent FC, agrees. “We are delighted to partner with OrthoCarolina and Tryon Medical Partners to give our players best-in-class healthcare. We strive to ensure that our care is at the most professional level available. OrthoCarolina and Tryon Medical Partners have blown us away with their quality, attention to detail, and undoubted ability to correctly manage a professional team. I am delighted to call both true partners in every sense of the word.”
"Tryon is excited to partner with fellow independent practice, OrthoCarolina, to bring the same patient-focused care to the Ascent players that our current patients enjoy," said Robert Brownlee, MD, president of Tryon Medical Partners. “In addition to award-winning primary care, Ascent players now have access to the Tryon Women’s Center for specialized gynecology and sexual healthcare, as well as the other specialties within Tryon that will help address the whole health of the player and optimize their performance.”