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First the good news: The Seattle Sounders won't need to travel nearly as far as they did last year for their U.S. Open Cup opener. The bad news: There's a very good chance they won't be playing at the fortress of Starfire Sports Complex.
Following Friday's draw, it was revealed that the Sounders will play the winner of LA Galaxy II (USL-Pro)-PSA Elite (USASA). That match will be played at one of the outer fields of StubHub Center on May 28. The date for the Sounders' first match is still TBD. If PSA Elite were to somehow able to pull the upset, they would face the Sounders at Starfire sometime between June 10-18, but the Galaxy II would host if they win.
What kind of team potentially awaits the Sounders is tough to say at this point. PSA Elite is a very good amateur team, but they are an amateur team. For them to beat the Galaxy's USL Pro side would require a rather significant upset, although it wouldn't be unprecedented. Two amateur sides beat USL Pro teams in the second round, with the NPSL's Chattanooga FC topping the Wilmington Hammerheads and the PDL's Fresno Fuego beating the OC Blues.
Assuming the Galaxy II avoid the upset, they'll host the Sounders. Although that team could theoretically be turned into a Galaxy reserve side, chances are that it will look a lot like the one that beat Cal FC in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup. Some of the notable players to appear in that game include Galaxy Homegrowns Jack McBean and Bradford Jamieson IV, 2014 SuperDraft pick Kyle Venter, former Marseille youth Bradley Diallo, former Toronto FC defender Logan Emory, former Sounders trialist Travis Bowen and former Chivas USA midfielder Laurent Courtois.
Even if it's the Galaxy II, that's a lot friendlier of a matchup than last year's fourth-round opponent. As you surely remember, the Sounders were forced to play a road game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who at the time were one of the top teams in NASL. The Sounders were eliminated before the final for the first time in their MLS history, falling 1-0.