ORLANDO, Fla.— Orlando City SC will face Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, June 12, at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, in the fourth round of the US Open Cup. Orlando has earned a spot in the fourth round after topping the PDL’s Ocala Stampede 2-1 on May 21 while advancing past MLS’ Colorado Rapids a week later by the same scoreline.

“We’re really looking forward to the game,“ said Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath. “We know it’s going to be a very difficult match, but we want to make a good account of ourselves and show that we can really play. We had a good showing last year against Sporting but want to take it to the next level.”

The two squads played each other in 2012 in the third round of Open Cup competition, with Orlando falling to the eventual champions 3-2. After being down a man in the 70th minute, a late Dennis Chin goal nearly got the Lions back in the game but time ran out on the Lions. Sporting went on to win the Open Cup over Seattle Sounders on penalty kicks.

Sporting KC is currently fifth in the MLS’ Eastern Conference, posting a 6-5-4 record through 15 games played. The club’s leading scorer is Forward Claudio Bieler, who’s converted seven scores in 15 appearances. The four players on loan from SKC, including Dom Dwyer, Jon Kempin, Christian Duke and Yann Songo’o, will be unavailable for selection on Wednesday.

The winner of Wednesday night’s match will travel to face the victor of the Chicago Fire/Columbus Crew match in the quarterfinal round of the Open Cup. The match will be held on Wednesday, June 26. The tournament continues after the fifth round with the semi-finals to take place on August 7 or 21 and the final on October 1 or 2. The winner will receive $250,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League and their name on the Dewar Challenge Trophy.

The Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States and is open to United States Soccer Federation (USSF) affiliated teams. The Open Cup was first held in 1913, with this year marking the centennial edition of the tournament. This year’s field consisted of 68 teams, the largest field in US Open Cup history.

For more information on Wednesday’s match, go to Orlandocitysoccer.com.

Photo: Sporting KC