Baltimore MD - Crystal Palace FC USA travel to Harrisburg PA tomorrow for their important US Open Cup second round clash with the reigning USL2 champion City Islanders. The two sides are competing for a third round, home tie against the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer the following week. The game kicks off at the Skyline Sports Complex at 7:05pm.

Harrisburg and Palace split the season series last year, including each team losing to the other at their respective home grounds. Despite another home loss to Harrisburg just last month in the league, Crystal Palace Co-Manager Jim Cherneski was quick to point out the challenging weather conditions: “That game was played in 100 degree heat and it wasn't a good game from either team's perspective. Hopefully it'll be cooler tomorrow and the game will flow a little faster. I think you’ll see a very similar game to last year.”

Cherneski expressed his confidence going into the game and touched on perhaps the biggest motivator: “To have a chance at an MLS team in the next round is very important.”

Several members of the Palace squad played with Harrisburg last year, when they won the USL2 championship. One of those players is Baltimore native and Blast player, Mike Lookingland. He echoed Cherneski’s comments about the importance of tomorrow’s match: “The players are pretty upbeat - we know it’s a huge game for the franchise. It’s a little bittersweet - I have a lot of good friends up there, but as a competitor, I hope we beat them.” Goalkeeper Matt Nelson is another former City Islander: “The chance to play a team at the top level is enough motivation for any player. It’s a nice prize.”

Would insight from those former City Islanders give Palace any tactical advantage? “They’ve brought in a lot of players, so I can’t see them playing the same way this year.” said Matt Nelson. “But we need to focus on playing our game and not worry about theirs.”

Cherneski explained that he and fellow Co-Manager Pete Medd have been keeping tabs on the Harrisburg team: “We had a good look at them over the weekend against Richmond and there are certainly some things we're going to focus on to exploit and use to our advantage. They’re a good team, well organized, so it will be quite a battle, but we expect to come out on top.”

Medd told us that training had gone very well this past week, but he didn’t want to underestimate Harrisburg: “They’re a well coached team. Bill Becher’s done a great job of getting them all on the same page.” He continued: “There haven't been a lot of goals scored between us so I think the teams are evenly matched.” Medd explained the strategy he and Cherneski will use against Harrisburg: “It sounds pretty simple, but if we're restricting their opportunities on goal, we think one or two goals from us will get the job done. Our focus is to be in good shape defensively and to take our chances when we get them.”

Begun in 1914, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Similar to domestic cup competitions in Europe, South America and the rest of the world, the annual single-elimination tournament is, open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States. More information on the tournament available at http://www.usopencup.com and http://ussoccer.com/teams/other/lamar/index.jsp.html