Now that we're through the holidays its time to get back to business. Hopefully KSE will make a coaching choice this week, as this debacle of an off-season can't go on much longer. More on that in a moment.

The U.S. Open Cup format has changed immensely from past editions, and the pairings for the first two rounds of the tournament have been released.

The first round, which will be played in two weeks, contains all amateur teams from PDL, NPSL, USASA and U.S. Club Soccer, and the matchups are based on regional and geographical location.

The KC Athletics qualified for the US Open Cup a few weeks ago, and today they found out their first round opponent. The Athletics will travel for their first Open Cup game. They will head to Colorado to take on the Real Colorado Foxes on May 15th at 8pm Central Time. The Foxes qualified for the US Open Cup this year by finishing 3rd in the Heartland Division (top 2 qualify for US Open Cup, but first place Thunder Bay is in Canada and cannot play in the US Open Cup).

The KC Athletics went on the road in the first round of the US Open Cup and came away with a big win over the Real Colorado Foxes of the PDL 3-1 tonight. After falling behind 1-0 to the Foxes, the Athletics scored 3 unanswered to get the win. With the win, the Athletics will now go on the road again, this time to Florida, where they'll take on the defending USL-Pro champions, Orlando City next Tuesday.

The first round of the U.S. Open Cup is in the books, with 16 amateur teams advancing to the second round, when NASL and USL Pro sides enter the competition under the tournament's new format.

From Tuesday's first-round results, Pacific Northwest sides Kitsap Pumas and the Portland Timbers' U-23 team both fell, with amateur side Cal FC, coached by Eric Wynalda, knocking off Kitsap 3-1 behind two goals from former UCSB and U.

Earlier this week, the KC Athletics won their first round US Open Cup match against the Real Colorado Foxes. People reading this blog knew that already. I'd been trying to get some more information on the result, including who scored for the Athletics. After exchanging an email with player/coach, Kyle Perkins, I was able to get more information on the game.

Down in Orlando tonight, the KC Athletics meet Orlando City SC at 6:30pm in their 2nd round US Open Cup match. The winner will make a trip to Livestrong Sporting Park to take on Sporting KC in the 3rd round on the 29th. The Athletics are the heavy underdog against the defending USL Pro champions, who are 3-0 in the year's young season.

This round the second and third tiers of the US Soccer pyramid enter the fray as NASL and USL Pro begin play. We're pretty much out of local teams until MLS joins in the next round, as the Kitsap Pumas were eliminated in the last round by Eric Wynalda's Cal FC and the Portland Timbers U23s were similarly upset by USASA's PSA Elite last week.