WHO

  vs.  

WHEN & WHERE

Wednesday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Belson Stadium at St. John’s University (Queens, N.Y.)

WATCH & FOLLOW

• Watch LIVE on ONE World Sports, ONEWorldSports.com and U.S. Soccer’s YouTube channel
• Follow @NYCosmos_Match and #NYCvJER on Twitter for live updates

THE STAKES

The Cosmos are fresh off their sixth league win of the year, outmuscling Rayo OKC 1-0 at Shuart Stadium this past Saturday. With that result, New York controls its own destiny in the NASL Spring Season title race. A win this Saturday against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium will clinch the Cosmos (6-0-3, 18 points) their second straight Spring Championship. The winner of the Spring Season also earns the first spot in The Championship, the NASL’s four team postseason tournament beginning in November.

But before they have an opportunity to secure more league hardware, the Cosmos will fix their sights on Jersey Express and the 2016 U.S. Open Cup. The Express advanced to this stage of the nation’s oldest ongoing soccer competition by defeating the Clarkstown Eagles 2-1 on May 11 and NY Pancyprian Freedoms 1-0 on May 18. New York, meanwhile, is entering the Open Cup with aspirations to move past the Round of 16, where the team has fallen each of the past two years.

The winner of Wednesday’s Third Round U.S. Open Cup match will advance to the Fourth Round, where MLS side New York City FC awaits. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff on June 15 at Fordham University’s Coffey Field in the Bronx.

MATCHUP HISTORY

This is the second straight year the Cosmos and Express meet at Belson Stadium in the Open Cup’s Third Round. New York won the last matchup 3-0 on May 27, 2015. U.S. youth international and former Cosmos striker Haji Wright made his professional debut in that game, winning a penalty in the second half. This year Jersey Express joins the Kitsap Pumas and Des Moines Menace as the only Premier Development League (PDL) teams advancing to this stage of the tournament.

NOTES

Cup dreams: New York is 4-2 in Open Cup competition to date, with landmark triumphs over MLS sides New York City FC (2015) and the New York Red Bulls (2014). In both previous Cup excursions, the Cosmos were ousted in the Fifth Round.

Just getting started: Jersey Express is 1-0-1 (W-D-L) so far in their young PDL season, with five goals scored and four conceded. Midfielder Christopher Karcz leads the squad with two goals.