For the first time Virginia Dream entered the Lamar Hunt Open Cup. Having just won the Super Soccer League regional title for the spring and fall two years consecutively, just won their conference in the NPSL, and just won the playoffs in their conference for the upsl, Virginia was ready.
Through the Super Soccer League membership, Dream entered the Open Cup.
The Dreamers Qualified.
The first two rounds of qualifications saw Dream have two back-to-back byes through the Cup drawings. Finally in the third round, they had their first game of their qualifying run which saw them face Alexandria Reds, the UPSL outfit. Virginia Dream saw their first win of their run over the Reds in a 2-1 result.
For the 4th and final round of qualifying Virginia would be facing off with historic side, the Aegean Hawks. The Hawks have won multiple National amateur cups and plenty of experience in the Open cup. This was a heavyweight match between two power houses in the DMV. But the spoils go to the dreamers with a 2-1 win over the Hawks.
and with that Virginia Dream was in the 2025 Lamar Hunt open cup!
Open cup proper.
Soccer has a beautiful way of telling stories and the first round of the open cup proper for Virginia dreams was no different. They would be facing the historic Richmond Kickers, the former club of Lucas Mendes, founder of Virginia Dream.
There was a lot of build up to this match and when game day came around everyone underestimated Virginia Dream. And by the time the final whistle blew everyone knew this was a serious dream. 3-1 victory saw the semi-pro side knockout a professional outfit.
Round two of the open cup would see the semi-pro face off with yet another professional side in that of Loudoun United. And what a match it was but the result would see the end of the historic run for Virginia Dream, with a 4-2 loss.
Take away?
Regardless of the result we, the Super Soccer League, were dreamers for that full run. Runs like these are a reminder of how important the Lamar Hunt Open cup is to the soccer landscape here in the United States. It’s the one place where you see amateur sides, Semi-Pro sides, and professional sides square up and Dream.
