U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal draw announced; Chivas USA could play Real Salt Lake or Charleston Battery

Today, U.S. Soccer announced the potential quarterfinal match-ups for the 2013 U.S. Open Cup ahead of the fourth round games to be played next week. Most relevant to Chivas USA is their potential opponents in the following round, should they advance.

If Chivas beat the Carolina RailHawks next Wednesday in Cary, North Carolina, they would then face the winner of the Real Salt Lake-Charleston Battery match in the quarterfinals June 26. In either case, Chivas would not host the quarterfinal match, instead traveling to either Utah or South Carolina, depending of course on the winner.

On paper, the preferred opponent would have to be Charleston, seeing as they play in USL PRO (the same level as their last USOC opponent, the LA Blues), and they have not throttled the Goats a bunch of times the past few years like RSL. Still, that game doesn't even matter unless Chivas beat the RailHawks next week, something they managed to do by the skin of their teeth in the same round of the tournament last year. Carolina's squad is largely intact from last year, however, and they've now defeated the LA Galaxy in the Open Cup in consecutive years, meaning they're feeling pretty good about this game vs. Chivas, no doubt.

You can find the full draw over on U.S. Soccer's website.

We'll have plenty of coverage of next week's game, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, what do you think? Leave a comment below!