Battery opens bid for Cup

The Charleston Battery has a long, distinguished history of knocking off Major League Soccer teams in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

So when the proverbial shoe is on the other foot, Charleston Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser knows his team must be ready.

The Battery takes on the Atlanta FC, an amateur team based out of Atlanta, in the opening round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tonight at 7:30 at Blackbaud Stadium.

Anhaeuser understands the emotions and intensity that come with playing a team from a higher division because he and the Battery have been in the other locker room so many times over the past few years.

"They don't have anything to lose and everything to gain," Anhaeuser said. "I've been there as a player and a coach. You work extra hard when

you're playing against a team in a higher division. We know they're going to put everything forward and aren't going to quit until the last whistle. We have to be ready for that and match their intensity level."

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation's national championship, is an annual competition open to all amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the oldest annual team tournament in the United States and among the oldest soccer tournaments of its type in the world, having crowned a champion for 94 consecutive years dating back to 1914. In 1999, the competition was renamed to honor longtime soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt.

A year ago, the Battery beat two MLS teams on its way to spot in the final. The Battery defeated Houston, on penalty kicks, in the third round, and FC Dallas, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.

The Battery eventually fell to D.C. United, 2-1, in the U.S. Open Cup final at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

"We had a great run last season to the finals," Anhaeuser said. "Obviously, our goal is to get back to the finals and this time bring home the Cup."

Atlanta FC qualified for this year's tournament by finishing second in the Region III USASA championship. Atlanta FC is the first USASA team from Georgia to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup in the professional era.

At stake in the tournament is $180,000 in prize money. The champions receive $100,000, while the runner-up gets $50,000. A prize of $10,000 is awarded to the team that advances deepest into the tournament from each of the Division II, Division III and amateur levels.

The winner of the U.S. Open Cup also receives an automatic berth into the CONCACAF Champions League.

"The club takes this tournament very seriously," Anhaeuser said. "There's a lot at stake."