Philadelphia Union begins its journey in the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open on Tuesday evening with a showdown against Orlando City SC. Kick off from Orlando is set for 7 p.m. ET with coverage exclusively on ESPN+.
The Eastern Conference leading Union enter their 11th Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and their first match in the Open Cup since 2019, when they lost to D.C. United, 2-1 in extra time. The Union have amassed a record of 19-6-4 in the Open Cup. They have reached the final of the tournament three times, all under Jim Curtin, with the most recent final coming in 2018 at the Houston Dynamo.
In their first matches of previous U.S. Open Cup tournaments that the Boys in Blue have entered, they have tallied a 7-3-0 mark, including a 4-1-0 record in opening round matches of their last five tournaments.
The Union are the midst of a hectic May schedule with the match on Tuesday night wrapping up a three-game road trip that has taken the Boys in Blue to Nashville and Los Angeles. Philly is unbeaten on the trip thus far, battling to a 1-1 draw in Nashville SC's home opener on ESPN and then a gritty 2-2 draw against the Supporters' Shield leading LAFC. Daniel Gazdag and Julian Carranza each scored a goal in the late hours of Saturday night, with the Hungarian midfielder having scored and provided an assist in four of his last six starts.
Orlando City advanced to the Round of 32 with a 2-1 home win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship. The home side took advantage of a pair of goals within 11 minutes in the second half then held on to face off against the Union. Alexandre Pato converted from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute to open the scoring which was followed up by a goal from Júnior Urso in the 63rd. The Rowdies fought back with Lucky Mkosana getting a goal two minutes later but ORL saw out the result to avoid the upset.
The Lions are looking to recover from a 4-1 road loss to CF Montreal on Saturday evening. The Canadian side erupted with three goal in the final half while João Moutinho accounted for Orlando City's lone goal of the night. Despite the loss, Oscar Pareja's side sits just two points behind the Boys in Blue with 17 points collected in their first 11 matches of the 2022 MLS season. The Lions have are a score by committee group on the offensive end with five players each with two goals scored but on the other end of the field they have conceded the sixth-most goals in the East.
