January 22, 2020 (Rochester, MN) – Last month, the US Soccer Federation contacted Med City FC general manager Frank Spaeth to inform him that the team had qualified for the 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Late this morning, US Soccer released the pairings for the Cup’s first round, revealing in the process that the Mayhem will be traveling to USL League 2 club Des Moines Menace. The match will take place on Wednesday, March 25 with kickoff set for 7:00 PM at Lions Field at Des Moines Christian School in Des Moines.
For Spaeth and Mayhem head coach Neil Cassidy, the game is a rekindling of an old rivalry. A decade ago, when Rochester had a Premier Development League team, they played Des Moines, who was in the same conference. The two teams played several times during the two seasons of the Rochester team’s existence, with some tight, entertaining games. Cassidy was the head coach of that Rochester team during its existence, while Spaeth helped in the front office.
“Des Moines has always been a standard bearer for high-quality soccer in the Midwest,” Spaeth says. “Back in the PDL days, we were working on building something like what they had but, unfortunately, the team here folded.”
Med City FC was one of 14 teams in the National Premier Soccer League to earn a spot in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Mayhem had an 8-1-3 conference record in 2019, with its only loss to Minnesota TwinStars at home toward the end of the season. The team’s 27 points were enough to earn it a playoff spot in the NPSL’s Midwest Region, where they fell at the first hurdle 2-1 to conference foe Minneapolis City SC, who also qualified for the Cup this year. It will be the first-ever appearance for Med City FC.
Meanwhile, the Menace are entering the Cup for the 13th time in its 26-year history. Des Moines won the USL League 2’s Heartland Division last year, making it all the way to the conference semifinals. The Menace are four-time USL PDL champions.
“There’s no doubt that this is going to be a very tough test,” Spaeth says. “And it’s been made even tougher because we won’t be able to have our full contingent of players available.” Due to NCAA rules, players with college eligibility are not able to play for a team other than their college team until May 1. US Soccer decided this year to move up the early rounds of the U.S. Open Cup from May to late-March and mid-April. Spaeth says that the coaching staff has been working feverishly to start putting together a roster of players who will be available and, hopefully, competitive for the March 25 fixture.
Spaeth also hopes Mayhem fans will get behind the team, despite the game being on the road. “We’re going to look into offering a fan bus and potentially a travel package down to Des Moines for the game,” he says. “Any fans who think they might be interested in something like that are encouraged to contact the team.”
Tryouts for Med City FC’s 2020 squad will be held on Sunday, February 2, 2020 at Rochester Regional Stadium at Rochester Community and Technical College. Registration information for the tryouts is available below: