RCU Comes Up Short At US Open Qualifying

Rocket City United failed to qualify for the US Open Cup this past weekend in Tuscaloosa going 0-1-2 in group play. The weekend tournament began on Saturday morning after weather canceled play on Friday night.
In the Group A opener on Saturday morning, RCU fell to NPSL arch-rival Pumas 1:0 despite the unexpected clearance of at least one of the players expected to miss the tournament due to paperwork issues. In the second match Saturday night, RCU held the returning tournament champions, Lynch's FC, to a 1:1 draw but suffered a blow when goal scorer, Derek Pirtle had to be helped off the field with an injury. Sunday afternoon saw RCU fall to eventual group winner Legend's FC by the familiar scoreline of 1:0.

RCU's defensive corps has been solid up to date, but the lack of a consistent scoring threat appears to dog the club. RCU will try to rest their weary legs and return to NPSL league play on Saturday, June 5th when they host Atlanta FC at the Madison City Schools Stadium at 7:30 PM.

In Group B, fellow NPSL southeast region teams FC Tulsa and Atlanta FC also came up short, as CASL Elite grabbed the spot in the US Open Cup.

Meanwhile, Chattanooga FC upset FC Atlas of Guadalajara's U-23 team in front a huge crowd of 6,317 spectators at Finley Stadium. Check out my NPSL post.