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Region III tournament field is complete
Blind draw on May 24 sets table for the weekend's tourney
The field for the Region III tournament is set and they will determine their two Open Cup entries during Memorial Day weekend. The tournament consists of eight teams, divided into two groups of four. Those teams will play a round robin format, and the winner of each group will qualify for the Open Cup. The Region III Open Cup championship will be played at 9:00am on Monday morning.
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Region III
Open Cup Qualifying
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Dallas Roma FC (North Texas)
Azzurri (North Texas)
Lynch’s Irish Pub (Florida)
Wolfpack FC (Florida)
Death Penguins (South Carolina)
Boston Pizzeria (South Carolina)
Lake Charles Sting (Louisiana)
Saturn FC (Georgia)
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While the participants are already set, the groups are not. Region III uses a blind draw to determine their schedule.
"The original purpose of going to a blind draw was to prevent teams from dropping out of the competition, or not entering at all based on the schedule that was made at the mid-year meeting in October of the previous year," explains Region III Cup Commissioner Kim Bowen.
On Thursday, May 24, all of the teams get together for the blind draw. Once the groups are known and the schedule is made, the games begin the following morning.
Bowen says, "In going to a blind draw, not only have we found that fewer teams drop out based on the early schedule draw, but the anticipation and excitement at the schedule draw the night before our competition adds a great deal of flair to the competition."
The teams are divided into two groups of four, with each group playing a round robin schedule. The winner of each group will be entered into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. With both teams already booked for the Open Cup, they will play each other for the regional championship on Monday morning.
Region III features some familiar faces from past years including last year’s cinderella story, Dallas Roma FC from the North Texas region. Roma FC will be trying to qualify for the third year in a row. In 2005, they won two games and advanced to the second round where they lost to the Wilmington Hammerheads. Last year, as many fans will remember, they won three games, including a 1-0 win over Miami FC (USL-1) and a win in penalty kicks (after finishing in a scoreless draw) against Chivas USA of MLS.
Also coming from North Texas is Azzurri (Dallas, TX), who is attempting to qualify for the third time in four years. Their last appearance in the Open Cup was in 2005 when they were eliminated by their local rival, Dallas Roma FC, 5-2.
The rest of the teams would be making their first appearance in the tournament. Representing South Carolina will be the Death Penguins (Chapin, SC) and Boston Pizzeria. "Sting", Louisiana’s lone team, hails from Lake Charles, LA and Saturn FC (Marietta, GA) joins the tournament from Georgia. Florida is represented by Lynch’s Irish Pub (Jacksonville, FL) and Wolfpack FC (Western, FL).
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