House vs Minnesota United - 2
Chicago House A.C. has been scheduled by US Soccer to host Minnesota United 2, a third division MLS Next Pro team on Wednesday, March 20 at 7:00 PM at Langhorst Field at Elmhurst University in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament proper.
“It is an honor to be in this historic tournament,” said House Managing Partner Peter Wilt. “Hosting a professional team in the first round is a great challenge and our coaches and players are working hard to be up for that challenge,” Wilt said.
House head Coach Matt Poland is also looking forward to playing a professional team in the first round, and happy for the experience it will give the players.
“It’s an exciting format to get to play a professional side in round one. We’ve never played Minnesota United 2, so it will be a new experience for us,” said House head coach and technical director Matt Poland. “Obviously, we’ll have to spend some time looking at their game film and everything from the preseason to see what we can prepare for with them, but playing a new opponent is exciting and to play a professional side for a lot of the new guys to the Open Cup will be a really exciting experience.”
This is House’s second straight appearance in the historic 110-year-old tournament. Last spring House was one of only two Open Division clubs to advance to the 3rd round of US Soccer's national championship. House hosted Midwest Premier League foe, Bavarian United at Langhorst resulting in a 1-0 win, sending Chicago to round two versus USL 1 side Forward Madison. House defeated Forward Madison in Wisconsin before falling to MLS side Chicago Fire in the 3rd round.
The team returned to Langhorst in the fall to host the second-round qualifier with a 2-1 win over Wisloka Chicago. House hopes to continue their winning ways in Elmhurst with home support behind them.
“It’s always great to host Open Cup games. The fans truly enjoy them, and we’ve had a lot of exciting moments in those games so hopefully the fans come out and support us,” said Poland. “Playing in front of people cheering you on always gives a little boost of added energy to the players, so it should be a great environment for us,” he continued.
After MLS threw a curveball at the US Soccer Federation in late December wanting their clubs to be represented solely by their second teams, which was rejected by USSF, there was a lot of uncertainty in regards to what the 2024 edition of the U.S. Open Cup tournament proper would look like. But having faith that some sort of resolution could be found, House players and coaches began training on February 20th in preparation.
“Not having all the U.S. based MLS teams in the tournament does a disservice to Chicago House and all the other clubs that worked so hard to be in this tournament,” said Wilt, who won four US Open Cup rings from his time as President and General Manager of the Fire. “We will still show up and make the best of the situation to represent Chicago and House fans everywhere,” Wilt said.
“It’s just about becoming comfortable with the guy next to you. We have some new faces in here with a lot of experience on their CVs, but it’s just about being comfortable next to them, playing inside of the system and trusting each other is a big thing,” said Poland on what he’s focusing on with the team. “The biggest thing in games like this when the stakes are higher, the pressure is higher, is that you have to trust the guy next to you. That level of comfort only comes from a lot of repetition. In the next couple of weeks, it’s about continuing to build on what we’ve had so far in preseason and get more and more comfortable playing with each other.”
Tickets are now available for both the U.S. Open Cup match as well as season ticket packages for both the Chicago House Men’s and Women’s first teams here.